Before assessing the supremely unflattering Sports Illustrated cover that celebrates Olympian Michael Phelps's eight gold medals in Beijing ... amphibious marvel. The man set an unprecedented ...

marvelous and anything but mundane medals? "Going to the free events. I buy a lot of medals as well. Trading cuts down on that a lot," he said. Exactly how much does he shell out for the shimmer ...

"It took a lot of courage for him to befriend me in front of Hitler," Owens said afterward. "You can melt down all the medals and cups I have and they wouldn't be a plating on the 24-karat ...