LONDON, (Reuters) – All eyes will be on the swimming pool later today when Michael Phelps could make history by becoming the most decorated Olympian of all time and the first man to win the same event on three occasions.
If he succeeds, however, his achievement faces being overshadowed by Chinese sensation Ye Shiwen, 16, who is chasing a second London Games gold medal after setting tongues wagging with an eye-popping swim for her first.
China are top of the medals table on nine golds with the United States second on five.
For the host nation golds are proving elusive but a bronze in the men’s team gymnastics yesterday felt almost as good as it ended a 100-year wait for any kind of a medal in the event.
The focus of home attention will be on Wimbledon today as Andy Murray competes in the second round, once again carrying the hopes of British tennis fans yearning for a title after his final defeat to Roger Federer in the grand slam tournament there earlier this month.
Women’s soccer throws up a tasty tie between North Korea and the United States, at Manchester United’s Old Trafford ground, that may prove as much of a spectacle for students of history as for die-hard sports fans as the hermit state and the superpower vie for bragging rights.
Phelps, who wrote himself into the record books in Beijing four years ago by winning eight golds, more than any Olympian in a single Games, is looking for yet more glory.
If the American wins the 200 metres butterfly today he will become the first male swimmer to win gold in the same individual event at three successive Olympics – he also landed the title in Athens in 2004.
“I made my first Olympic team in this. The shorter races are a lot better for me now that I’m older,” Phelps said of the event that is one of the most physically demanding disciplines in swimming but is also his favourite.
If he goes on to help title favourites the United States to 4×200 freestyle gold later in the day, it would take his overall Olympic medal tally to 19, one more than the all-time record held by Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina.
