the latest book on michael phelps — No Limits: The Will to Succeed — is already available in bookstores and other outlets.

the book, which the swimmer co-writes with alan abrahamson, details his struggles, triumphs and defeats over the years, and unmatched feat as the most bemedalled Olympian ever (in a single Olympics; in terms of gold medals won, that is).

the book (240 pp., Free Press), which attracted its share of fan lines in NY, has even inched its way slowly in the bestsellers’ list. incidentally, michael phelps, 23, was recently named by Sports Illustrated as “Sportsman of the Year” (2008) and was also voted by the Associated Press as the top sports story for 2008.

and the word is out that there is also a michael phelps video game (505 Games), whose title is still unknown, on the way (release is set for spring 2010). hmmm….

as i was browsing through a pile of 2008 Olympics vid clips over at youtube, i stumbled into this funny spliced reel.

sure it’s irreverent. maybe a tad insensitive? okay, so it reeks of juvenile absurdity. but it sure made me laugh. i wonder how long it will take till they can make a film rip-off out of this one (a la Scary Movie).

here’s an amusing case of mistaken identity.

BBC’s Steve Parry, who recently went to Tiananmen Square carrying a cardboard cutout of michael phelps, got a bit of a shock when an admiring throng of chinese strollers mistook him for the famous swimmer and began snapping his picture and following him.

despite his strenuous denials that he wasn’t michael phelps (see video), Parry — a British swimmer who won a bronze medal in the 200m butterfly in the 2004 Athens Olympics — had a hard time shaking off his “fans”.

he really doesn’t look like michael, but i guess his height and build, longish face, short hair and prominent ears all add up to the impression that he is…?

i was all set to write a finale on michael phelps‘ splendid performance in beijing — extolling his unprecedented feat of winning the highest number of gold medals in a single olympics, among other things — but after reading countless of articles and posts from reporters, bloggers, sports writers, etc., i decided to hold off.

it’s not that i find it overwhelming (i could go on for hours gabbing away about his pool exploits), mind you. it’s just that after reading so many things about him, i realized i didn’t have anything new to add. i don’t think i’d need to, anyway. it’s all there: the TV, newspapers, magazines, the Internet, on people’s lips.

so i’m just going to focus on a couple of things.

first of all, i want to say thank you, michael (and all the people who have contributed to your success) for an amazing weeklong show. and for giving us a compelling reason to watch the Olympics.

and good luck to whatever it is you plan to do next. until 2012 in london then. or maybe even long before that.