The curtain rose on the Michael Phelps show yesterday, the US swim star turning in a relaxed performance before a throng of media touting his tilt at Olympic history at the Beijing Games.

Phelps, flanked by 41-year-old teammate Dara Torres and coach Bob Bowman, started off by downplaying his assault on Mark Spitz's record seven Olympic gold medals at one Games.

"You guys are the ones who are talking all about it - I'm not saying anything," said Phelps, whose five individual events and three relay swims give him a chance not only to match but to better Spitz's haul from the 1972 Munich Games.