Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps is almost a perfect sports hero for our time.

FORBES: Folk Heroes Of The Great Recession

The fingers are those of a tortured hero with a divided, almost schizoid psyche -- Jimmy, in the 1978 original, played by Harvey Keitel, and now Thom, played phenomenally well by Romain Duris.

WSJ: Spielberg Comes Home

Captain Steven Gerrard was once more revelling in central midfield, and he almost set up Jermain Defoe with a precise lofted pass that the hat-trick hero of Friday's 4-0 win against Bulgaria fired well off target.

BBC: Switzerland 1-3 England

Wye ABC, which has been running for almost two years, was founded by local boxing hero Williams, who won a Lonsdale belt outright as British champion between November 2003 and June 2005, and a team of dedicated volunteers.

BBC: SPORT | Boxing | Williams to get back in the ring