Why Phelps was the star of the Games

© Fairfax NZ News

A list of reasons why swimming's "Superfish" Michael Phelps was the star of the Beijing Games.

'Pool rat' Phelps found focus on path to gold

Reuters

When Michael Phelps was a kid, his primary school teacher told his mother he would never amount to anything because he was unable to focus.

Reaching Olympus in open water

© Fairfax NZ News

Natalie du Toit was distinctive in two ways in a murky river in Spain earlier this year in the moment that she qualified for the 10km marathon swim at the Bejing Olympics. One was that she had only one leg and had to wait in the water until an aide brought her prosthetic. The other was that she had a black eye.

Chinese mob Phelps lookalike (+video)

© Fairfax NZ News

Former Olympic swimmer Steve Parry, a BBC TV commentator, has been mobbed by Chinese Olympic fans as he broadcast live from Tiananmen Square because they thought he was US super-fish Michael Phelps.