To assure their medal supremacy in Beijing, the Americans have to count on their swimmers and track-and-fielders, who earned 53 medals in Athens Olympics in 2004.

The United States has won slightly more than half its overall medals in the last two games in swimming and track and field.

"We hope to do much better than the team in Athens," US swim coach Mark Schubert said.

As in Athens in 2004, the headliner this August in Beijing is 23-year-old swimmer Michael Phelps, who will try to win eight gold medals, one more than American legend Mark Spitz's single Games record from 1972.

"He's a performer, as the stage gets bigger, he gets better," Schubert said of Phelps.

Phelps, four world record-holder, is considered better qualified to surpass Spitz this year than four years ago, when he took six golds and two bronzes in Athens.

The American swimmers won the gold medal race by grabbing 12 gold, nine silver and seven bronze medals in Athens. In Beijing, the Americans are to take on the challenge from the Australians, Japanese and Europeans.

"This Olympic Team is one of our strongest ever than we've had in many decades," said USATF president Bill Roe. "While it would take an incredible performance to match our medal counts of recent championships, we certainly feel that this team has what it takes to again top the medal tables."

The American athletics failed to perform as well as they expected, taking 25 medals, among them eight golds in Athens in 2004.

This time they will send a 126-athlete experienced team featuring 15 Olympic medalists, 31 world outdoor championships medalists and 11 individual outdoor American record holders to Beijing.

As for a specific target for Beijing, Jill Geer, USATF director of communications said: "What we usually say is that our first goal is to stay on top of the medal table - to remain the world's No. 1 track and field team."

Among the gold hopefuls in the US Olympic lineup are also players of wrestling and shooting who collected six golds in Athens.

Teams of reigning women's world gymnastics champions, three-time softball Olympic champions and women's basketball title holders have look of champions while a well-known NBA squad, also called "Dream Team", will recapture the gold medal in Beijing after a poor third-place showing in Athens.

"It's really the world's game. We think we're the best at playing that game," said coach Mike Krzyzewski, one of the greatest college basketball coaches. He added that his team want to finish a demanding summer with the most coveted prize - a gold medal.

(Xinhua News Agency July 24, 2008)