* Tyson Gay is a creature of habit, which makes him more focused — and faster. That's what the 100-meter dash contender will need to capture the title of world's fastest man. "If you watch him, he has these little rituals that he does before every single race," says Maurice Greene, a sprinter who won two gold medals in the 2000 Olympics. "He sips from his bottle of water, and then he says his prayer and reaches his hands up in the air. He's been doing it that way forever. That helps him succeed. As an athlete, you have to find a comfort zone that's your own place to be, to filter out all the distractions. Those distractions can be huge during an event like the Olympics." Gay's amazing performance is also enhanced by the quality of his teammates. "I had teammates pushing me," says Greene. "And he has great teammates who push him. By the time they get a chance to run in the Games, there's no telling how far much faster he'll get. I can't wait to watch."

* Most people don't know Olympic water polo like Wolf Wigo, a three-time Olympian on the men's national team who's now head coach of the UC Santa Barbara water polo program. He says our women are the gold medal favorites after winning the world championship last year and going undefeated in international play. However, he is concerned about the youth of the team — only three players are former Olympians. Wigo thinks Brenda Villa, a veteran of the past two Olympic teams, is a key player. "She's the veteran of the team, the captain and the all-around playmaker. If she's playing really well, the team's gonna be doing great."

* When it comes to women's diving, it's pretty much the rest of the world against China, according to Ron O'Brien, high performance director for USA Diving and former coach of four-time gold medalist Greg Louganis. "On the three-meter, Wu Ming Xia and Guo Jing Jing have been first and second in just about every world event in the last three or four years," he says. "It looks like the rest of the world may be diving for a bronze medal. But, a lot of strange things happen under that pressure, and that's why we don't just mail the medals out ahead of time. (U.S. diver) Laura Wilkinson could contend for a gold medal."

* Twenty long-course world records have been set this year in competitive swimming. That's right, 20. Not the usual three or four. The secret is in the suits, says eight-time gold medalist Matt Biondi. Speedo's high-tech LZR Racer suits have dramatically changed  swimming, in part because only Speedo-sponsored athletes have the rights to wear these suits. "The thing that you don't want is competitive disadvantage. We want to know who the fastest swimmers are. Whether they're swimming in the old suits or the new LZR suits," Biondi says. "Let's make sure everyone has access to the same technology. That's currently not the case. Brandon Hansen is under a Nike contract and Nike had to give him the right to wear a Speedo suit at Olympic trials." Biondi says the suits will be  "a controversy that's going to continue through the Olympics. Right now it's not an even playing field, and that's just not right."