Though he didn’t medal in Australia, the young Phelps put the world on notice with a fifth-place finish in the 200-meter butterfly final. In Athens in 2004, his haul of six gold and two bronze medals was one of the most amazing performances in Olympic swimming history. He went on to be possibly the greatest ever Olympic Games athlete. In 2008 in Beijing he won all eight of the events he competed in.
Within a year of making his Olympic debut, Phelps had elevated to another level, thanks to a world record in the 200 fly while still 15 years old, and by claiming the first world championship of his career in the summer of 2001. From there, additional events were added to Phelps’ program, this expansion providing the opportunity to showcase his vast skill. While additional world records were registered in the 200 fly, Phelps also defined himself as a world-record setter in the 100 butterfly, 200 individual medley and 400 individual medley. He makes appearances for Speedo and also serves as the national spokesperson for the Boys & Girls Clubs of America. Later in life, he has said, he would like to have a career in either sports marketing or in some technical field.
Trials
They did not swim the 100 meters side by side but rather individually in the same open water, with CGI images of the sharks displayed alongside Phelps as he raced. After he saw swimmers Tom Malchow and Tom Dolan compete at the 1996 Summer Games in Atlanta, Phelps began to dream of becoming a champion. He met his coach, Bob Bowman, when he started training at the North Baltimore Aquatic Club at the Meadowbrook Aquatic and Fitness Center.
At the 2012 Olympics, he won four golds and two silver, leaving him with a tally of 22 Olympic medals (18 of them gold). He came back from retirement for the 2016 Rio Olympics, where he picked up even more medals in his forth Olympic Games appearance. Beginning from 2004, Phelps competed in the US Olympic Team Trials.
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- Today we’re diving into how Michael Phelps became a superstar athlete who made history.
- His 28 Olympic Michael Phelps medals, including 23 golds, speak volumes about his incredible Phelps Olympic achievements and the impact he has had on the world of competitive swimming.
- We hope you’re inspired by his work ethic, and can apply some of the principles Phelps used to achieve success to your own swimming journey.
- In the following years, Phelps came up with commendable performance.
- He took part in the Olympics at the age of 15, becoming the youngest male to represent the U.S.
- �As the 2012 London Olympics approached, anticipation was high as to whether Phelps would be able to repeat history and create more world records.
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Training Style
In Sydney, this approach was on display when Bowman, the morning after the final of the 200 butterfly, pushed Phelps through a workout – really, his first training session on the road to the 2004 Games in Athens. At the 2020 Olympics Hidilyn Diaz won the first ever Olympic gold medal for the Philippines. Michael Phelps’ advantages are his height, weight and the length of both his arms and legs. His long torso and short legs lessen his drag and allow for utmost forward motion. His wingspan is 208cm providing great levers for him to pull himself all the way through the water.
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University of Michigan
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Phelps entered the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing with the goal of breaking Spitz’s look at these guys record of seven gold medals at one Olympics. He took the gold in each of his first three events—the 400-meter IM, the 4 × 100-meter freestyle relay, and the 200-meter freestyle—and each victory took place in world record time. On August 13 he won golds in the 200-meter butterfly and the 4 × 200-meter freestyle relay to capture his 10th and 11th career gold medals, a new Olympic record. Phelps then won his sixth gold of the Beijing Games by breaking his own world record in the 200-meter IM. He tied Spitz’s record by winning the 100-meter butterfly final by 0.01 second and broke the mark as a member of the victorious American 4 × 100-meter medley relay team. All told, Phelps set world records in all but one (the 100-meter butterfly) of his eight gold medal-winning events.
From his five appearances at both the Olympic Games and the world championships (long course), to competing in 10 swimming world cups and four Pan Pacific Championships, he has had a global impact on competitive swimming. Significantly, he won 28 Olympic medals, of which, 23 were gold medals. While no swimmer won more than eight gold medals in the Olympics, Phelps has 23; That speaks volumes of the supreme he reigned. With Malchow coming off his Olympic gold medal and hungry to remain the king of the 200 fly, Phelps had someone to push him – an ideal scenario. Not surprising, Malchow was in command during the early stages of the race.
Despite possessing incredible skills and technique, Phelps had to work hard for his records and there were times when it seemed difficult for Phelps to create the Olympic record. All told, Phelps captured 28 Olympic medals during his illustrious career, 10 more than the second-most ever. Of that total, Phelps won 23 gold medals, 14 more than the second-most in history. His career featured 33 medals from the World Championships and 21 medals from the Pan Pacific Championships, along with an incredible 39 world records. Not since the great Mark Spitz in 1972 had an athlete captured seven gold medals in a single Olympiad, and inside the Water Cube in China, Phelps was prepared to chase eight.
Get some calories into my system and try to recover the best I can,” Phelps said at the time. “I’ve been able to do everything I’ve ever put my mind to in this sport. And 24 years in the sport. I’m happy with how things finished,” he said. “I’m ready to retire. I’m happy about it. I’m in a better state of mind this time than I was four years ago.”