Football, Swimming Odds for Olympics Day 6

American Michael Phelps broke the all-time record for Olympic gold medals on day 5 (Wednesday) of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, winning the 10th gold medal of his career in the 200m butterfly. He then added an 11th - and his fifth at Beijing - when the US team took gold and broke the world record in the 4 x 200m freestyle relay.

Phelps overtook Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina, Finnish athlete Paavo Nurmi, US athlete Carl Lewis and US swimmer Mark Spitz, who have nine gold medals each from their Olympic careers.

All attention now turns to whether Phelps can break Spitz's record of seven gold medals at one Olympic Games, set in Munich in 1972.

Swimming odds
With five golds to his name at this current Olympics, Phelps needs Friday's 200m individual medley, Saturday's 100m butterfly and Sunday's 4 x 100m medley relay to achieve the feat. He has firmed to 2/7 with Ladbrokes to succeed, against 5/2 to not win all eight.

Swimming action on day 6 (Thursday) will be headlined by the men's 100m freestyle final. The lead-up to the race had been exciting, with Australian Eamon Sullivan and Frenchman Alain Bernard both breaking the world record in their respective semi-finals. Sullivan, who in his semi eclipsed the mark set by the Frenchman just minutes earlier, goes into the race 4/6 favorite to Bernard's 7/4. Holland's Pieter van den Hoogenband, winner of the last two Olympic 100m freestyle gold medals, is fourth in the betting at 16/1.

Football odds
Unchallenged as the world's most popular sport, fans don't automatically think of the Olympics when they think of football (soccer). The World Cup, played every four years, in alternate even years to the Olympics, is by far the biggest event on the football calendar.

The Olympic football tournament only allows under-23s to compete (with the exception of three over-age players), making it effectively an under-23 World Cup. And with plenty of quality players under the age of 23, that makes it an exciting tournament to watch.

Argentina, with its young stars such as Barcelona's Lionel Messi and Liverpool's Javier Mascherano, are the tournament favorites in the men's competition. On the back of successive wins over Australia and Ivory Coast in the group stage, the Argentines are 9/5 favorite at UK bookmaker Betfair. Brazil and Italy are regarded their main competition for the title.

Sportingbet UK is offering odds on the winner of the women's tournament. Brazil and Germany are equal-favorites at 9/4 while the USA and China - traditionally stronger in women's football than in men's - are 11/4 and 10/1 respectively. Free bet opportunities are listed at the Sport Lines Service.