Most of all

BEIJING – It took 112 years worth of Olympics for one athlete to collect 10 gold medals. About an hour later, Michael Phelps made it 11.

Phelps won the 200-meter butterfly Wednesday morning to stamp himself as the mightiest Olympian in history, then got back in the pool and continued his quest toward having the greatest single Olympics by helping the U.S. win the 800 freestyle relay.

He’s 5 for 5 in victories and world records in Beijing, putting him more than halfway toward his goal of eight titles. Mark Spitz’s once-unfathomable haul of seven wins has stood since 1972, but may have only a few days left.

After doubling up on finals Wednesday, Phelps will catch his breath Thursday, then dive back into his pursuit of history with finals Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Phelps thrilled Kobe Bryant and the rest of the Water Cube by winning the butterfly, but he “only” lowered his record by 0.06. A concerned look on his face showed something was wrong. Turns out, it was just a pair of leaky goggles.

Nothing went wrong in the relay. Swimming first, he put the Americans ahead after 25 meters and well toward the record. His teammates stretched the lead to comic proportions, making sure they didn’t need anything like the dramatic finish to win the 400 freestyle relay.

As much as Phelps is making victories and records look routine, it never gets boring, considering the tens of thousands of athletes who’ve competed in all the Olympic sports – summer and winter – since 1896 and realize none was as successful as Phelps. Finland’s Paavo Nurmi won nine medals, then Russia’s Larysa Latynina matched him. Decades passed and Spitz and Carl Lewis were the only ones to join the club.

Now this 23-year-old phenom from Baltimore has already topped them all, and who knows what’s in store for 2012 in London.

“He’s not just winning, he’s absolutely destroying everything,” teammate Aaron Peirsol said Tuesday. “It’s awesome to watch.”

Get this: If Phelps was his own nation (The Republic of Phelps? Phelpsistan? The Kingdom of Phelps?), he would be tied with South Korea for the third-most golds at these games.

As it is, he has a 5-4 advantage over the rest of the U.S. delegation. He’s also helped the Americans to a 25-21 lead over China in the overall medals race. The Chinese lead 13-9 in golds. Other than the U.S., no country has as many total medals as China has of the very best color.

Also Wednesday morning, the U.S. women gymnastics team made several mistakes and settled for silver, a disappointing second to China for Shawn Johnson, Nastia Liukin and crew.

Back at the pool, Phelps’ pseudo sister, fellow Baltimore swimmer Katie Hoff, finished fourth in the 200 freestyle, marking her first nonmedal finish in three events here and keeping her without gold.

Italy’s Federica Pellegrini won it in a world-record time. Australia’s Stephanie Rice won her second gold, taking the 200 individual medley in a world-record time. Her ex-beau, countryman Eamon Sullivan, set the 100 freestyle world record in a semifinal heat.

The exciting start to Day 5 continues the excitement of Day 4 in Beijing.

There were a bunch more medals and records at the pool, plus cancer patient Eric Shanteau getting into the semifinals of the 200-meter breaststroke. There was the practically flawless performance by China’s men’s gymnasts and the plucky bronze for the Hamm-less U.S. men. There was superb pitching and powerful hitting in a record rout by the U.S. women’s softball team.

Even the weather was good. Sun and blue skies were seen for the first time since the flame was lit, proving there really is something behind the haze and clouds.

A different kind of haze is forming over the 2008 Summer Games.

If all the tickets were sold, why are there so many empty seats? Where’s all the buzz in this bustling city of more than 17 million residents? And, uh, about that picture perfect opening ceremony …

In their eagerness to make the show sound and look perfect, the chief music director told Beijing Radio that the 7-year-old girl who sang “Ode to the Motherland” was replaced at the last minute by a better-looking 9-year-old lip-syncher, and that images of fireworks shown in the Bird’s Nest were not live but computer-generated. The faux footage was distributed to broadcasters; NBC said its announcers let everyone in on the secret.

Softball

Four no-hit innings from the starter. An inside-the-park home run and two of the over-the-fence variety. A record number of runs ending things after five innings.

Yep, the Americans are back to their old tricks on the softball diamond, beating Venezuela 11-0 for their 15th straight Olympic victory.

Jennie Finch was the pitching star, with the homers coming from Natasha Watley, Crystl Bustos and Caitlin Lowe, whose shot didn’t leave the yard.

“It was a great show and I hope we have many more,” U.S. coach Mike Candrea said.

In other openers, Japan beat Australia 4-3; Canada’s Laura Bay Regula – the sister of Boston Red Sox outfielder Jason Bay – allowed one hit in five innings and Megan Timpf drove in three runs in a 6-1 win over Taiwan; and China beat The Netherlands 10-2.

Tennis

Serena won. Venus won. Then, they won together — three victories in one day for the Williams sisters.

Each swept her way into the third round in singles, then together knocked off a Czech duo in doubles.

In men’s singles, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal advanced with ease, with Nadal dropping only three games total against Australian Lleyton Hewitt. Federer next faces Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic, who beat him at the last Olympics.

“He has got a great game,” Federer said. “Obviously I’m aware of the danger.”

Americans Lindsay Davenport and Liezel Huber won their first-round doubles match, as did the No. 1-seeded men’s duo, Mike and Bob Bryan of the United States.

In women’s singles, Jelena Jankovic moved atop the rankings and celebrated with a victory. James Blake, the lone remaining U.S. player in men’s singles, also won, as did No. 3 seed Novak Djokovic of Serbia.

Boxing

Rau’Shee Warren worked four years to become the first two-time American boxing Olympian in 30 years. Then, in his first match, he made the huge mistake of spending the last 35 seconds trying to protect a lead when he actually was behind and needed to go on the attack. He lost 9-8 and left the ring in tears.

“I don’t even know what happened,” he said.

France’s Jerome Thomas, a two-time flyweight medalist, lost. Meanwhile, bantamweight Gu Yu extended China’s great start with a 17-7 victory that left Britain’s Joe Murray crying about judges being too partial toward the home country. China’s relatively inexperienced team won four other first-round bouts.

“I knew they were going to give him everything he wanted,” said Murray, who beat Gu in the quarterfinals of last fall’s world championships.

The International Amateur Boxing Association already reviewed and denied a protest by the Ukrainian team over a loss Monday night.

Women’s soccer

Heather O’Reilly scored 40 seconds into the match, leading the U.S. past New Zealand 4-0 and into the quarterfinals.