WHILE Flora Duffy will have been disappointed with her performance at the women's triathlon earlier this week when she failed to finish, her 'next door neighbours' back in the Games Village will have felt the same way.

On one side of her room is three-time Grand Slam winner Lindsay Davenport while on the other side is top pro James Blake, two of the biggest names in tennis.

Playing with American partner Liezel Huber, Davenport got bounced out of the women's doubles in the first round and Blake, playing with Sam Querrey, was eliminated at the same stage in the men's doubles.

Blake did much better in the men's singles, but missed out on a bronze medal when he was beaten by Serbian Novak Djokovic in the quarter-finals.

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ACCORDING to the old adage, it's not what you know, but who you know.

Bermuda Football Association president Larry Mussenden made that point as he renewed his acquaintance with football's top man, Sepp Blatter, on Wednesday.

At a Chinese FA luncheon to which Mussenden invited this writer as his guest, he was given a warm welcome by the FIFA president, widely regarded as one the most powerful men in world sport.

It's a contact which Mussenden, who is in Beijing in his capacity as chairman of FIFA's Appeals Committee, says has been invaluable to football in Bermuda in the past, and hopefully will continue to be in the future.

But Blatter, it seems, doesn't know a great deal about the standard of football on a tiny island in the middle of the Atlantic.

Having posed the tongue-in-cheek question about our chances of one day winning the World Cup, he replied: "Anything's possible. This is football, anything can happen."

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ONE aspect of Chinese society that is particularly noticeable is the total absence of obesity.

And that's hardly surprising given their diet.

But it's not a diet that suits everyone.

So it came as a welcome surprise when I stumbled over a Pizza Hut the other day, enjoyed a calorie-loaded meal for a relatively low price and received excellent service.

In return I left a generous tip, which in China is not expected but actually frowned upon.

Having made a quick exit, I was some way down the street when a breathless waitress tapped me on the shoulder demanding I take the tip back.

Of course, being the generous guy I am, I added another five bucks and sent her packing.

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MUCH has been said about Bermuda's inadequate swimming facilities over the last couple of weeks.

But there are competitors in other countries much worse off.

Take the case of 21-year-old Palestinian Zakia Nassar who was determined to get to these Games no matter what and achieve a lifetime ambition.

Over the last year, she's had neither a coach nor a 25 metre pool ¿ the same as which is available in

Bermuda ¿ let alone an Olympic-sized 50 metre pool.

When the 25m pool in Bethlehem was closed down over a year ago, the freestyler had no option but to train in a leisure centre pool measuring just 12 metres, surrounding by children splashing around in rubber rings.

The Israeli government wouldn't allow her to use the 50m pool in Nazareth, but somehow she managed to qualify for the Games, arrived in China a month before competition began to use the facilities here, and this week her dream came true.

She swam in the 50 metres freestyle, lopped an incredible seven seconds off her personal best, clocked 31.97 and finished in 79th place on the final results sheet.

"It was like I was flying," she told reporters. "It was the most beautiful moment in my life."

It's perhaps the best example of what these Games are all about.