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I was shopping this week at a local grocery store when I rounded a corner and bumped into a friend. I immediately yawned in her face.

"You look tired," she said with concern. "It's because of my addiction," I replied, stifling another yawn.

My addiction happens to be the Olympic Games under way in China. Night after night I watch the Olympics until they disappear from the TV screen, which is usually at midnight or later.

During the day I walk around with dark circles under my eyes and yawn in people's faces. That's the price one pays for addiction.

The Olympics will end on Sunday night, after which I will go through agonizing withdrawal. Sure, the Democratic National Convention will crank up in Denver, but watching politicians make platitudinous speeches is dull stuff compared to swimmers, gymnasts and runners conquering athletic summits.

This year's Olympics were notable because athletes not only broke records but big barriers. Michael Phelps, the amazing swimming machine, is the Olympic record-breaker. He will return to America with eight gold medals dangling around his neck.

As for the barriers, this year's Summer Olympics broke gender, age and disability barriers. It's hard to believe that women were once barred from participating in the Olympics. This year more than 40 percent of the athletes are women.

Among them is America's Dara Torres, who crashed the age barrier. Torres, who is 41 and a mother, is the oldest swimmer ever to win an Olympic medal. She won her first Olympic medal in 1984, a year before Michael Phelps was born. In Beijing, Torres won three silver medals and came within one-hundredth of a second of winning the gold in the 50-meter freestyle. "I'm thinking maybe I shouldn't have filed my nails last night," she joked afterward.

Far more memorable, however, is Torres' quote about age: "Don't put an age limit on your dreams."

Natalie du Toit, the swimmer from South Africa, broke a barrier that should inspire disabled people worldwide. Du Toit is the first female amputee to participate in the Olympics.

Du Toit, 24, is a marathon swimmer and competed in a grueling competition that requires participants to swim 6.2 miles. She did so with no lower left leg and no prosthetic leg to help her kick.

When du Toit was 16, she was hit by a car while riding her motorbike. Doctors had to amputate her leg. For most, this would have dashed all Olympic hopes.

But she took the tragedy and turned it into success. After years of exhausting practice and learning to swim with one leg, she qualified for her country's team.

On opening night in Beijing, she carried the South African flag. You might not have noticed her because she was wearing a long skirt that concealed her prosthesis.

When she competed in the marathon swim this week, she walked to the starting point, calmly removed the prosthesis, and slipped into the water with other participants.

Du Toit did not win a medal. In fact, she came in 16th. But in every other sense, she was solid gold. "I tried my best," she said," "I'll be back in 2012 (for the Olympics in London)."

On the wall in her room are framed these words: "The tragedy of life does not lie in not reaching your goals; the tragedy of life is not having goals to reach for."

Du Toit will remain in Beijing after the Olympics to accomplish more goals. She will participate in the Paralympics, a competition for athletes with disabilities.

There's a saying in life that records are made to be broken. But so are barriers. Du Toit, the amputee, and Torres, the oldest female swimmer, demolished them in Beijing.

Rosemary Roberts writes a Friday column. E-mail: rmroberts@triad.rr.com.