Phelps' Eight-medal Blitz

First medal: Emotional

"I'm pretty emotional after that race, I wanted to sing on the medal podium, but I just couldn't stop crying."

Second medal: Nuts!

"I was going nuts, I've never celebrated that much after a race in my life."

Third medal: Rolling

"There's a lot more swimming left, so I'll just try to keep the ball rolling."

Fourth + fifth (Breaking all-time record): Not yet

"There is still something left in the tank. I've got three races left, so there had better be something left in the tank."

Sixth medal: No Time

"I switched from my dress sweats to my parka, shoes, threw my cap and goggles on and then they pushed us on out. No time. The medal was in my warm-up jacket."

Seventh medal: Unbelievable

"I feel a little bit of everything - relief, excitement, everything. I had to take my goggles off to make sure the '1' was next to my name."

Eighth medal: Mission completed

"There are so many emotions going through my head and so much excitement. I kind of just want to see my mom.

"It's been nothing but an upwards roller-coaster and it's been nothing but fun."

…and the best from Phelps:

"I got 80 text messages today. One of my friends said to me, 'Dude, how many times a day do I have to see your ugly face on TV?'"

"I'm looking forward to not doing anything, just sitting and not moving, I want to go back to the States. I just want to lay in my own bed for five minutes, at least, and just relax," Phelps reveals his post-Olympics plans.

"My mom has told me that I better make the team for the 2009 World Championships, because she wants to go to Rome, I have the pressure from the mom, so I guess we have to get back into it and make that happen," Phelps' mom might force a change in his plans.

Thunder-Bolt

"I just ran the first 50 meters and then I looked round to make sure I was safe and I shut it off," Bolt ran 50 meters… but yet he broke the 100m world record!

"No, that wasn't easy. I felt like I was swimming, and I just kept telling myself 'don't die, don't die'." Bolt after adding the 200m gold medal.

"The crowd loves it, they love when I put on a show for them. I just blew my mind, and blew the world's mind," Bolt defends his unusual style in celebrating.

"I understand the joy. He might have interpreted that in another way, but the way it was perceived was 'Catch me if you can.' You don't do that. But he'll learn. He's still a young man." IOC president Jacques Rogge was not impressed by Bolt's premature celebration.

"I love watching him when he does his thing. His dance adds a bit of sparkle and cheer. I don't feel like he's being disrespectful, he deserves to dance." 200m silver medalist Shawn Crawford does not agree with Rogge.

Crawford continues: "He's bad. He broke the 100-meter record, the 200-meter record. I'm serious, he's bad. The guy came out and made this the best Olympics of my lifetime," then what would have happened if Bolt was 'good'!

"He's from another planet, I think … He's from a whole other league. He could do a cartwheel and win this thing," 200m sprinter Jared Connaughton from Canada describes the thunder-Bolt.

Kobe's Reputation in China

"One night we had a big storm. It was raining and the bus was leaving our hotel to come here to the game, and there are still people outside with Kobe signs and posters. No ponchos. Just chasing after the bus and screaming," Kobe Bryant stole the show in Beijing.

"Kobe is unbelievable. MVP of the NBA this year, but no way he's bigger in the States than he is here in China," US point guard Chris Paul.

"How would I describe it? Elvis Presley. Michael Jackson," US captain Jason Kidd describes Kobe's popularity in China.

Best of the Rest

"I didn't know the English were good at swimming. I have been in this country for 12 years and I haven't seen a swimming pool," Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger.

"If you lose in the NBA Finals back home, you get bandied around in the media, maybe criticized for a week or so, and then it's on to the next thing. Here, you might lose citizenship!" the silver medal is not an option for US guard Bryant.

"I've never been so angry in all my life. I saw a team that didn't show any will to win. …It's shameful to lose this way to Argentina.'' Brazil president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva after his country's 3-0 semifinal defeat to South American giants Argentina.

"Actually I was asleep, I got eliminated because I was not informed with the right timing of my weight tests, so I rested that day. Now the people responsible for that want me to claim I was injured to cover their fault," Saudi weightlifter Ali Al-Dhilab flied to Beijing to get some sleep.

"The water doesn't really know what age you are," 41-year-old American swimmer Dara Torres became the oldest athlete ever to win an Olympic medal.

"In 2004, I won a bronze. This is silver. Maybe in 2012, it will be gold. Slowly, slowly," Kenyan athlete Eliud Kipchoge after finishing second in the 5,000m athletics competition.

"It's like I imagine being a man. It's like being kicked in the nuts repeatedly, that's how bad it feels. You feel like you want to curl up and die," Canadian fencer Sherraine Schalm after her early exit from the last 16 bout.