to him but i don't want him ever to change. >> also, my one on one very candid interview with michael phelps. >> if you want to be the best, you have to do things that other people aren't willing to do. >> this is "piers morgan tonight." good evening from london and day three of the spectacular olympic games. behind me is the akwaquatic cen. a new world record. an extraordinary achievement. a devastating loss for u.s. gymnast jordan weeker. leaving her team and country shocked. finishing out of the medal race. and gymnast twisting and turning in their seats as they watch her perform. for sheer drama, nothing can quite match the u.s. men's team and the ongoing battle for glory between michael phelps and ryan lochte. are we witnessing a changing of the guard? with me now on our big story is olympic legend mark spitz. also with me is christine brennan, sports columnist for "usa today." welcome to you both. mark, let me go to you first. because you were watching a little earlier the astonishing race where everyone assumed it would be a easy comfortable win for ryan lochte. this french swimm emer has take the scruff of the neck of the swimming competition and changed the whole game, hasn't he? >> i think all of us have been captivated. the french have a lot of talent in the sprint men's freestyle events. the 100, the 200 and the 250. that's a perfect example of what we just watched. the frenchman coming through for his country. i think we're going to see a lot of other great performances in breaststroke and events that ryan and michael aren't swimming. >> should fells have basically quilt after beijing on the ultimate high? >> there's so much money on this. phelps will run a couple god ed me gold medals here i believe. >> if he wins three, he becomes the all-time high est gold meda winner. mark spitz, extraordinary performance by this 16-year-old chinese swimmer. to have a split time that was faster than ryan lochte. what do you make of this? lots of people casting suspicious eyebrows in the direction of this particular performance. >> i wouldn't want to speculate on anything that would be negative to her performance. it stands on its own unless she doesn't pass the drug test. i think it's incredible to think a woman can swim faster than a man. especially when they were both on world record pace. yet she swam fast they're last 100 meters. normally people that break world records are sort of like fading at the end and yet she actually galloped ahead and caught up to the world record pace and then passed it. so she had such an exhibition the last 25 meters of accelerating way past all the people that were in the pool with her. it was an incredible finish. i've never seen anything like it in my life. >> mark spitz, the other big argument at the moment is raging over nbc's refusal to air some of these big events, especially swimming, in real time. they're airing them in prime time hours later. that's the way it's always been done. given social media the way it is, do you think it's time nbc bit the bullet and began to broadcast the big stuff live? >> i think that they're in sort of a quandary about this because they actually build for the olympic games a number of years ago and paid the international olympic committee billions dollars. there are people that sit back in a room, the bean counters basically. they need to do that in prime time. i found myself in the same situation with my son just recently at 11:00 on the west koofd he coast here in california, i can actually watch the results. but it's like being a voyeur. i want to watch it with the announcers and see what they say. they'll have to have a serious consideration for what they'll do in the future for broadcasting. >> i'm not sure america should be able to dictate to the rest of the world when they have the events. nbc's got into a bit of a hole here. clearly social media is massively more prevalent. >> it's teasing people. they're getting good ratingings. this is the 21st century. i frankly think this is embarrassing for nbc. this is news, it's sports, it's entertainment. they're acting as if it's the 1950s and it's "ozzie and harriet" and dad comes home and puts his feet up and you're watching from 8:00 to 11:00. that's not the way people watch their television. i completely agree with you. if you had it on in the afternoon and packaged it beautifully again at night, i think you'd have the same kind of ratings. >> christine brennan, mark spitz. despite ryan lochte's loss today, he had a stunning gold medal win on saturday. i spoke to his mother a little earlier before the 200 meter defeat. i'm joined now by ryan lochte's mother. when we spoke last week, you were a trembling mass of nerves. now you can relax. your boy, what a crushing gold medal win. >> that was fantastic. i really couldn't believe it. i expected it to be a closer race. and that last two laps, three laps, it was wonderful. >> what's it like for you? all the preparation? all the sacrifice he's made, all the support you've given him, and he wasn't the favorite. michael phelps was deemed to be the top dog. it was an incredible race. your boy just killed him on the night. >> he really felt confident that he's done everything that he really needed to do with all his exercise and all his nutrition and swimming. to see it actually in action, it was wonderful. >> what was the first thing he said to you afterwards? >> he brought me his flowers. then he blew me kisses because i haven't seen him since. >> you haven't -- >> no, i've only seen him from far away. >> he has said. we're going to play this clip. listen to this. >> no matter what, i could break a world record. and my mom would have been, like, you could have done better. but you lookedpretty. that's what she says all the time. >> could have done better but you looked pretty. >> the pretty comes from the strokes. so his coach will tell you that i always say, oh, his strokes look pretty. because when he's all broken up, he is -- and tired of swimming, then his strokes shorten up. >> good parenting about -- a boy or girl who has great talent. it's about driving them. it's about being honest, tough love. >> i've always been honest with all my kids. so i -- if they do well, they did well. if they didn't, actually, i asked, did you try your best? if they tried their best, i backed out. because i expect them to be honest with me or with themselves. and i can't make you go out there and work out hard. and i know he has. and so if even -- if he broke a world record, this always -- you know -- a challenge to do better because i don't want him to be complacent. you need to make yourself do better. >> i can see you're so excited. >> i'm so nervous. >> my mother wouldn't speak if she got a gold medal so at least you can talk to. when you talked about his pretty strokes, most women in america and indeed around the world view your son as pretty in a rather different way. an extremely good looking young man. he's single. they all fancy their chances. who would be the right kind of woman for your boy? >> they have to be a family loving person that could stand having a large family and crazy family at that. and just be real to themselves. not somebody fake. >> a bit of an old softy. apparently he cries at movies and stuff like that, is that right? >> yes. >> so that makes him instantly more lovable to women. >> yes, he's very caring and he loves kids. >> i love your t-shirt. the lochte ness monster. swimmings creature of speed. >> my middle child daughter, she was the one who developed this and she made it up for him. >> it's fantastic. i'm not saying he's flash. but these grills he has in his mouth was spectacular. silver and flag and everything. what did you make of it? >> it's ryan. i can't change that. you pick and choose your battles. that wasn't one of them. >> you prefer him not to, would you? >> no. >> and one last thing. about this controversy over nbc's coverage, delaying, screening these big races till prime time, has that affected you or your family back home? are they anxious to see it in real time on television? >> yes, but we call all our family and we tell them how he did immediately. it's not a matter of they have to wait for it. >> i think sports has to be live, doesn't it, it on tv? otherwise, twice. show it live, then prime time. you'd watch your son winning gold twice, wouldn't you? >> you're right. you're right. it should be for everybody because they want to see it. if they want to stay up till 3:00 in the morning and do it, let them see it. >> with twitter and facebook, everybody's talking about this. the game has changed. i think everyone has to move with the new game in town. thank you very much for joining me. next, my extraordinary and revealing interview with somebody i suspect this lady knows quite well, michael phelps. these fellas used capital one venture miles for a golf getaway. double miles you can actually use... but mr. single miles can't join his friends because he's getting hit with blackouts. shame on you. now he's stuck in a miniature nightmare. oh, thank you. but, with the capital one venture card... you can fly any airline, any flight, any time. double miles you can actually use. what's in your wallet? alec jr? it was a gift. here's one story. i'm sean. i switched to advil® 10 months ago. biking can be really tough on the lower back and your upper thighs. you have some nasty aches and pains. i really like advil® because it takes care of it all. neck ache, shoulder pain and definitely lower back pain. i use advil® because my wife, she's a nurse, she recommended it. 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>> i feel all right. >> grouchy tishgsed? >> no, not yet. maybe a couple questions and -- >> you've been answering questions all day. if i just repeat the same old nonsense you've been asked all day, then you're going to give me less time. >> i'll just be like a tape recorder though. >> london is my hometown. what's extraordinary is every american athlete i've interviewed when i asked them to cite a role model i'd say 90% say you. weird god-like figure to them. with that comes responsibility. are you aware of the status you have in your peer group? what do you feel about that? >> sometime, i feel it but like to just think of myself as a normal person who just has a passion, has a goal and a dream and goes out and does it. that's really how i've always lived my life. >> you say that before. come on, michael, you're not a normal person. >> i consider myself normal. i spent 20 years in the pool. i consider that something that's normal. >> that's not normal. >> what do you consider normal? >> not spending 20 years in the pool. i spend about 20 minutes in the pool a day. >> well, that's not -- >> what i was struck by with you is there are great gymnasts. i've never seen anybody who did what you did and confirmed the statistics on this that you trained for five years literally -- >> that's right. >> -- every single day, 365 days, each of those five years, consecutively. that is incredible dedication to your sport. do you know anybody else that has done that? >> no. i've never heard of anybody else who does that. >> what is the motivation at the end of the day for that kind of extreme dedication? >> if you want to be the best, you have to do things that other people aren't willing to do. at that point, you know, we had thought that for every year we get 52 other days of more training than anybody else gets. every single year. and also in swimming if you miss one day of swimming it kes you twice as long to get back. so, you know, for example for me after 2008 i took six months off. it took me probably really about a year and a half to get back to where i was, like, really needed to be and should be. >> when you were little michael phel phelps, was the dream to be an olympic champion? be an astronaut or -- what were young michael phelps dreams? >> olympic gold medalist. >> from what age did you know that? >> i grewup. my sister was first in the nation, third in the world, when she was 14, so i was 9. and then i got to so fl 10. i saw all the cool things she got to do. >> also, you're the younger brother. >> the baby. >> thinking, why is my older sister doing better? >> we were all very competitive. >> when you're at home playing -- do you play board games together? >> i would always try to. they wouldn't always let me. like play games with them. >> sky and describe what it means to be a great mesamerican. >> wow. you know, i think to be -- for me to be an american is one of the -- you know, for me -- able to grow up with everything. the freedom. this is the greatest country in the world. throughout my career, i've been able to travel overseas and to represent my country the best way i could. and, you know, being able to wear the stars andstripes. when you step off of an airplane or when you hear the national anthem play, it's one of the greatest feelings in the world because you know there are people at home who are supporting you and watching you. the stories i've heard from people telling me what they were doing or where they were watching races from 2008 i think really shows how close we are as a country. it's pretty special to just feel the support from all the fans. >> who are your sporting idols? >> michael jordan. >> why hem? >> he changed the sport of basketball in my eyes. on and off the court. made basketball what it is. >> have you met him? >> i haven't. never met him. >> what would you ask him if you were able to meet michael jordan? >> i've had that thought a lot. >> what's the thing you're most curious about with him? >> i think part of me would ask him about what made him come back to the sport. what made him go to basketball and come back. or excuse me, baseball. and then decide to come back to basketball. one of the coolest things that i love about him was it didn't matter what he had, you know, going on off the court or if he was sick or this or that. he never used it as an excuse. he came out every single night on the court. he did what he had to do to get the job done. that's what champions do. it doesn't matter what else is going on. when you walk into your arena. you're there to take care of the job you have to do. >> one of the downsides of his kind of success and indeed what you've enjoyed is you become celebrities. not through choice. you just become exponentially more famous than you were before. how have you dealt with that side of things? >> i'm sure i'll be the first one to admit i've made a lot of mistakes in my life. i think being able to have the opportunity of being a celebrity. you know, it helps me achieve some of the things i want to do with the goal to raise the bar on the sport of swimming. i think, one, people should learn how to swim more just for safety. but two, also try to get them involved in our sport. and, you know, we have seen a significant change over the last, you know, ten years. but in my eyes it can change so much more. >> when we come back, michael tells how he hit rock bottom after winning all that gold in beijing. constipated? yeah. mm. some laxatives like dulcolax can cause cramps. but phillips' caplets don't. they have magnesium. for effective relief of occasional constipation. thanks. 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[ doctor ] enbrel, the number one biolog medicine prescribed by rheumatologists. back now with michael phe s phelps. in 2009 when a british tabloid ran a full page picture of him smoking pot. usa swimming suspended him from swimming for three months. i mean, i remember when i was young mark spitz winning his seven golds and feeling incredibly inspired by him. even though i wasn't a good swimmer then. i'm not a great swimmer now. i remember feeling inspireded to want to be mark spitz. he made swimming sexy for that generation. you've done exactly the same thing now. you've made swimming the sexy sport. and taken it outside of the pool. with that, as they say, comes this kind of celebrity thing. you touched on making mistakes. to me the mistakes you've made, they're not massive mistakes. they were made to be apparent massive mistakes simply because of who they were. i remember the bong picture coming out. i remember just laughing. really? this is a scandal of epic proportions? and i saw the reaction. i saw people getting -- i saw sponsors getting twitchy and so on. i really thought it lost all sense of caution. to me i saw was a guy -- yeah, all right,