London 2012: Missy Franklin a big hit

THE London Olympics has all kinds of issues with security, VIP traffic lanes and the power of corporate cash. But when the action begins we will be reminded of its unique glory – that the whole world is playing games together.

This truth was never expressed more splendidly than by Jesse Owens when he looked back on the Berlin Games of 1936 and said: “You are breaking records and you are not breaking heads, and this is why I say the Olympics will endure. Whether you qualified for the finals or not, you were there and you broke bread with the rest of the world.”

It brings together the stars of sport and obscure heroes, whether they are the locals of Team GB or from any of the 200-plus nations involved.

The greatest star? That’s to be decided, but in the matter of breaking records the most likely candidate is phenomenal US swimmer Michael Phelps, who is aiming to add to his current haul of 16 Olympic medals, including the all-time record 14 golds.

Phelps is racing in seven events in the Aquatics Centre and is likely to win medals in each.

That would take the Flying Fish powering past Larisa Latynina, a Soviet gymnast who holds the current record of 16 career Olympic medals.

It may not be a full set of golds for Phelps, as it was four years ago. This time fellow American swimmer Ryan Lochte is a serious rival.

Amazingly, neither of them may be the focus of most attention in the pool. That honour may well settle on the sensation of American women’s swimming, Missy Franklin.

The 17-year-old from Colorado is favoured to capture seven medals, with the aid of her size 13 feet and the 76-inch wingspan between the tips of her fingers, when her arms are outstretched.

Missy’s feet have been described as ‘built-in flippers’ and her competitive instinct was described this way by her school sports director: “She’s the nicest person in the world, but in the water she will reach up and rip your heart out.” There are no doubts about the most prestigious Olympic event – the men’s 100 metres final. It features three brilliant Americans but appears to be a showdown between Jamaican friends and training partners Yohan Blake and Usain Bolt.

Bolt was the superstar of Beijing 2008. But is he past his best? Is Blake the new king of the track?

It is a question of sport that will have an audience of billions round the globe. So, too, will the inspirational sight of South African 400 metre runner Oscar Pistorious becoming the first man to run in the Olympics with his blade-runner artificial legs.

He won’t win a medal and he won’t break records, but he will win respect everywhere. Respect is a key word. In the Olympic village, where competitors live during the Games, Ryan Giggs says he is hoping to bump into Roger Federer.

Even these millionaire professionals of football and tennis have to bow in the fame stakes to America’s basketball Dream Team.

One of their stars, LeBron James, is the fourth-highest-earning sportsman in the world at $53million a year. Federer is fifth and another basketball ace, Kobe Bryant, is sixth. Usain Bolt is in 63rd place and Giggs does not make the top 100.

The Olympics is also about competitors who entrance in the pursuit of perfection – the gymnasts, for example.

Something resembling sporting perfection may be found in the 10m diving competition in the form of Chinese teenager Qiu Bo, favoured to overcome British youngster Tom Daley.

Qiu Bo was given an incredible 25 perfect 10s from the judges when he won last year’s world championships.

The two divers were barely out of nappies when British sailor Ben Ainslie and Italian fencer Valentina Vezzali competed at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

Both are now going for a fourth gold medal in four consecutive Games.

Vezzali, 38, will carry the Italian flag at the opening ceremony as the very epitome of a champion of sport.