10 things to watch for as the Games open

By Richard Deitsch, SI.com

Michael Phelps hopes to make the biggest splash of them all in Athens with his chase for seven golds. Al Bello/Getty Images

1. Responsibility is the price of greatness. So said Winston Churchill, and though the British prime minister was more fox hunter than freestyle swimmer, he would appreciate the challenge ahead for U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps. The 19-year-old has been appointed the face of the Games and his audacious attempt at seven gold medals has the world buzzing. Can he equal or surpass Mark Spitz's Munich bounty? The odds are long. But Phelps' quest will be compelling theater and the excitement will grow after he wins the 400 individual medley on Aug. 19, his first splash in the Olympic Aquatic Center.

2. Get ready for your closeup, Athens. No city has committed more dollars -- $8 billion and rising -- to put on an Olympic Games. And no city has ever had more on the line. When Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki, the president of the Athens organizing committee, visited SI's offices in New York two months ago, she was asked what was on the line for Greece. "Only everything," she said. "It is a chance to rebrand the country."

3. Security is the elephant in the room, as well as on the streets of the Plaka, and at the foot of the Acropolis. The Athens Games are the first Summer Olympics in the post-9/11 world, and there are some 70,000 military personnel on the ground. Security from around the globe has descended upon Greece, be it NATO providing sea patrols or AWACS surveillance planes. Organizers have spent more than $1.4 billion on safety; four times as much than the Aussies did in Sydney. Still, danger lurks around every news report. The bomb blasts in Istanbul earlier this week were a reminder that these will be a very anxious Games.

4. In a world where BALCO is as familiar as iPod and MP3, the cloud of suspicion of the world's track and field athletes will rise throughout Olympic Stadium. The performance-enhancing scandals have been the talk of the sport for the past two years. High-profile athletes continue to test positive, including Torrie Edwards, the 2003 World Outdoor Championships double-silver winner, who earlier this week was banned for two years. Along with the medal count, the number of athletes who test positive at these Games will be among the most watched figures.

5. Imagine an old school-style rap showdown between Carreras, Domingo and Pavarotti. Now transfer that to the pool. The 200-meter freestyle final on Aug. 16 is shaping up to be the greatest race in the history of Olympic swimming. It pits Phelps, defending Olympic champion Peter van der Hoogenband of the Netherlands and Ian Thorpe of Australia all in the same race. Just sit back and enjoy.

6. Four years ago, Marion Jones was a triple gold and double bronze medalist, a darling of NBC and a global icon on the heels of Tiger, Michael and the rest of the Nike clan. No more. While she has not been formally charged in the recent BALCO investigation, her reputation has taken a pounding. Boyfriend Tim Montgomery, the father of her child, has been charged by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency and faces a possible two-year ban. Her performance in the long jump at the trials in Sacramento gave her new life athletically, but will the U.S. public embrace her if she wins gold?

7. They call themselves the 91ers: Mia Hamm, Julie Foudy, Brandi Chastain, Joy Fawcett and Kristine Lilly are all that remain from the team that won the inaugural World Cup in China, as the sun fades on the sport's greatest generation. While their monumental World Cup victory in 1999 never triggered the expected soccer revolution, few can argue about the impact these woman have had on sports in America. Plenty of storylines here, from those hoping the group goes out with a Hollywood ending to questions about the future of the program under coach April Henrichs, who needs a victory to quell the doubters about whether she's the right person to lead the team into the post-Mia era.

8. Forget Viggo Mortensen. The Lord of the Rings, as well as the pommel horse and parallel bars, is the United States. At least, all signs are pointing that way. The women's gymnastics team is the deepest in history, and won its first ever gold medal at the world championships last year behind Carly Patterson, who finished with a silver in the all-around behind Svetlana Khorkina. A powerful men's side is led by Paul Hamm, the 2003 world all-around champion. On balance, the combined teams are even stronger than the 1984 star-studded group that took gold in the men's and women's competition (and made pixie Mary Lou Retton a household item). Mark down Aug. 17 on your calendar. That's the night the women go for the team gold medal.

9. The game was invented in the U.S., but are we still the rulers of it? Before the start of the U.S. Olympic men's basketball exhibition tour, coach Larry Brown was hoping his team would get a test before the Olympics. But Brown could never have expected having his linguini handed to him when the U.S. lost to lightly regarded Italy by double digits. Less than convincing wins over Germany and Turkey have left the tournament up for grabs. No one argues the U.S. has the most talented team in the world. But LeBron and Co. have very little international experience. It should be interesting come crunch time, especially with a crowd that won't be showing them with the love Magic, Michael and Larry felt in Barcelona.

10. In between cheering wildly at all things Stars and Stripes, pay close attention to China at these Games. The Beijing Olympics are well ahead of schedule and no country will invest more over the next four years to ensure a successful medal haul. The Chinese took 59 medals for third place in Sydney. SI's Brian Cazeneuve predicts that will increase to 74 in Athens.