Michael Fred Phelps (born June 30, 1985) is an American swimmer who has, overall, won 16 Olympic medals—six gold and two bronze at Athens in 2004, and eight gold at Beijing in 2008, becoming the most successful athlete at both of these Olympic Games editions. In doing so he has twice equaled the record eight medals of any type at a single Olympics achieved by Soviet gymnast Alexander Dityatin at the 1980 Moscow Summer Games. His five golds in individual events tied the single Games record set by compatriot Eric Heiden in the 1980 Winter Olympics and equaled by Vitaly Scherbo at the 1992 Summer Games.
Phelps's international titles and record breaking performances have earned him the World Swimmer of the Year Award six times and American Swimmer of the Year Award eight times. He has won a total of sixty-six medals in major international competition, fifty-four gold, nine silver, and three bronze spanning the Olympics, the World, and the Pan Pacific Championships. His unprecedented Olympic success in 2008 earned Phelps Sports Illustrated magazine's Sportsman of the Year award.
Early life
Phelps was born and raised in the Rodgers Forge neighborhood of Towson, Maryland, located just outside of Baltimore City. His father, Fred, was a football player in high school and almost made the team for the Washington Redskins.[5] His mother Deborah "Debbie" Phelps is a middle school principal. Phelps began swimming at the age of seven, partly because of the influence of his sisters and partly to provide him with an outlet for his energy.When Phelps was in the sixth grade, he was diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)Phelps trained at the North Baltimore Aquatic Club under coach Bob Bowman and excelled as a swimmer. By the age of 10, he held a national record for his age group. More age group records followed, and Phelps' rapid improvement culminated in his qualifying for the 2000 Summer Olympics at the age of 15 and becoming the youngest male to make a U.S. Olympic swim team in 68 years.While he did not win a medal, he did make the finals and finished fifth in the 200 m butterfly.
2002 Pan Pacific Championships
At Nationals, the selection meet for the 2002 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, in Fort Lauderdale, Phelps set an American record in the 200 m individual medley and was just off the world record in the 200 m butterfly.[13] In the 400 m individual medley, Phelps bettered the world record held by Tom Dolan with a time of 4:11.09, just ahead of Erik Vendt, who finished second with a time of 4:11.27, also below the old world record. In the 200 m freestyle, Phelps was barely beaten by Klete Keller and in the 100 m butterfly, Phelps beat Ian Crocker.
At the 2002 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in Yokohama, Phelps won three gold medals and two silvers. In his first event, the 400 m individual medley, Phelps won gold ahead of Erik Vent with a time of 4:12.48. In the 200 m butterfly, Phelps lost to Tom Malchow, finishing behind him 1:55.41 to 1:55.21.
Olympics
In his first event, the 400 m individual medley, Phelps won with a world record time of 4:08.26 to win his first Olympic gold medal.The following day, in the 4×100 m freestyle relay, Phelps, along with Ian Crocker, Neil Walker, and Jason Lezak, finished in third place with a time of 3:14.62.Crocker's lead-off time of 50.05 was the worst among the field and was blamed on sickness.In the event many were calling The Race of the Century, held the following day, Phelps finished in third place behind Ian Thorpe and Pieter van den Hoogenband in the 200 m freestyle.Although this race ended the chance to match Spitz's record, Phelps had savored the challenge even though it was not his strongest event, saying "How can I be disappointed? I swam in a field with the two fastest freestylers of all time".In his fourth event, the 200 m butterfly, held the following day, Phelps finished first with a time of 1:54.04, breaking Tom Malchow's Olympic record.About an hour later, in the 4×200 m freestyle relay, Phelps, along with Ryan Lochte, Peter Vanderkaay, and Klete Keller, finished in first place with a time of 7:07.33.
World Championships
At the 2005 World Championship Trials, Phelps decided to drop his specialty events, the 400 m individual medley and the 200 m butterfly, and experiment with the 400 m freestyle and the 100 m freestyle.Phelps went on to win the 400 m freestyle, the 200 m freestyle, the 100 m butterfly, the 100 m freestyle, and the 200 m individual medley at the Trials.
At the 2005 World Aquatics Championships, Phelps won a total of six medals, 5 golds and one silver.In the 400 m freestyle, Phelps did not make it past the preliminary heats and finished 18th overall with a time of 3:50.53.Later that day, in the 4×100 m freestyle relay, Phelps won his first gold in the Championships.Two days later, on July 26, Phelps won his second gold in the 200 m freestyle with a new American record time of 1:45.20, finishing ahead of Grant Hackett. Two days later, on July 28, Phelps finished 7th in the 100 m freestyle final.Later that day, Phelps won his third gold in the 200 m individual medley.
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michael phelps
7th gold medal and controversy
Before the final of the 100 m butterfly, Serbian-American swimmer Milorad Čavić caused a minor stir when he said it would be "good" if Phelps lost. "It'd be good for him if he loses. It would be nice if historians talk about Michael Phelps winning seven gold medals and losing the eight to 'some guy.' I'd like to be that guy.", Cavic said. Phelps responded, "When people say things like that, it fires me up more than anything."On August 16, Phelps won his seventh gold medal of the Games in the men’s 100 m butterfly, setting an Olympic record for the event with a time of 50.58 seconds and edging out his nearest competitor Čavić, by 1/100 of a second.
Unlike all six of his previous events in the 2008 Games, Phelps did not set a new world record, leaving Ian Crocker’s world record time of 50.40 seconds, set in 2005, intact.
michael phelps
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