"It just brings a whole new dimension to your life. The transfer over makes me a happier person running. It also helps you see things in perspective sometimes," Radcliffe told Reuters.

The reports cited a study on mothers in elite sport by Massey University in New Zealand, presented to a sports management conference last year, found the number of mothers involved in high level sport had increased in the past decade but did not give numbers.

But the jury is still out on whether physical changes during pregnancy can boost aerobic capacity and enhance women's performance after giving birth, or whether the mental impact of childbirth is a factor in increased post-child performance.

The idea that women's running performance improves after childbirth is sometimes called "the Ingrid myth" after Norwegian marathoner, Ingrid Kristiansen, who won the Houston Marathon in 1983 just five months after her first child's birth, said the article.

Dutch athlete Fanny Blankers-Koen was the Olympic trailblazer for mothers. The 30-year-old mother-of-two, dubbed "the Flying Housewife," won four gold medals in London in 1948.

The numbers have swelled since. At Beijing the US. team alone has 20 mothers among its 286 women athletes.

The first female athlete and mother to win a gold medal at Beijing was Chinese judo champion Xian Dongmei, 32.

"What I want most right now is to have a good rest and stay with my little daughter," a tearful Xian was quoted as saying after her win. "I want very much to make it up to my daughter."

Brazilian beach volleyball player Ana Paula Connelly was sad at being knocked out but looking forward to seeing her son Gabriel, 7, who has lived with her sister for the past year.

Oxana Chusovitina, 33, the only woman gymnast to appear at five Olympics, used to compete for her native Uzbekistan but moved to Germany to save the life of her son who was diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukaemia at the age of 3 in 2002.

"My son is my whole life," she told Reuters in a pre-Games interview. "I know every mother says that. But our bond is special. When he was ill I was devastated. He's my motivation."

Confident China

The Bangkok-based English newspaper, the Nation, said the 2008 Olympics has shown the world a rising power with its extraordinary confidence and audacious ambition.

Both Napoleon Bonaparte and the well-known German writer Goethe used to marvel at the way the Chinese embraced. And now the 21st-century China that proudly presents her renewed self to the world as the host of the Olympics.

"No more a sleeping giant, China's development is defying not only nature, but challenging all the senses of the last century. A new era has dawned for one of the world's oldest civilizations," said the paper.

It noted that most western media has tried their best to criticize China during the Olympics in various fields. However, as the saying goes that America grew by the follies of old Europe, here is just the repeat of history, replacing America with China and old Europe with the West.

Though China has gradually become an economic force in the global arena, the world had not seen the magnitude of China's wealth, accompanied by an astonishingly clear vision, confidence and spirit of adventure until the opening of the Olympic Games.

For China, the second half of 2001 was a historic turning point. China was admitted to the World Trade Organization and beat Toronto and Paris to host the Olympics.

Flukes and greats

The Japanese Daily Yomiuri published a story entitled "Separating flukes from the greats," saying the once-in-four-years Olympics is a giant stage for well-trained athletes to perform.

The paper said in Hollywood, a good performance gets you good reviews, like an Oscar while at the Olympics medals are the standard of excellence.

However, the biggest difference is that the Olympics comes around only once every four years. "You take your best shot or wait around for the next one. And this is not like waiting for a bus."

It pointed out that it is the four-year cycle makes the Olympics a mystery. "It is short enough that an athlete can take part in several over their careers, but long enough to separate the flukes from the greats. "

The medal tally is changing every day with athletes who have put everything in place to peak in the Olympic year. US swimmer Michael Phelps reached his goal by winning eight medals but many others did not.

The article noted that given the high stakes of the Olympics, it's easy to understand why sports stars such as Paula Radcliffe and Liu Xiang would attempt to compete when they were not ready.

Radcliffe had rushed her recovery from a thigh stress fracture to run in the women's marathon, while Liu, nursing a painful Achilles tendon, could barely walk, had desperately wanted to give his country one gold medal but the dream ended before he ever got over the first hurdle.

As long as they didn't risk permanent damage, giving it a shot was their only choice. Four years is too long to wait and wonder, as Radcliffe said, "What if...?"

It is all because the stage was set, the paper said.

Sexy athletes

The Indo-Asian News Service found that the Olympics is sexy as the vast majority of the 10,500 young athletes in Beijing are very body-conscious.

It is said that sexy photos can promote their sport, for example, the bikini-wearing volleyball girls. However, the question is if taking off the clothes really helps.

The reports cited American professor Mary Jo Kane, who does research on girls and women in sport as saying sex does sell magazines and products but it does not translate into greater interest and respect in women's sports.