BEIJING, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- The Olympic host China basked in jubilance on Sunday as the nation shared international athletes' triumphs and marveled at their supremacy in the competition for a total of 37 Olympic gold medals up for grabs.
Michael Phelps apparently won the nation's 1.3 billion hearts when he completed his all-eight gold hunt with a seventh world record at the Beijing Olympics.
The entire audience roared when Phelps turned a third place behind Japan and Australia into the lead in the third leg of the men's 4x100m medley relay final, securing first place for his teammate Jason Lezak, who completed the final lap in a record-breaking 3 minutes and 29.34 seconds.
It was more than the Americans that were thrilled -- nearly all the Chinese, who made up the bulk of the 10,000-odd audience at the Water Cube in northern Beijing, marveled at the miracle.
"I think Phelps is the greatest swimmer of all times: he's talented and trains hard," said Ma Mengqiao, an 18-year-old spectator from Beijing. "I guess his success will reinforce the status of this sport in the Olympic agenda."
Ma, one of innumerable youngsters in China who idolize Phelps, said her admiration for the American star who won six golds in Athens at 19 has shaped herself into an amateur swimmer.
"He's really a miracle. I enjoyed seeing him smile every time he won gold," said Beijing bus driver Guo Ruijie, who bought a hard-won ticket for Sunday's finals after making reservations online last summer.
Guo, 24, said Phelps, with his eight golds, has put an additional "lucky eight" to the Beijing Games, which opened on Aug. 8, 2008.
"He's my idol because he has devoted himself to his ambitions," said Liu Zige, who won China's only swimming gold at the Beijing Games in women's 200m butterfly on Thursday. "There's a lot I should learn from him."
Besides the lucky ones who gained access to the Water Cube, most residents in Beijing stayed home on the drizzling, overcast Sunday morning, watching the Games on TV and chatting about their favorite stars on the Internet.
Notably, the heated discussions about the Games in China's cyber community, which has some 210 million Internet users, are by no means limited to Chinese players.
While Internet surfers rejoiced on Sunday over witnessing China's gold medal collection surpass the 32-mark set in Athens with the Games just past halfway, Phelps and other international stars still dominated the online chats.
In an online poll at China's leading portal website sina.com.cn, 76 percent of the nearly 40,000 people surveyed agreed Phelps is the "greatest sportsman in human history."
"Phelps would have ranked fifth on the gold medal table (of the Beijing Olympics) even if he represented a one-man team," gushed an 18-year-old netizen in his blog. "I'd say he's a fish with no gills."
"The Phelps legend proves that human potentials are unlimited. The Olympic Games are forever leading the human race to become faster, higher and stronger...So the Beijing Games are more than a spectacular opening ceremony, they have posed more aggressive challenges to test our limits," said a netizen named "soul of the setting sun" on xinhuanet.com.
As Chinese netizens heaped praises on Phelps, few people seemed to mind their country's own disadvantage in the pool, with only one swimming gold out of the total 32.
The nation was truly delighted on Sunday when Chinese shooter Qiu Jian miraculously upset American shooter Matthew Emmons to take gold in men's 50m rifle three positions.
In fact, it was Emmons who "miraculously" conceded a firm grip on the gold medal with a shocking last shot of 4.4 points. "It's incredible," said a netizen named "Simagang." "I nearly froze in front of the television when I saw you lose. Sorry, Emmons, but you're still among the best shooters in my heart."
For avid Chinese spectators, the past week has been full of laughters and tears, excitement and disappointments, abstracted working hours and sleepless nights. "Can you imagine we're allowed to leave the television on in the office?" said Wang Yan, an office worker at a Beijing-based private firm.
As hosts of the world's largest sports rally, the Chinese have transcended from their national sentiments to value sportsmanship and extend heartfelt welcomes and congratulations to every Olympian, regardless of their nationality or race.
Under the "One World, One Dream" theme of the Beijing Olympics, people have stopped distinguishing "us" from "them" and have heartily celebrated every miracle and regretted every failure.
In a more open attitude, Chinese spectators have been cheering for both domestic and foreign players, and have extended friendly gestures to their former heroes who now represent foreign teams. They stood up to applaud former Olympic fencing champion Luan Jujie, who now represents Canada, and made the U.S. women's volleyball team coach Lang Ping, the beloved "iron hammer" of the Chinese team 20 years back, feel at home when her team met the host team in a preliminary game on Friday night.
Out of their respect for the true heroes, Chinese spectators marveled at Usain Bolt's stunning speed when he sprinted the men's 100-meter in a record-breaking 9.69 seconds to win the Olympic gold on Saturday night. "So how fast on earth can human beings actually run?" many people gasped.
Yet out of respect for the Olympic spirit, some also criticized the Jamaican for slowing down at the end to check if he was still ahead and punch his chest in joy in front of some 91,000 spectators. "I was just having fun, that's me," the 21-year-old Bolt had said.
"But you could have done better," said a Chinese Internet surfer, whose opinion was echoed by many others. "You could have made it at 9.60 seconds."
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