61.   Croatia, Greece, Russia and the US gold medal favorites ensured semi-final berths with lopsied triumphs Wednesday.

62.   Eights Depth makes the world champion United States team a medal favorite on home waters, with Romania a solid silver choice.

63.   The victory was a stunner because it came over sprint stars Michael Johnson and Gwen Torrence, also gold medal favorites at Atlanta.

64.   With South Korea appearing weak, winning the preliminary round becomes more important for medal favorites Cuba, Japan and the United States.

65.   Sports Illustrated magazine even named him the gold medal favorite in their Olympic preview edition.