Some fun at the games

Here are some of the lighter moments from the 2008 Beijing Olympics so far...


Cereal winner
Swimming's serial champion Michael Phelps, winner of an historic eight gold medals at the Beijing Games, will receive one of US sport's traditional accolades when his picture appears on boxes of cornflakes in supermarkets across the country in September.

Softball survival
Japan's upset win over the United States in the Beijing Games softball final may have marked the sport's farewell from the Olympics, but officials insisted the Fengtai softball field would remain. Low Beng Choo of Malaysia, secretary general of the Softball Federation of Asia, said the local government were keen to use the venue as a training facility and to host Asian international competitions. "It's a
legacy," Low said. "We have strong teams from Korea, Hong Kong, Indonesia the Philippines. To develop these teams is v! ery important for Asia and important for softball."

Hyper-exposure
American David Payne, silver medallist in the 110m hurdles behind Cuban Dayron Robles, isn't among the many who believe the Olympic Games are too commercialized. Given the Games happen just once every four years, Payne says there can't be too much publicity. "We get this opportunity every four years, they might as well put all the publicity into it," he said. "I think they probably need to have a little more commercialization. There needs to be channels dedicated to individual sports - you should be able to watch waterpolo all day, you should be able to watch track and field all day, you should be able to watch fencing all day if you want to.

1,000 and counting
The goal scored by Carli Lloyd against Brazil in extra time of the women's Olympic football final gave the United States its 1,000th gold medal in Olympic competition. The gold medal w! on the the US, where football is as popular among girls as boy! s, was t heir third in four Olympic Games.