Ian Thorpe [CCTV]

Ian Thorpe, 5-time Olympic medallist, said, "The 200 freestyle, I think Michael Phelps will win. The 400 freestyle? I think that South Korean kid's (Park Tae-hwan) is going to win. I think, I think both swims are going to be fast, But there's a lot of competition in the 400, especially now. It's kind of...there's been a grace period, I guess, since when I was at the head of the pack. But people are now slowly coming up to the times that I was swimming when I was in the pool.One thing about Michael that makes him such a brilliant athlete is just his sheer focus on the task of swimming."

"You know, the training that he does and, you know, what he does on pool day, his attitude. All of these things contribute to his performances and, you know, here I think he is going to win a lot of medals but what we have to remember, is that he is not competing in the same competition as other people. People go out for their pet events, and they race in those. Michael Phelps is racing eight days - and he's racing for all of them. So, he has to be on his game for each of those days."

(CCTV August 7, 2008)