(BEIJING, August 17) -- Day nine is the busiest day of the Beijing Olympic Games schedule, with no less than 39 medals at stake, involving some of the biggest names in sports. It also promises to be a fairly emotional day as the Olympic Movement says goodbye to some its valued friends.

　　First up, and we make no apology for leading with him this time, we start with someone who is definitely at the top his game -- swimmer Michael Phelps.

　　The final day of Swimming sees the usual daily round of four finals, when all eyes will be on the Men's 4 x 100m Medley Relay final, starting at local time 10:58 a.m. (UCT/GMT + 8). Phelps, in case you really are the only person left on the planet who doesn't know, needs just one more gold medal to add to his Beijing tally of seven so-far to surpass Mark Spitz's seven medals from Munich 1972 to, therefore, become the record Olympian of all time.

　　The bad news is, Phelps can't do it on his own -- he will have to rely on his relay teammates to help him achieve Olympic immortality... and this event is one of the two gold medals he missed out on in Athens four years ago. The good news is they are the defending Olympic champions, world record holders and were fastest to qualify for the final.

　　So who could stop him? Seemingly no one, or at least no team, though Australia and Japan, who qualified second and third fastest, could cause an upset.

　　Quite simply, Olympic history could be made tomorrow…no pressure, then Michael.

　　Elsewhere on the final day of Swimming, the Women's 4 x 100m Medley Relay will see defending champions Australia battle it out with Great Britain and the United States, who came in second and third in qualifying.

　　Another heart-rending event will be 41-year-old Dara Torres racing in the Women's 50m Freestyle final. The United States recorded the fastest time in qualifying and has not so much matched the clock as turned back the clock, showing that despite the talk of swimming being an increasingly younger competitors sport, you're never too old.

Dara Torres

　　However, world record holder Lisbeth Trickett of Australia and Friday's 100m Freestyle gold medalist Britta Steffen of Germany will also be highly fancied

　　The Men's 1500m Freestyle might also be the last chance for 28-year-old Grant Hackett of Australia to win a history-making third consecutive title.

　　Okay we've started with some big names -- let's keep the theme rolling.

　　Before we leave the pool, a quick mention for China's very own "diving diva" Guo Jingijng, who had pledged to retire after Beijing 2008 at the ripe old age of 26. Guo will defend her Women's 3m Springboard title in the final and finished first in the preliminaries holding, off second-placed finisher Julia Pakhalina of Russia and Blythe Hartley of Canada. Guo's gold-winning Synchronized Springboard partner, Wu Minxia, could also pose a threat to Guo going out on a high.

Guo Jingjing

　　There are plenty of big names appearing on the final day of the Tennis. Sisters Serena and Venus Williams of the United States will go against Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual of Spain in Women's Doubles, while soon-to-be-crowned-Men's-World-Number-One Rafael Nadal will play defending champion Fernando Gonzalez of Chile in the Men's Singles final.

　　In Athletics, world record holder Paula Radcliffe of Great Britain heads the list of names challenging in the Women's Marathon, which starts at 7:30 a.m. local time (UCT/GMT + 8)

Venus Williams (right) and Serena Williams

　　Krisztian Pars of Hungary qualified first in the Men's Hammer Throw final. Other finals include the Women's 3000m Steeplechase, and the Women's 100m semifinals and final will be contested.

　　The day's action at the Bird's Nest will be the emotional battle in the Men's 10000 meters between defending champion Kenenisa Bekele, and the legendary 35-year-old Haile Gebrselassie, both of Ethiopia, who returns to the track having stepped up to the Marathon in recent years

Kenenisa Bekele

　　It is also the final day of Rowing with medals in seven finals at stake, and in Fencing, in which the Men's Team Sabre gold medal match is likely to feature defending champions France.

　　Badminton also bows out with Mixed Doubles and Men's Single's finals, with the latter featuring popular Chinese World No. 1 Lin Dan and Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia.

　　The Shooting competition of Beijing 2008 also ends tomorrow with the Men's 50m Rifle Three Positions final, in which, four years ago, US shooter Matthew Emmons inexplicably aimed his final shot at the wrong target on the brink of victory, which let China's Jia Zhanbo in for gold. The two go against each other again on August 17.

　　In Track Cycling, fresh from their success yesterday, Great Britain's riders will be hunting more medals, with Rebecca Romero and teammate Wendy Houvenaghel racing in the Women's 3000m Individual Pursuit final

　　It is a busy day in Artistic Gymnastics, too, with finals in the Men's and Women's Floor Exercise, Men's Pommel Horse and Women's Vault.

　　Brazil's Diego Hypolito and China's Zou Kai will compete for the Men's Floor event, while China's Xiao Qin will be a hard man to beat in the Men's Pommel Horse.

　　The United States's Alicia Sacramone famously made some mistakes during her Balance Beam and Floor Exercise routines in the Women's Team event earlier in the week, but if the 20-year-old can recover from her disappointment, then she has a strong chance of winning a gold medal in the Women's Vault, although the hot favorite is China's Cheng Fei, a three-time world champion.

　　There are two more Sailing finals held over from wind-less August 16 -- Ben Ainslie of Great Britain is going for his third gold medal in the Yngling class.

　　There are also finals in Women's Team Table Tennis, Weightlifting and two more Freestyle Wrestling medals at stake

　　It is also quarterfinals day in both Boxing and Water Polo

　　It promises to be a busy, busy day -- for record breakers and heart breakers alike.