For American swimming scud missile Michael Phelps, the heart-pounding race to Olympic immortality is well underway. He’s captured 3 gold medals so far. Three down, 5 to go. The goal is for Phelps to knife through water like never before and win 8 gold medals in Beijing. Phelps aims to smash the record American swimmer Mark Spitz, at 7 gold medals, set in the Munich games in 1972. Poor Mark Spitz. He already felt severely overlooked by Olympic organizers by not being invited to grace the Beijing games. Now, he’ll have to watch the most serious assassination attempt at his 36-year old record from his living room.

The Phelps Swim Saga has so far overshadowed television interest in Filipino athletes. Well, at least until boxer Harry Tanamor (beginning Wed Aug 12 8:00pm), Taekwondo jins Tsomlee Go and Toni Rivero (beginning Wed Aug 20 11:00am) start their realistic quest for a first ever gold medal. Such disparity can mark the difference between first world athletics and third world sports. Phelps, as an individual, already has 9 gold medals in a phenomenal Olympic career. The Philippines, as a nation, has yet to win one.

Phelps, however, remains the focal point of the Beijing Games. Effectively flirting with destiny, he is favored to accomplish god-like status in swimming - if he hasn’t already. Witnessing the Baltimore Bullet’s story unfold, one can’t help notice the irony provided by Olympic sport. On one side, there stood Phelps, with fists clenched, abs flexed, letting out a thundering roar of euphoria, disbelief and relief after winning his second gold medal, when Team USA scored a nail-biting swim-from-behind win in the 4 x 100 M Freestyle Relay over France.

On the other side, there stood weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz, our 17-year old Olympic debutante, deflated, distraught, awestruck with the magnitude of the Olympic games. Phelps basked in expected victory. Diaz sulked in neophyte failure. As the late great American sportscaster Jim McKay vocalized, sports is about the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.

Sports is also about taking a couple of steps back in order to surge forward. So while the image of Phelps screaming with American bravado and victorious bliss remains the signature image of the Beijing Games, footage of Diaz flashing a smile fueled by disappointment, motivation and purpose could serve as the prelude for Hidilyn’s real target: success in London 2012.

Thanks to competitive drama, these Olympic games have been fun to watch. If television ratings in the US were to be used as a barometer, Beijing is putting on quite a show. It’s like Yang Chow Fried Rice. It practically has everything in it, looks appetizingly good, adds inches to waist and tastes great. Well, the Beijing Games are just as tasty - made spicier with a healthy serving of Olympic controversies. With ethical questions surrounding the lip-syncing-girl-switching fiasco, computer-generated fireworks, an offensive ad by the Spanish Men’s Basketball Team, the spectre of bad weather — and we’re not even halfway trough the games — Beijing is handling a handful but serving a mouthful at the same time. It makes for great television sports entertainment and will, at least, help Mark Spitz bear with the agonizing wait.

Catch the marathon coverage of the Beijing Olympics on all Solar Entertainment Channels and daily updates on Solar Sports + C/S RPN (9:00pm, 2:00pm, 5:00pm, 8:00pm, Recap Show 11:30pm).