Michael Phelps
Michael Phelps
Michael Fred Phelps II is an American competition swimmer and the most decorated Olympian of all time, with a total of 22 medals in three Olympiads. Phelps also holds the all-time records for Olympic gold medals, Olympic gold medals in individual events, and Olympic medals in individual events for a male. In winning eight gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Games, Phelps took the record away from fellow American swimmer Mark Spitzfor the most first-place finishes at any single Olympic...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionSwimmer
Date of Birth30 June 1985
CityBaltimore, MD
CountryUnited States of America
I have had extreme ups and downs. The biggest thing I learned after I broke my wrist is to never give up. Nothing in life will ever come easy. It depends on how you deal with those obstacles and how you overcome those obstacles. If you can overcome them, you're a stronger person. If you make mistakes along the way, as long as you never make that same mistake again, you're a successful person.
I want to be able to look back and say, 'I've done everything I can, and I was successful.' I don't want to look back and say I should have done this or that. I'd like to change things for the younger generation of swimmers coming along.
I knew it would take a world record to win this race, ... He was better prepared than I was for this race. The Texas guys have awesome starts and turns -- two things I don't do well. Those are two things I need to improve on before Athens.
I'm satisfied in a way because it was an eye-opener,
That's an indication I'm sort of starting to fade.
The last 20 meters weren't very good, they didn't feel good,
It takes a lot more out of you racing in the finals. I think it's definitely a lot different from the trials, a whole lot more emotionally draining.
This was a dream come true for me, ... Ever since I was a little kid, I was dreaming of this. But when I saw Erik over there, it was even more incredible.
Folks between the ages of 25 and 54, households with children, households with a median income of $73,000, that's our target demographic.
We wanted to split our relays up and see what would happen, ... It was a good way to end the meet.
We wanted to secure the top spot, we wanted to be safe on the relay takeoffs, ... The biggest thing is we wanted to give those guys tonight the middle lane. We expect a fast swim from those four guys.
Bob has clearly stated that he's dropping the bomb on me, ... Hopefully we can change a few things in the upcoming year and improve on this.
Bob and I have gotten into it a number, number of times.
There were times I wouldn't come to practice, because it didn't excite me. It wasn't interesting. I was kind of going through the motions.