Some athletes are favored to win golds and smash world records. Others are favored only by themselves. While the media focuses on some of the Games high profile athletes, these talented underdogs will seek to spoil the party:

1. Michael Phelps is more than halfway to a record 8 Olympic medals in one Olympics. But he still has some stiff competition. In the 200-meter individual medley, American Ryan Lochte, a good friend of Phelps, might touch ahead of the famous swimmer. In the 4×100 medley relay, Australia will be looking to salvage a lackluster meet by upsetting the favored US squad. The biggest challenge for Phelps will come in the 100-meter butterfly, where world-record holder Ian Crocker is waiting. The more powerful Crocker is probably the toughest competition Phelps will meet on the way to his record.

2. Everyone is buzzing about the showdown between Tyson Gay, Asafa Powell, and Usain Bolt. But no one is talking about the silver medalist from Athens 2004, Portugal’s Francis Obikwelu. Also in the field will be Derrick Atkins of the Bahamas. He finished a close second at last year’s world championships.

3. With Rodger Federer out, it looks like the role of underdog will go to James Blake, who is a win away from facing Rafael Nadal in the gold medal match. These days, Nadal is favored to win every time he steps on the court. But anything can happen in the Olympics, as Blake proved when he upset Federer.

4. Spain is looking strong in the men’s basketball tournament. Along with Lithuania, they are the team capable of knocking the US out of the tournament. Lithuania almost took the US out of medals in 2004, while Spain is the most recent world champion.

5. Who can beat Misty May-Treanor and Kerry Walsh? The last team to defeat them, Nicole Branagh and Elaine Youngs, are looking up to the task during the early stages of group play at the Beach Volleyball venue in Beijing. Branagh and Youngs will really have to perform their best to even have a shot at their successful countrywomen, but a win on Olympic sand is not out of the question.

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It was a gold medal day for China at the Olympics.

The host country completed their sweep of the team events in gymnastics by winning the women’s team gold yesterday. The US squad, led by 16-year-old Shawn Johnson, challenged the Chinese women, but the outcome was never really in doubt. To have any chance, the US would have had to perform flawlessly. Lackluster outings on the balance beam and floor exercises kept the gold out of reach. However, the high degree of difficulty in the routines by the Chinese gymnasts put the gold nearly out of reach before the competition even began. A young and inexperienced Romanian squad was able to overcome Russia and claim the bronze medal.

The Chinese men’s gymnastics team completed a dominating performance yesterday, cruising to victory over Japan. The US team, without stars Morgan and Paul Hamm, was able to hold on for the bronze after leading halfway through the competition. As with the women’s event, the outcome was never really in doubt.

Michael Phelps added to his gold medal count in the 4×200-meter freestyle relay and the 200-meter butterfly. He has won five gold medals thus far and still has three more events to go before he is done. He is on track to claim 8 gold medals, a record at the Olympics.

The top ranked US men’s beach volleyball squad of Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers beat an experienced Argentine team to assure an advance to the knockout stage of the tournament. The duo lost their first match against a young Latvian team, but has managed to rebound and return to their dominating form.

The US men’s soccer team didn’t fare as well though. They lost to Nigeria 2-1 and will not be advancing to the knockout stage of the soccer tournament. Favored teams from The Netherlands, Argentina, and Brazil all won their final group match and will be among the 8 teams playing in the single elimination phase.

With the Olympics approaching the end of their first week, we have already seen some great performances. But, there are some showdowns of Olympic proportions that will take place over the next week-and-a-half. Here are some to look forward to:

1. The Rafael Nadal and Rodger Federer are on track to meet in the finals of the men’s tennis tournament. After a match in the Wimbledon finals that John McEnroe called the best match he had ever seen, the two may be competing with each other for the one prize that neither has, an Olympic gold medal. If they do meet, everyone will be expecting another epic match.

2. The US men’s basketball team will have a target on their backs in the knockout stage of the basketball tournament. World champion Spain and a strong team from Greece could both end the US’s gold medal run. There are several other teams who could also pull an upset, namely Lithuania and Argentina.

3. Argentina is the defending soccer gold medalist. They are looking strong, but Brazil, who have never won a gold medal, are dominating opponents in the early stage of the tournament. The two neighboring countries and traditional soccer rivals will, most likely, do battle for gold.

4. American Tyson Gay and Jamaicans Usain Bolt and Asafa Powell will compete in the men’s 100-meter sprint. The winner will likely have to run under world record pace, and perhaps all three will run times under the current world mark.

5. China’s Liu Xiang will have tremendous pressure on him during the 110-meter hurdle finals. The Chinese superstar won the gold in 2004 and will now be running in front of a home crowd. In the past year, however, Cuba’s Dayron Robles has broken Liu’s world record and has dominated the competition in the event. Anywhere else in the world, Robles would be favored, but in Beijing, anything can happen.

It has been a busy past 24 hours in the pool. The US team has been dominant with Michael Phelps adding to his hardware collection with a win and a world record in the 200-meter freestyle. Aaron Peirsol continued to dominate the 100-meter backstroke. He defended the gold he won in the event in Athens and also broke the world record. His teammate, Matt Grevers, earned the silver. Peirsol’s female counterpart, Natalie Coughlin, won her second straight gold in the women’s 100 backstroke.

Australian Leisel Jones won the women’s 100-meter breaststroke. Team Australia has done well in the women’s events, but the men have not been able to show any dominance thus far.

China’s men’s gymnastics squad avenged their loss of 4 years ago in Athens. China dominated the team event. The US was in the lead halfway through the competition, but the end result was never really in doubt as China cruised through the events to take an easy victory. The US was unable to upset Japan and claim the silver, but strong performances from Jonathan Horton, Alexander Artemev, and Raj Bhavsar earned the US the 3rd spot on the podium.

The lackluster showing continued for US boxing. After last minute withdraws and questions about the training methods and tactical decisions of coach Dan Campbell, the US was dealt another blow yesterday. Rau’shee Warren, one of the boxers favored to make it to the podium for team US, lost a close battle against South Korea’s Lee Ok-sung. It was a major upset for the Korean, but one that was handed to him when Warren, thinking he had won the fight, stopped punching midway through the final round. Welterweight Demetrius Andrade is the best remaining hope for the US to earn a medal.

US basketball cruised past Angola in their second match. Another win and they will be assured of a spot in the knockout stage of the tournament.

The first weekend of the Olympics is behind us. Every gold medal is memorable to the person who wins it, but a few events stood out to spectators in Beijing and those watching on TV worldwide.

Here are some of the best moments from the early competitions of the 2008 Olympics.

1. 17-year-old weightlifter Long Qingquan took gold in the men’s 56-kg competition. The record 132-kg weight he lifted in the snatch portion of the competition was enough to give him the win. This was the first chance Chinese fans had to really cheer their home athletes. The audience went crazy every time Long tookthe platform. He began the competiton with bows in response to the applause. But these had turned into fist pumps, shouts, and waves by the end of the day.

2. The US men’s gymnastics team was able to win bronze in the team competition. The way the plucky second stringers performed was more than admirable. No one watching the event would remember that Morgan and Paul Hamm, the stars of the Athens Olympics, were absent.

3. The woman’s bicycle road race was run in terrible conditions. Torrential rains and pooling water on the roadway led to numerous accidents, including some that left riders in the water-filled ditch on the side of the road. When Nicole Cooke finally crossed the line to win gold, no one doubted that she deserved it.

4. Jason Lezak won the 4×100-meter freestyle relay for the US by inches after beginning the final leg of the race well behind a strong French team. At 32 year-old, Lezak used a veteran’s wisdom, swimming in the French swimmer’s wake in order to make up additional time.

5. In women’s Water Polo, a young Chinese team, put together especially for the Olympics, nearly knocked off the reigning world champions from the US. In the end, the Chinese squad’s inexperience showed, but for most of the match, they play evenly with the US and ended up losing by only one goal.

So far, the Olympics have been a success for host country China. Not only was the opening ceremony among the most visually stunning ever, Chinese athletes have, as of Monday morning, won more medals than any other country at the Games with 9 golds and 14 medals total.

There was a bit of tragedy, though. An American tourist, the father in-law of the US men’s volleyball coach, was killed in a random knife attack at Beijing’s famous Drum Tower. His wife was injured, but will recover. The attacker leapt to his death.

Michael Phelps had some early success in the pool. He won the 400-meter individual medley in world record time. Phelps was also part of the US 4×100 meter freestyle relay team. The team was anchored by Jason Lezak, who overcame a large lead by the French relay team to win the gold for the US by inches.

The US women earned silver in the 4×100 with 41-year-old Dara Torres swimming the anchor leg and touching the wall second to earn her 10th career Olympic medal.

Also in the pool, Japan’s Kosuke Kitajima repeated as the men’s 100-meter breaststroke gold medalist. His rival from 4 years ago, Brendan Hansen, was not able to avenge his loss in the event in Athens. He finished fourth.

Park Tae-Hwan won South Korea’s first ever swimming gold with a decisive victory in the 400-meter freestyle.

Also, South Korea’s domination of the team archery event continued as they easily defeated China in the women’s gold medal match. No one has beaten the Korean women since 1988.

The US basketball squad got off to a good start, beating China by more than 30 points. The crowd at the Olympic gymnasium was not at all partisan, cheering for both the US and China during the game.

China had more success in gymnastics than basketball. Both the men’s and women’s teams came out on top after the qualifying round. They are favored to win gold.

Whether on the beach or on the indoor courts, Volleyball has been responsible for some of the early drama in Beijing.

The US men’s indoor team, which entered the tournament with high hopes, was able to come out of their first match with a win. Barely. After leading Venezuela 2-0, the US dropped two straight games before stopping the momentum and pulling out the deciding game in commanding fashion. The win was a must for the US because their next match is against a strong Italian squad that breezed past Japan 3-1.

The US women beat Japan in their opening match, but then would not even get a game off Cuba in their second outing. Cuba looked extremely dominant in their 3-0 victory over the US squad. The Cubans are headed for a showdown with a strong team from China on Wednesday. With Brazil and Italy both in the other group, Cuba will have a good shot at a perfect record in group play and is favored to reach the gold medal match.

On the beach, Latvia’s Martins Plavins and Aleksandrs Samoilovs upset top US men’s pair, Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers, in their opening match. The US duo rebounded to win their second match, while the Latvians lost, effectively evening the standings for the final match in the group.

Brazilians Ricardo Santos and Emanual Rego, the defending gold medalists are looking strong with a 2-0 record.

The Chinese women’s team of Tian Jia and Wang Jie won despite a challenge from an underrated Belgian side. Both US women’s teams are performing well early in the tournament. Nicole Branagh and Elaine Youngs improved to 2-0 in group play. But all eyes were on the other US team. The famed Walsh and May duo is currently on a 102 match win streak and they do not seem to be slowing down.

Despite all the worries about pollution, heat, and rain, the Olympic opening ceremonies went off without a hitch. Here are some of the highlights of what many consider to be China’s coming out party.

NBC will not broadcast the proceedings until this evening (8/8). So this is a spoiler warning for those who do not want to be surprised when they turn on their TVs this evening. If you don’t want to know anything about the opening ceremonies until you see them for yourself, read no further.

Everything was larger than life including a huge, glowing, blue globe that took up the whole infield. Musical star Sarah Brightman and Liu Huan, a Chinese pop star, sang from the top of the globe. 2,008 performers covered the field, holding up smiling faces.

The ceremony celebrated Chinese culture. Much of the Middle Kingdom’s past was represented somehow. However, any mentions or representations of the past century’s civil war and Maoist rule were absent. Tai Chi masters, martial artists, and acrobats performed. A huge group of drummers counted down the seconds until the official beginning of the Games (at 8:08 in the evening, local time).

A visually spectacular portion of the ceremony occurred when thousands of men in lighted costumes took the field. They were supposed to represent the Milky Way, but could just as well have been one of China’s growing cities as seen from the air at night.

Dancers dressed as flowers, actors dressed as Confucian scholars holding bamboo scrolls, and silkscreen workers were also part of the performances.

An impressive fireworks display preceded the long parade of athletes entering the National Stadium’s infield.

Police were stationed throughout the city and around the venue to provide security and, undoubtedly, to thwart any would-be protestors trying to rain on China’s parade.

All in all, the opening ceremonies were a rousing success. It is a success that China hopes will continue for the next two and a half weeks.

Swimming has managed to avoid most of the doping allegations that have threatened the legitimacy of sports like track, cycling, and weightlifting. Though some swimmers have been caught using performance enhancing drugs in the past, the problem is nowhere near as dramatic or widespread as it is in track, where stars like Marion Jones and Justin Gatlin have been suspended and, in Marion’s case jailed, for their use of steroids.

This year, track has managed to avoid any major steroid scandals, but it was recently revealed that swimmer Jessica Hardy tested positive for a banned anabolic substance. Though she has not yet spoken to the public, her lawyer confirmed that she did test positive for a little-used performance enhancer called Clenbuterol. The drug is sometimes used to treat asthma, but can also be used to increase lung capacity and overall stamina.

Many US swimmers, including Gary Hall Jr., have said that USA Swimming has gone out of its way to educate swimmers on which drugs are not allowed. While this approach might be responsible for the low numbers of positive drug tests amongst US swimmers, it leaves Hardy with no opportunity to plead innocence because of ignorance.

The typical suspension for a first time steroid offender is 2 years. Hardy may choose to appear before the US Anti Doping Agency to plead her case. In the past, athletes have been able to halve their suspension time. Even if Hardy and her lawyer are successful, there is no scenario that will allow Hardy to compete in the Beijing Olympics. That is unless the results of the positive test are somehow disallowed.

Sports journalists and Olympic officials do not expect Hardy’s case to be the last. IOC head Jacques Rogge has said that testing for performance enhancing drugs will be increased at the Beijing Games and he expects as many as 40 positive tests.

The Opening ceremonies will take place on Friday, but events will start before that. There will be three woman’s soccer matches on Wednesday including a meeting between Brazil and Germany. Men’s matches are slated for Friday. The exciting action includes Brazil versus Belgium, The US against Japan, and a clash between upstarts China and New Zealand.

Michael Phelps took the flight to China alongside other members of the US swim team. However, the star did not leave the airport with the team. He snuck out a side door, leaving his teammates to run the gauntlet of press and fans. If all goes as planned, Phelps will leave Beijing with 8 gold medals. That will be an Olympic record.

As planned, the Olympic torch passed through the earthquake-stricken province of Sichuan today on its last leg before reaching Beijing. There was an hour-long ceremony at a stadium that was used for refugees in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake. Attendees observed a minute of silence in memory of the quake’s 70,000 victims.

The US women’s basketball squad beat Russia in their final tune up before the Olympics. Becky Hammon, an American who also holds Russian citizenship, scored 10 points for Russia. She raised some controversy when she chose to play for Russia rather than the US. Even with her on the court, Russia was no match for the strong US squad. Diana Taurasi led all scorers with 21 points for the US.

Jacques Rogge, the president of the International Olympic committee, is affirming his organization’s decision to award the games to China saying that it is now apparent that the Olympics have caused rapid change and development in Beijing.

Rogge is also positive about anti-doping measures being taken. He claims that advances in chemistry and unprecedented amounts of testing will lead to a steroid-free Olympics.