At Beijing even the superstars can win fresh glory. We profile five towering athletes who will set the standards.

History tells us that at every Olympic Games there have been athletes who come out of nowhere to produce superlative performances and announce their arrival on the sporting arena. Jesse Owens did that, spectacularly, in 1936 at the Berlin Olympics. Swimmer Mark Spitz made the 1972 Munich Games his own.

MICHAEL PHELPS
As a 19-year-old in 2004, Michael Phelps stunned the entire world with his swimming and pocketed six medals — four gold and two bronze. This year Phelps will be looking to better his achievement. Mark Spitz won six gold medals in 1972 and it will take a herculean effort on the part of Phelps to better his as well as Spitz’s records. He will be under immense pressure but goes in as the best swimmer in the world and one of the all-time greats.

Experts are even suggesting that if Phelps manages to equal or better his achievement he may go down as one of the best Olympians of all time. That is some honour to bestow — but will Phelps be able to live upto the hype and expectations? He may be the best there is, but the Olympics have been the banana skin on which many an athlete has slipped.

RAFAEL NADAL
It is quite novel to not have Roger Federer as the man to watch out for in any tennis event he is competing in. It’s even more unusual if the event is not being played on clay. But such has been the sparkling form of Rafael Nadal that you have to make him the man to watch out for.

It has been a stellar season for the Spaniard so far. After winning the French Open as well as Wimbledon, he is breathing down Federer’s neck to claim the number one spot in the world. If Nadal can beat Federer at Wimbledon, he can beat him anywhere, seems to be the mantra the experts are chanting.

Don’t count out Federer yet, nor Novak Djokovic from Serbia, but it is Nadal who is in the pole position to come up trumps in Beijing. It will be the perfect summer for the man from Mallorca if he wins the gold medal at Beijing. Going by his form, it will be an upset if he doesn’t manage to achieve that.

KOBE BRYANT
The US basketball team that won the gold in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics was aptly called the Dream Team. When you have Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Charles Berkley and Patrick Ewing, no other title will do justice. This time around, the US team doesn’t boast too many star names, but one man on it will be looking to add an Olympic medal to his illustrious career.

Kobe Bryant, who missed another NBA title by a whisker this summer, was arguably the best player in the championship this season. While Team USA arrive in Beijing as overwhelming favourites to win the medal, they will look to Kobe to provide the inspiration.

ELENA ISINBAEVA
This Russian pole vaulter seems to have a penchant for breaking world records. She has broken the record not once or twice, but a whopping 26 times! Only the best pole vaulter of all time, Sergei Bubka, has a more astonishing record. Bubka created or broke records 34 times. Isinbaeva is the red-hot favourite for the gold at Beijing as, at the moment, she is almost peerless in the discipline.

There won’t be too many raised eyebrows if she manages to break her record once more, in fact it will be disappointing if she manages to win the gold but not create a world record. How’s that for expectation!

RONALDINHO
Football is not one of the most anticipated events at the Olympics. Yet this man from Brazil will be looking forward to showing the entire footballing fraternity that he still has what it takes to be one of the best in the world.

A disappointing season with his club, reports of partying and loss of motivation haven’t done much to his reputation. Ronaldinho remains one of the best, but he needs to show the world that he has the hunger as well as desire to reclaim the title of best footballer on the planet.

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