No matter what age you are as an athlete, when a big event that you've trained and prepared is over, it can take some adjusting to get back into a normal routine. The same is true for the Olympians. There's some emotional juggling that many of these athletes have to do now that the Games are over.

I compare it to your best Christmas or birthday ever. The build-up is so exciting, you open your presents and then what? You realize you have 364 days until the next one and there's a little bit of an emotional letdown. Now multiply that by a million. I wrote a paper on this in college. For a lot of these athletes, now is when they get the post-Olympic blues. Then there are others who can cruise right onto something else or go back to a training routine for the next big event.

Then there are those who hang it up and retire. Which is an even bigger adjustment... something you can't really understand until it happens to you. When something is a part of your life for that long - eating, sleeping, breathing, playing or training - you just do it because that's what your routine has been since you were a baby. Now you take that out of the mix, that's strange. It's hard to deal with. But ultimately retiring athletes realize that there are other things out there, other opportunities or events in the life that will give them something to look forward to.

As for the 2012 Olympics, I am already excited. Michael Phelps will probably be the star to watch again and I wouldn't be surprised to see him try and swim some new strokes. He reminds me of a woman named Tracy Caulkins who, had she had the opportunity to do so in the boycotted 1980 games, would have dominated the way Phelps did. She still won some medals in 1984, but she was one of my idols growing up and missed out on her big games.

The question I keep getting asked is how many gold medals I think he can win. Here's the deal. As an Olympian who only won two gold medals, I just don't think the world should get caught up in the fact that he has to win them all. How about we root for him to win one and take it from there. To do that, win a gold medal in three Olympics or win the 400IM in three straight Olympics. That alone would be extraordinary. I have no idea what his final number will be and I don't think it matters.

So let's get beyond the number of medals Phelps will win and just say he's going to win some more, be one of the best and focus on some of the other stories who have stories just as incredible as Michael Phelps (granted, his is pretty incredible).

I am looking forward to seeing who the new stars will be... maybe even someone here on weplay! I also love hearing the stories about an athlete overcome a serious challenge or emerge from a third-world country that comes in and creates buzz. I get so wrapped up in stories about the last place finisher in the marathon who may have also been the first person from a small country to compete. Those are my favorite Olympic stories and what the Games are really all about.

The Olympics are not about winning. They are about competing. And the same is true for anything and everything you might do. That's the message I hope you all take out of this.