day 17

Just finished watching the closing ceremony. I bet the balloons watched it too. Right?

Before the pictures come in, live with this cute goggle pic for a while. I'm sure all of you witness the animals here diving, playing badminton, playing soccer etc over the last few days. 一切都已经结束了～Olympic euphoria has not yet ended, though. Alot of people around the world are feeling a deep sense of loss. So many months of anticipation...sigh. I'll not talk about feeeeeelllliiings again, now. 

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On songs:

王力宏，孙燕姿，陈慧琳，，刘德华，莫文蔚，容祖儿 & rain

those are the only stars I recognized. I can't believe Rain is there. Lucky Korean guy. Its good to be famous there. 

I am against singing of pop songs, but I guess its necessary to make the atmosphere. I'm so glad when Chinese sopranos were up in the second singing number, but on a closer look, not all of them were wearing cheongsams. Big fashion no-no. When 宋-something went up with that ang-moh dude to belt out an ang-moh opera style singing: haiz. Why cannot do something more chinese-sy leh? The last disastrous number -- the pink rocking lady and the r&b dude -- do you understand a word they're singing? 

Kudos to 成龙 & 周华健 though. I think every singing should wear that instead of their frumpy dresses and suits if they're not wearing traditional costumes. 

Leona Lewis is actually big enough to be 1 of 3 rep for London! Wow. Way to go, Bleeding Love-girl. Look where your song brought you. I think its a great way to utilize the very small space to stage London's part of the show, bringing in the double decker and having a very mtv-theme to it. 

Oh ya, did you realise the number of athletes are shrinking? Thousands of them walked in during the front part of the show. When the celebration started, they're still there, just that they're really sparse. When the singing part commences, only the athletes closer to the borders of their respective areas remained. Toilet break? Were they hanging around like that in Athens also? Olympic is their stage; they are the performers (I totally agree with Bolt). So I guess they have to, er, hang around the 'stage' down there @ the Bird's Nest. 

Girls & Phelps

I can't believe I'm writing gossip here.
Funny, short, un-credible sources here from all over the net:

1. Finished With Record-Breaking, Michael Phelps Commences Heartbreaking : Hottie American swimmer Michael Phelps supposedly sucked face with hottie Australian swimmer Stephanie Rice outside a party in the Olympic Village. Her Aussie ex Eamon Sullivan is said to be "cut up" about it.

2. Now Stephanie Rice Linked to Michael Phelps: Rumours abound that Phelps has been partying with a beauty since his record-breaking gold medal feats. US swimmer Amanda Beard, English model Lily Donaldson and now Rice are the names that keep cropping up.

3. Michael Phelps and Stephanie Rice Love Connection? : Michael Phelps has recently been linked to fellow gold medalist Amanda Beard and British model Lily Donaldson. His real girlfriend might really be Australian swimming sensation Stephanie Rice. The two were spotted making out in Beijing yesterday!

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Asked if he’s dating anyone, Phelps said, “Part of my life is kept to myself. I’m able to relax and be with my friends. Those pretty much are the only people who really know the answer to that.”

earlier before that (when linked to Donaldson)

"I haven't got a girlfriend and I can't do the kind of things all my friends are doing as college students."

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FORGET gold medals and drug busts, the hottest guessing game in Beijing is over American superfish Michael Phelps' love interest in our own Stephanie Rice.

Rumours abound that Phelps has been partying with a beauty since his record-breaking gold medal feats. US swimmer Amanda Beard, English model Lily Donaldson and now Rice are the names that keep cropping up.

Sexy Beard strongly denied reports that she is the one, saying he's not her type. "I've never even kissed him," said Beard, who has posed for Playboy and done a nude poster for PETA.

British beauty Donaldson also quashed rumours it's her and Phelps has denied both liaisons. Now it's Rice's turn.

When a shirtless Phelps got friendly with Rice at a promotion on Tuesday, it set tongues wagging.

Phelps' comment was: "I've had a lot of water, now it's just time to relax a bit."

Aussie swimming insiders said the pair were very close at a party organised by Ian Thorpe on Monday night.

And blogging sites are carrying pictures of Phelps cosying up to a dark-haired woman with comments hinting it is Rice.

The insiders also said the relationship between Rice and Eamon Sullivan was definitely over with the Aussie swimmer planning to go backpacking on his return from Beijing.

Beard, 26, denied that she was dating Phelps, 23, saying, "Eww, that's nasty. I have never, ever hooked up with Michael Phelps," Beard told a radio station in Phoenix yesterday.

"Come on, I have really good taste," she said. "He's really not my type." Asked how the rumors have spread, Beard said she had no clue. "We don't even talk to each other," she said.

Phelps was equally emphatic in his denial. "I'm not dating Amanda Beard," he told a TV show. "I think she has a boyfriend."

Asked if he's dating anyone, Phelps said, "Part of my life is kept to myself. I'm able to relax and be with my friends. Those pretty much are the only people who really know the answer to that."

BMX here to stay

It was fast, spectacular and had plenty of thrills and spills. And despite some big medal favourites failing to live up to expectations, an historic first BMX competition of the Games appeared to pass the Olympic test.

"I can't ask for anything more of the Chinese. Hopefully, they dug our sport."

In London, they will have been watching closely.

"This was a great course," said Jill Kintner, who won bronze in the women's final.

"A lot of people were entertained so I guess it's mission accomplished."

Bolt to Rogge: ' I just wanna have fun'

BEIJING (AFP) - - Jamaican sprint superstar Usain Bolt replied to criticism directed at him by IOC President Jacques Rogge on Friday by saying that he was not disrespectful to his rivals, he was just out to have fun and entertain.

The 22-year-old Jamaican - who had just added a third Olympic title here and a third world record in the 4x100 metres relay - said that he wasn't just someone who turned up to race but also to entertain the crowd.

Rogge, himself a three-time Olympic yachtsman, had told AFP on Thursday that while Bolt was obviously an extraordinary talent he still had things to learn.

"He is a young man but he should show more respect for his rivals. That would be more in the spirit of the Olympic ideal.

"He should shake hands with them after the finish line. However, he is only 21 and he will learn," said Rogge, in what was seen as a break from tradition by an IOC president to criticise an athlete so openly and a champion at that.

However, Bolt implied that Rogge - who by contrast had labelled American swimmer Michael Phelps as an 'icon' - hadn't really understood what he was trying to do.

"I am a performer, I go out to let the people enjoy themselves," said Bolt, who had already produced record-breaking performances in winning the 100m and 200m titles.

"It's good to enjoy yourselves. This is my work, this is my job. There is no point in doing your work if you don't enjoy it."

And if Rogge hoped his advice would be taken, he was to be disappointed.

"That's just me, I won't change," said Bolt, who entertains the spectators even before he has raced imitating with his hands a 'lightening bolt'.

"I will always be myself because that is my personality."

Bolt, who had also been criticised by Rogge for the disrespectful manner in which he eased up in the 100m and spread his hands according to the 65-year-old Belgian's interpretation of 'catch me if you can', said that the crowd deserved some extra entertainment.

"That is just me, I am just having fun.

"The crowd loves it, they look forward to seeing me come out, they want me to do it, they want me to put on a show, so I give them what I want.

"I like to make people happy, because they have paid good money to see a performance. They want to see a personality so I give them a show."

Bolt, who has revealed that he subsists on an unusual diet of yams and chicken nuggets prior to racing, could on Saturday conceivably match Carl Lewis' haul of four gold medals - which the American won in Los Angeles in 1984 - if he were to race in the 4x400m relay final.

"I don't think I will be doing the 4x400m relay. I am just happy with my three gold medals," said Bolt.

And looking ahead to London in 2012 Bolt also pretty much ruled out taking up the long jump, which was the fourth title Lewis won in 1984.

"Long jump? I am not even thinking about that right now."

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Rogge is one 死板 president.

Michael Phelps: A killer at large?

BEIJING -- Michael Phelps' endorsements of Kellogg's Frosted Flakes cereal and McDonald's has attracted criticism from the Children's International Obesity Foundation.

In a statement Friday, the foundation said: "As a role model and Olympic hero to America's children, Michael Phelps -- and all athletes and celebrities -- are asked to reconsider any connection to substances suspected as agents of obesity, including sugary cereals, soft drinks and other foods with refined carbohydrates, saturated fats, trans fats and high fructose corn syrup.''

The statement referred to the documentary, "Killer at Large,'' about the causes of obesity in children, which will be released in November in New York.

One of its producers, Bryan Young, said in the statement: "Michael Phelps' endorsement will undoubtedly influence more children to nag their parents for products that endanger their health so that they can go home, consume these products and gain weight instead of becoming gold medalists. This is unconscionable and we hope that Michael Phelps reconsiders his endorsement contracts.''

Whatever happened to being on the cover of the Wheaties box?

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Oh my god, this is so funny. "Michael Phelps' endorsement will undoubtedly influence more children to nag their parents for products that endanger their health so that they can go home, consume these products and gain weight instead of becoming gold medalists." HAHAHA!!!

Coach reveals secrets behind the Michael Phelps phenomenon

US swimming team coach Bob Bowman

By: Craig Lord

A Machiavellian grin broke out on the face of Bob Bowman, mastermind behind the eight gold medals won by Michael Phelps, as he revealed the truth: “At the Melbourne World Cup in 2003 I stepped on his goggles deliberately,” he said. “I knew he had only one pair with him. Just before he came to race, he said, 'Hey, someone broke my goggles.' I said, 'Michael, you're just gonna have to go without them.'”

Welcome to the world of a man who started to build the perfect competitive beast when Phelps was 11. That was the year that a scrawny, gangly boy raced at his first national junior meeting in the United States. Bowman, Phelps's coach, noticed his goggles. “I could have taken the goggles to him, but I decided to keep them and see what he could do,” Bowman said. “So he swam and won the race without the goggles, just like he did here [in Beijing] in the [200metres] butterfly when his goggles filled with water.”

In his last interview in China before heading home to Maryland, Bowman said that Phelps had been trained to win against the odds. “I've always tried to give him adversity in either meets or practice and have him overcome it,” he said. He took Phelps, 14, to an evening competition and asked the driver to turn up late. “That way there was no dinner - he had to deal with it,” Bowman said with a chuckle.

He learnt some of his tricks from Bill Sweetenham, the former British Swimming performance director. “I was at the AIS [Australian Institute of Sport] when Bill was training a squad of juniors,” Bowman said. “After one session, they all complained that the water in the water fountain was too hot. So the next day, there was no water fountain.” It had been removed.

In Phelps, Bowman found the raw materials that he had been looking for at the North Baltimore Aquatic Club. “He was so fast, he had to swim with older swimmers, but by the end of the practice I saw a little cap moving to the front of the line with each swim,” he said. “It was remarkable, I'd never seen anything like it. When I went home that night I couldn't sleep, I was so excited, but I didn't tell him that.”

Bowman piled on the challenges. After one particularly bruising practice, Phelps leapt out of the pool and started throwing water at girls standing nearby. “I said, 'You should be very tired, that's the hardest practice you've ever done,'” Bowman said. “I'll never forget, he looked me straight in the eye and said, 'I don't get tired.'” He took Phelps to junior meetings, where “he would race three times in the morning, three in the afternoon”.

Phelps also had a built-in clock. Bowman asked him to write down the times he wanted to achieve in three races. “He was just 11, but six months later he swam those exact times, to the one hundredth of a second,” Bowman said. “I don't know how that's possible, but it's true. He always had a very good sense of finding where he wants to go and how to go there.” As we discovered at the Water Cube.

Usain Bolt poured cold water by IOC President

BEIJING (AFP) - - Jamaican sprint superstar Usain Bolt should show more respect for his rivals said IOC President Jacques Rogge on Thursday.

The Jamaican, who celebrated his 22nd birthday on Thursday, has set the track alight with his world recordbreaking performances in winning the 100 and 200 metres Olympic titles here.

However, Rogge while complimenting Bolt, did not go as far as he had in praising American swimmer Michael Phelps and his eight gold medal haul - he had labelled him as an icon - and took issue with him over the manner in which he behaved after he had crossed the line.

"Bolt is in another dimension to Phelps," Rogge told AFP.

"He must be considered like Jesse Owens in the 1930's. However, he has a bigger edge over his rivals. If he maintains this gap then he will be quite something.

"However, he still has to mature. He is a young man but he should show more respect for his rivals. That would be more in the spirit of the Olympic ideal.

"He should shake hands with them after the finish line. However, he is only 21 and he will learn. I have no problems with his showboating (prior to the race) but a shake of the hand or a tap on the shoulder immediately after the race would be a good gesture.

"It would be good not to have a repeat of the 'catch me if you can' gesture," added Rogge, referring to Bolt's actions metres from the line in the 100m when he turned to the crowd and opened his hands in what could be perceived as mocking his seven other opponents.

Bolt, who by winning the 200m on Wednesday became the first sprinter since Carl Lewis in 1984 to achieve the sprint Olympic double, will be in line for a third gold medal with the 4x100m relay team that begins its campaign on Friday.

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This is insane. Favouritism alert.