Notably, the heated discussions about the Games in China's cyber community, which has some 210 million Internet users, are by no means limited to Chinese players.

While Internet surfers rejoiced on Sunday over witnessing China's gold medal collection surpass the 32-mark set in Athens with the Games just past halfway, Phelps and other international stars still dominated the online chats.

In an online poll at China's leading portal website sina.com.cn, 76 percent of the nearly 40,000 people surveyed agreed Phelps is the "greatest sportsman in human history."

"Phelps would have ranked fifth on the gold medal table (of the Beijing Olympics) even if he represented a one-man team," gushed an 18-year-old netizen in his blog. "I'd say he's a fish with no gills."

"The Phelps legend proves that human potentials are unlimited. The Olympic Games are forever leading the human race to become faster, higher and stronger...So the Beijing Games are more than a spectacular opening ceremony, they have posed more aggressive challenges to test our limits," said a netizen named "soul of the setting sun" on xinhuanet.com.

As Chinese netizens heaped praises on Phelps, few people seemed to mind their country's own disadvantage in the pool, with only one swimming gold out of the total 32.

The nation was truly delighted on Sunday when Chinese shooter Qiu Jian miraculously upset American shooter Matthew Emmons to take gold in men's 50m rifle three positions.

In fact, it was Emmons who "miraculously" conceded a firm grip on the gold medal with a shocking last shot of 4.4 points. "It's incredible," said a netizen named "Simagang." "I nearly froze in front of the television when I saw you lose. Sorry, Emmons, but you're still among the best shooters in my heart."

For avid Chinese spectators, the past week has been full of laughters and tears, excitement and disappointments, abstracted working hours and sleepless nights. "Can you imagine we're allowed to leave the television on in the office?" said Wang Yan, an office worker at a Beijing-based private firm.