In the middle of his hardest sessions, right when the pain gets close to intolerable, Arthur Lanigan-O’Keeffe imagines a very specific scenario.

IF HARLEQUINS take Leinster’s Heineken Cup crown they may have to thank the unusual combination of Michael Phelps, Terenure College in Dublin and Alabama’s United States Sports Academy.

THE lure of trying to beat Michael Phelps’ record of eight Olympic gold medals is becoming an irresistible goal for Ryan Lochte, who has now surpassed his fellow American as the world’s best all-round swimmer.

Michael Phelps’ quest for swimming immortality became a reality on Sunday morning as the United States’ 4x100m medley relay team handed him his historic eighth gold medal of the Beijing Games.

Michael Phelps’ bid for a record eight golds at the Beijing Games was kept alive in dramatic fashion in the 4x100m freestyle relay as the United States snatched gold from France with a new world record.