The Olympics
has always been an international event that catches the interest and the
attention of millions of people around the world. Being an American, one can
notice that Michael Phelps is the center of attention in the swimming department.
Although there are many others such as Ryan Lochte, that are quite skilled as
well, none were as looked upon as Phelps was.
Phelps being only twenty-seven years
old has claimed twenty-two medals: eighteen gold and two silver medals. After
the 2012 Olympics, Phelp’s achievements make him the most decorated Olympic
athlete of all time. In 2012, he was caught smoking a bong in a picture which
deeply hurt his fans and his career. Although Phelps apologized for his inappropriate
actions, many believed that the event may have hurt his performance. According
to Matt Lauer from Today in London who interviewed Phelps on June 26st, 2012 Phelps
says, “I think the worst thing was just I hurt so many people around me… I’ll
be the first to admit I made a lot of stupid mistakes in my life. It was a huge
learning experience. I’ve had a lot of those throughout my career, and they’ve
all made me a better person.”
In this interview Phelps also expresses
concerns about his body, “You’re so up in this big competitive level, and you’re
at this peak… and then you just kind of roll down the hill”. Phelps was clearly
concerned about his performance as he discusses with Lauer about his upcoming competition
and concern about his own physical fitness.
Phelps still has strong supporters
such as Bob Bowman who states, “I think if you ask me today, ‘is he prepared to
be a good swimmer as he was in Beijing? I would have to say no because we haven’t
done the volume of training… If you ask me, ‘Has he prepared to be a better person than he
was in Beijing?’ Without question. He's in a much better place in his life, and
he's just more grown up.”
In the
2012 Olympics, Phelps greatly contributed to the team’s success by swimming for
the United States in the 4 x 100 meter freestyle relay and winning silver.
Under his leadership, he helped his team win gold for 100 meter butterfly, 200
meter individual medley, the 4 x 200 meter freestyle and the 4 x 100 meter
medley. It is quite clear that Phelps helped his team a lot, as well as
represented the country as a whole in the Olympics winning the 2012 Olympics
for the United States of America.
Phelps, now retired does donate back
to his community such as running for his non-profit organization: the Michael
Phelps Foundation. According to www.michaelphelpsfoundation.org,
it states, “The Michael Phelps Foundation is a nonprofit organization focused
on growing the sport of swimming and promoting healthy and active lives,
especially in children.” Phelps was able to create such an establishment by
using the one million dollar bonus from Speedo for winning eight Olympic medals
in the Beijing (China) Olympics.
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