BEIJING — The American star of these Olympics, Michael Phelps, has two clear goals at the Games. The first is to not say a single interesting thing while he's here. The second goal he is keeping to himself.

"I haven't said anything about breaking any record," Phelps says when asked about his alleged quest to become the first athlete to win eight gold medals in a single Olympics. You need that "alleged" in there. Phelps wants to make clear that, while the quest to win eight golds has been widely reported, it may not really be his quest. Yes, he has entered eight events. Yes, he has been preparing for this moment most of his life. Yes, his agent negotiated a million dollar bonus from Speedo if he wins even seven golds.

Yes, Phelps is aware - everyone is aware - that the Olympic record for most gold medals in a single Olympics (seven) was set by American swimmer Mark Spitz in 1972. And Phelps fell one gold medal short of that four years ago in Athens.

Yes. All true. But Phelps says you shouldn't read anything into that.

"My goals haven't been published," he says. "My coach (Bob Bowman) and I are the only two that know them."

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The Chinese star of these Olympics, Liu Xiang, has not been seen in weeks. Months, really. Oh, his face is seen all the time, the face is on billboards throughout Beijing, the face is on television, the face shows up in advertisement after advertisement - Forbes reports Liu made $23 million last year in endorsements.

But Liu himself is scarce. He is not granting interviews. He is not making any public appearances. He is not yet in the athletes' village. More, Liu has not finished a single race in his event, the 110-meter hurdles, since early May. He entered the Reebok Grand Prix in late May but pulled out with an injury. He entered the Prefontaine Classic in Oregon in June but was disqualified after a false start. And that's all.

In those few months, a lot has changed. Cuba's Dayron Robles broke Liu's world record in the 110-meter hurdles. American Terrence Trammell has emerged as a real threat. The sure gold no longer is sure - in fact Robles is now the favorite. That's a big worry. The inactivity has fans worried. The injury rumors have fans worried. The silence has fans worried, too.

"We try not to think about all the 'what ifs,'" Liu's father, Liu Xuegen told ChinaView. "We hope he will do his best."

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There is the oddest question-and-answer sequence on Michael Phelps' website. It's in the "Ask Michael" section, and the question comes from Clara Lind in Wasau, Wis. She writes: "What's the craziest thing you've ever done?"

Here is his response: "The craziest thing I've ever done? I live a pretty conservative life, so I probably really haven't done anything crazy."

There are a couple of things that are odd here - for one thing, it seems hard to believe that a 23-year old swimming idol with millions in the bank and countless adoring fans has not ever tried something a little bit zany. Ever? How about drinking milk after the expiration date? How about short-sheeting the beds in the Olympic Village? How about going all in when he only has a pair of twos?

But there's something even stranger: This is from Michael Phelps' OWN website. That means he did not have to answer this question. In fact, he did not answer the question, but he did not even have to post his response for everyone to see. He could have ignored Clara's impetuous question and been done with it. But no ... Phelps felt like he needed to answer, needed to assure Clara and all that, despite the temptations, he really keeps it quiet in his life.

You wonder if this is a reaction to being on the world stage and being the swimmer's role model since he was 15. That was the year Phelps became the youngest American male swimmer to reach the Olympics since 1936. That was also the year he became the youngest male swimmer to set a world record.

At 19, he won six gold medals and two bronze medals at the 2004 Olympics. At 19, he also made his most public mistake; he was charged with driving under the influence. He pled guilty to driving while impaired - the first and really only time that Phelps' name has been connected to something negative. As penance, he served 18 months of probation. Even tougher, he had to go on the Today Show after that to face a stern Matt Lauer, who asked Phelps what he would say to the young boy or girl with a Michael Phelps poster on his wall.

"I definitely let myself down and my family down," he told Matt.

At 22, he won seven gold medals at the world championships and broke five world records along the way. Now, he's the most watched American at the Olympics. He's the guy LeBron James says he wants to see most. His new mustache might be the most talked about story of the first couple of days. How do you respond to that sort of enormous pressure?

"I don't think about it," Phelps says.

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Liu Xiang is the biggest star in China because nobody ever imagined that there could be someone like him. He was bigger than imagination.

A little background: In 1984, in Los Angeles, China competed at the Olympics for the first time in 32 years. China won 15 gold medals that year - five of them in gymnastics, three in shooting, four more in weightlifting. In 1988, table tennis was added to the Olympics and China won three of those gold medals. In all, China has won 16 of the 20 gold table tennis medals.

And that's how China viewed its sports prowess: dominance in table tennis. The general feeling seemed to be that they could not compete with the United States or other countries in sports that took great athleticism, like track and field. So the Chinese concentrated on sports that exuded grace (diving and gymnastics), precision (shooting), power (weightlifting and judo) and of course their own sports like table tennis and badminton.

Then, in 2004, Liu Xiang showed his country a whole new kind of athlete. Liu was a hurdler - he was tall, and he had an explosive kind of speed, and he never seemed to make a mistake. When he won the 110-meter hurdles in 2004 - the first Chinese man to win a track and field gold medal - he wrapped a Chinese flag around him and told reporters, "It IS kind of a miracle." That's exactly how it was viewed back home, like a miracle. Liu had not just won a gold medal. He had changed the way people in his country looked at themselves.

With that, Liu became the centerpiece of the grand plan to unveil a new China in 2008, a more open China, a more advanced China, and so on. A big part of the plan was winning gold medals. The government created a program called Project 119, which is designed - plainly and bluntly - to grab gold. The number 119 comes from the number of gold medals available, at the time, in swimming, track and field and water events like canoeing (there are now 122 gold medals available). The Chinese government has spent a staggering amount of money - some suggest billions of dollars - finding and training athletes to perform in those sports.

Nobody knows the effect Project 119 will have at these Games - China does look like a threat to win some gold medals for the first time in rowing, for instance. Still, in track and field, Liu really is the only Chinese man who has a realistic shot at gold. The pressure is overwhelming. An anonymous Chinese official has been quoted saying that should Liu lose in China, his past achievements will be forgotten. Meanwhile, there have been television commercials that ask people not to put too much pressure on Chinese athletes.

All the while, Liu has been silent.

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Friday night, Michael Phelps will not march in the Opening Ceremonies - his first preliminary is early the next morning. Liu Xiang is expected to play a major role in the ceremonies, but as it goes with Liu, nobody seems too sure.

"You can't worry about pressure other people put on you," Phelps says. "The only pressure that matters is the pressure you put on yourself."