Michael Phelps: Life in the fast lane

The deep gulps of air and fighting back of tears as Michael Phelps stood proudly upon the podium as US anthem the Star Spangled Banner rang around the Water Cube said it all.

It is a sound the 23-year-old American swimmer knows all too well. After winning the Men's 200 meters Butterfly final -- Phelps's fourth gold medal of the Beijing Olympic Games, each on a world record time -- another superlative can justifiably be added to the growing list of adjectives used to describe this amazing athlete: legend.

Phelps powered his way into Olympic history at Beijing 2008 to become the first person to ever win 10 Olympic gold medals. "I just kept thinking wow, I'm the greatest Olympian of all time, It's a pretty great title. It's pretty neat, I'm definitely honored."

"Listening to the anthem, with the medal around your neck is an amazing feeling," said Phelps, after his tenth record medal. "I am almost at a loss for words. Growing up I always wanted to be an Olympian."

He is the classic wholesome all-American boy who, for an added twist of tension, even had the audacity to win the 200 meters Butterfly despite a goggle malfunction which affected his vision.

"When my goggles filled up there was nothing I could do. All I could do at that point was swim. I tried to see something at the 150 wall. I tried to see the T on the bottom to judge my turn. I was more or less trying to count my strokes, hoping I was dead on. I'm just disappointed because I know I can go faster than that."

Faster was precisely what Phelps and his colleagues in the USA Men's 4 x 200 Freestyle team did to add an 11th gold to his list an hour after clinching the all-important tenth. They shattered another world record – Michael's 30th - by slashing an amazing 4.68 seconds off their own previous world record.

His 11 gold medals in total stand two clear of the previous best – the nine-gold-medal club consisting of four athletes: Finnish runner Paavo Nurmi, Ukrainian gymnast Larysa Latynina, US swimmer Mark Spitz and sprinter Carl Lewis.

"When you have an Olympic Gold medal, it stays with you forever. You're always an Olympic gold medalist. It's amazing and it definitely never gets old."

Indeed by the time the Beijing 2008 swimming competition concludes Phelps could also become the first person ever to win eight gold medals at a single Olympic Games, surpassing Mark Spitz's seven at Munich in 1972 and ratcheting up his overall tally to 14 gold medals.

Small wonder one of his friends sent him a cheeky text message after seeing Phelps step onto the podium for the tenth time: "Dude, how many times a day do I have to see your ugly face?"

At Athens 2004 Phelps took eight medals -- a feat only achieved by one other athlete, Russian gymnast Alexander Dityatin, in Moscow in 1980.

Perhaps the most staggering thing is that, at 23 years old, Phelps is feasibly young enough to add more Olympic medals to his collection should he decide to carry on until London 2012.


So who is Michael Fred Phelps and what makes him the greatest Olympian in history?

Born in Baltimore in the US state of Maryland, Phelps – known as the Baltimore Bullet -- suffered Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder as a teenager and trained at the North Baltimore Aquatic Club under coach Bob Bowman, who was later an assistant coach to the US swimming team at Athens 2004.

He was a talented junior swimmer who became the youngest-ever US swimmer to compete in the Olympic Games when he represented his country at the age of 15 at the Sydney 2000 Games in the Men's 200 meters Butterfly. A few months later, at 15 years and nine months, he became the youngest man to set a swimming world record, again in the 200 meters Butterfly.

His first World Championship gold medal came in 2001, but the big breakthrough year was 2003, when Phelps won four gold medals and two silver at the World Championships in Barcelona.

At Athens 2004, Phelps extended that to six gold medals and two bronze (swimwear manufacturers Speedo offered Phelps one million dollars if he won all eight medals – an offer which has stayed on the table for Beijing 2008).

Indeed a succession of lucrative sponsorship deals meant Phelps could no longer train as an amateur, so when Bowman moved to coach at the University of Michigan in 2004, Phelps followed too and trained at a local swimming club in Ann Arbor called Club Wolverine.

Phelps has vowed not to work under any other coach than Bowman. "I don't think I would be where I am today with any other coach. He's always on top of things. We've been through a lot."
He maintained his grip as the world's No. 1 swimmer by winning four gold and two silver at the 2005 World Championships and then six gold medals at the 2007 World Championships in Melbourne, Australia. Then came this week's incredible record-breaking feats.

The bad news for Phelps's rivals is that he hasn't lost his thirst for more titles.

"This is something we've been preparing for over the past four years. The hard work is paying off and it's starting to show."

That is surely the understatement of Beijing 2008. Debate among sports columnists will rage about whether Phelps is the greatest Olympian of all time. Conjecture, of course ... but the record book is firmly on his side.


The Phelps Fact File

Full name: Michael Fred Phelps

Date of birth: June 30, 1985 (age 23)

Place of birth: Baltimore, Maryland, United States

Strokes: Butterfly, Individual Medley, Freestyle, Backstroke

Height: 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)

Weight: 195 pounds (88 kg)

Club: Wolverine, University of Michigan

Paris Hilton wants to be a superhero

Heiress PARIS HILTON looks pretty in turquoise at a gas station in Beverly Hills August 9.

Hotel heiress Paris Hilton has revealed she is creating a new superhero based on herself.

The celebrity socialite has been working with Stan Lee, who co-created the Spider-Man comic books, to invent a character for a new MTV cartoon.

She said: "Actually, I've created a superhero with Stan Lee, which is based on me, and we're doing a cartoon right now with MTV."

While Paris refused to divulge any details of the new collaboration, she did reveal her favorite superhero power.

She said: "I'd love to be invisible - that would be fun!"

Paris is no stranger to lending her name to various projects.

The 27-year-old beauty has her own perfume range, a line of hair extensions, a footwear line, and will release a sports collection later this year.

She also promotes Rich Prosecco, an Italian sparkling wine sold in cans instead of bottles.

Paris - who is currently dating Good Charlotte rocker Benji Madden - tried her luck at singing when she released her debut album Paris in 2006, and also attempted to display her writing skills with autobiographical book Confessions of an Heiress: A Tongue-in-Chic Peek Behind the Pose, released in 2004.

Paris has starred in movies including House of Wax, The Hottie and the Nottie and can soon be seen in Repo! The Genetic Opera.

Madonna's latest adoption plan hits snag

Singer Madonna performs at a concert to celebrate the launch of her new album "Hard Candy" in New York April 30, 2008.

Madonna is desperate to adopt a second child from Malawi. The "Give It 2 Me" singer wants to give a home to two-year-old girl Mercy James - whose mother died in childbirth and lives in an orphanage - but the child's family have said they are "not interested" in the proposition.

Madonna, 49, tried to push the adoption through last year, but Mercy's uncle John Nglande blocked it. The star reportedly renewed attempts to adopt the toddler in May by sending aides to speak to her family, but they are only prepared to go ahead with the plan if Mercy is returned to them when she is six years old.

Mercy's grandmother Anaphiri is quoted by Britain's Daily Mirror newspaper as saying: "When Mercy is no longer a baby we want her back. I do not want the money they said they'd give me."

Madonna's adoption of two-year old Malawian David Banda - a process she began in 2006 - was finalised earlier this year. It was claimed the singer had received special treatment as laws which ban non-residents from adopting children in the country were ignored.

She was widely criticised when it was discovered that while David's mother had died, his father was still alive and had been visiting him in his orphanage.

It was confirmed yesterday that Asienti Mwale, the women who raised David in Malawi, died on Sunday night of pneumonia. Madonna - who has two other children, Lourdes, 11, and eight-year-old Rocco - recently said the adoption process was like "natural childbirth".

She said: "It was painful and a big struggle and I didn't understand it. In the end, I rationalized that when a woman goes through natural childbirth, she suffers an enormous amount. I went through my own kind of birthing pains."

"Red Cliff" makes box office history

Tony Leung is seen in John Woo's "Red Cliff"

The most expensive Chinese film has finally become the most lucrative.

John Woo's battle epic "Red Cliff" has raked in 302 million yuan (44.04 million U.S. dollars) as of Monday, setting a new record for Chinese films, Sohu.com reported.

It also became the only Chinese film so far to have crossed the 300 million yuan milestone, the report says.

Zhang Yimou's Oscar-nominated 2006 film, "Curse of the Golden Flower," was previously the most bankable Chinese film, earning 286 million yuan.

"Red Cliff" opened on July 10, and took only four days to earn 100 million yuan. It easily grossed 200 million yuan over ten days.

An unnamed representative from the China Film Group, which produced and distributed "Red Cliff," told Sohu that he expected the film to continue its popularity and eventually exceed the domestic record created by "Titanic." The 1997 American blockbuster, which grossed a total of 360 million yuan in China, is still unbeaten today.

The strong takings of "Red Cliff" also pave the way for its sequel, due out in December, the representative said.

"Red Cliff," with a star-studded cast which includes Cannes best actor Tony Leung and heartthrob Takeshi Kaneshiro, boasts a budget of US$80 million, making it the costliest Chinese film ever.

It is based on a well-known historical battle in 208 AD in which thousands of ships were burnt. Magnificent battle scenes are one of its biggest features.

The film has been selected to open this year's Tokyo International Film Festival, running from October 18 to 26.

Anne Hathaway injured herself on set of "Get Smart"

Actress Anne Hathaway, star of the film "The Devil Wears Prada", signs autographs for fans as she arrives for the screening of the film at the opening night of the Los Angeles Film Festival in Los Angeles June 22, 2006. The film is set in the world of a high powered fashion magazine.

Anne Hathaway needed 15 stitches after filming a stunt for her new movie. The 25-year-old actress injured herself on the set of "Get Smart" when she high kicked a bar that hadn't been padded properly.

She said: "I had a real beauty of an injury. I was doing this one scene where I had to kick a Russian spy in the chest. I had to grab onto a bar and raise my knees up to my chest and kick. There was a second bar that the camera couldn't see and no one thought to pad, so here's the bar……and here are my shins and……SMACK! So I had to get 15 stitches."

Anne has also revealed she would love to get her hands on her female celebrity rivals Paris Hilton, Avril Lavigne and Lindsay Lohan.

When asked which of the three stars she would like to hit, Anne replied: "I would go for all of them at the same time and I would take all of them down!" Viewers can catch the full Anne Hathaway interview on UK TV show "T4" tomorrow.

Tokyo Film Festival to open with "Red Cliff"

Director John Woo (center) and cast members promote "Red Cliff" in Tokyo on August 6, 2008.

John Woo's lucrative historical epic "Red Cliff" will open this year's Tokyo International Film Festival, Chinese media reported.

The news was announced at a press conference on Wednesday in Tokyo, where Woo and leading cast members were promoting the film, China News Service reported.

The 21st Tokyo International Film Festival will run from October 18 to 26.

"Red Cliff," based on a Chinese water battle in 208 AD, features a star-heavy cast, including Japanese actor Shido Nakamura and Takeshi Kaneshiro, who is half Japanese, half Chinese.

The film will officially open in Japan on November 1.

"The Dark Knight" continues to top box office in U.S.

"The Dark Knight" continued to top the box office for the third consecutive week this summer, closing in on the 400-million-dollar sales mark, according to Media By Numbers by Sunday.

Actors (L-R) Chin Han, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Christian Bale, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Aaron Eckhart and Morgan Freeman pose for photographers during the premiere of the film The Dark Knight in New York, July 14, 2008.

The Batman movie from Warner Bros. is on track to sell 43.8 million dollars worth of admission tickets this weekend, for a three-week total of 394.9 million dollars.

"The Mummy: Tomb Of The Dragon Emperor" had a strong opening, as the Universal picture premiered with 42.5 million dollars in estimated sales.

"Step Brothers" and "Mama Mia! The Musical" had strong staying power, with the Will Farrell comedy from Sony/Columbia on track for 16.3 million dollars in sales this weekend, and a two-week gross of 63 million dollars.

The "Mama Mia!" musical starring Meryl Streep, is estimated to sell 13.1 million dollars in admissions this weekend, and will nudge the 88-million-dollar mark after its third weekend.

And down in eighth place, the Disney cartoon "Wall-E" crossed the 200-million-dollar mark.

Rounding out the top ten are:

-- "Journey To The Center Of The Earth," Warner Bros., 6.9 million dollars this weekend, 73.1 million over four weeks;

-- "Swing Vote," Disney, premiering in sixth place with an estimated 6.3 million dollars this weekend;

-- "Hancock," Sony/Columbia, 5.2 million dollars this weekend, 216 million over five weeks;

-- "Wall-E," Disney, 4.8 million dollars this weekend, 204.2 million over six weeks;

-- "The X-Files: I Want To Believe," Fox, 3.4 million dollars this weekend, 17 million over two weeks; and

-- "Space Chimps," Fox, 2.8 million this weekend, 22 million over three weeks.