Michael Phelps made the headlines once again – most of them including the word “pantheon” — as he made it three gold medals and three world records from three finals so far.

The American now has nine career Olympic gold medals to his name and will almost certainly break the record he now shares with four other athletes when he swims in two finals tomorrow.

Phelps’s achievement is extraordinary, and has set the Games alight, but to my mind there was greater excitement away from the Water Cube on day four.

The best action came during a terrific struggle in the basketball, with heavily-fancied Spain coming from behind to beat China in an overtime thriller. Perhaps Spain are trying to lull the U.S. into a false sense of security.

There were other good stories away from the pool. Togo won their first medal, in kayaking, while a Texan hunter, Walton Eller, beat an Italian policeman in the men’s double trap shooting.

There’s a new feature on the blog today. If you look to the right you’ll see a fantastic medals table “widget”. Feel free to add it to your own blog by following the “Get this widget” link.

We did another podcast, mostly about Phelps but with some interesting factoids on the Greco-Roman wrestling, and Mitch Phillips argued that you have to look outside the pool for the greatest Olympian in history. On the frothier side, I particularly enjoyed Al Himmer’s story from the basketball the other night, if only for this headline: “Step away from the crisps, sir.”

Click here to find out what that’s all about and please pop back tomorrow. Remember, comments are open on all stories here on the blog and we love to hear from you.

Kevin Fylan, Beijing

You don’t often wonder, in all seriousness, whether opening a packet of crisps will result in instant death.

But there I was, not 10 metres from President George W. Bush, his father, former President George H.W. Bush and former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger covering the blockbuster United States v China Olympic men’s basketball game.

I was struggling mightily with a packet of crisps (”potato flavour” no less!). It simply wouldn’t open and I feared a Del Boy moment, where the packet bursts suddenly and the crisps fly everywhere, in this case over news agency reporters from Xinhua, AP and AFP just below me on the press tribune.

It was at this moment that a Reuters technician usefully informed me that if the offending bag were to burst with a loud bang, I could get shot.

Good point. Hadn’t even crossed my mind. I went hungry.

PHOTO: U.S. President George W. Bush watches as his father and former president George H.W. Bush (R) shakes hands with China’s Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi (L) at the Group B men’s basketball game between China and the U.S. during the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games August 10, 2008. REUTERS/Danny Moloshok