A Life of Passion
Why Michael Phelps is the greatest Olympian of all time.
Everyone with access to a TV or the Internet has heard of Michael Phelps. The swimmer, who will soon be thirty-three, is the most decorated Olympian of all time with a total of twenty-eight medals. He has twenty-three gold medals, three silver medals, and two bronze medals.
Phelps holds many Olympic records, including the most Olympic gold medals with twenty-three, the most Olympic medals in individual events with sixteen, and the most Olympic gold medals in individual events with thirteen. Phelps also holds the record for the most gold medals won in any single Olympic games. His success in the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro made him the winner of the most medals for the fourth Summer Olympic Games in a row.
Phelps has competed in five Olympic Games: the 2000 Summer Olympic Games in Sydney, the 2004 Summer Olympic Games in Athens, the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London, and the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. It is currently unknown if Phelps will compete in the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. Phelps said that the 2016 Olympics in Rio was “potentially” his last Olympics.
Phelps first competed in the Olympics at the 2000 Summer Olympic Games in Sydney. Unfortunately, he did not win any medals at the 2000 Summer Olympics.
Phelps won his first Olympic gold medal and broke his first world record at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens in the 400-meter individual medley.
During the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, Phelps broke the record for most first place finishes in a single Olympic Games with eight gold medals. The record had previously been held by Mark Spitz, another American swimmer, who won seven gold medals at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich.
Phelps became the most decorated Olympian of all time during the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London on July 31st with a silver medal in the 200-meter butterfly and a gold medal in the 4x200-meter freestyle relay.
He retired after the 2012 Games, but he came out of retirement in April 2014. Supposedly, he was motivated to come out of retirement when the US national team failed to win the 4x100-meter freestyle relay without him.
Phelps entered his first event since coming out of his retirement in May 2014. The event was the 100-meter butterfly event at the Arena Grand Prix in Charlotte, North Carolina, which he won.
Phelps was the American flag bearer for the 2016 Olympic opening ceremony, a great honor. He won six medals at the 2016 Olympics, five being gold and one being silver.
When he was telling his coach, Bob Bowman, that he wanted to come out of retirement, he said that he “wasn’t training for history. He wasn’t training for the medals. He wasn’t even training for all the fans. This time Phelps wanted to swim for himself…and enjoy the journey.”
This, more than anything else, shows Phelps’ ardor for swimming. His inability to not swim is testament to his passion for the sport, but swimming is clearly more than a sport for Michael Phelps. It’s his life.
With all of his success, it’s clear to me that Michael Phelps has dedicated his life to swimming. No one could achieve what he has if they did not love what they do. Michael Phelps has a passion for swimming, and he has lived his life accordingly. By living his life of passion, Michael Phelps has come to be considered by many to be the greatest Olympian of all time.
