Michael Phelps medal count shoots to 18 gold

Legend at the age of 27, Michael Phelps has won another Olympic gold medal, his 18th in the 4×100 medley relay. There cannot be a more memorable send-off  for an athlete than this. He is the proud owner of 22 Olympic medals including 18 gold medals.

Michael Phelps has that uncanny habit of amazing everyone -from fans to detractors -in every major event. In Beijing Olympics he broke many records and returned with 8 gold medal haul. But that was at a time when he had really worked and trained hard.

If he was undisputed lord of swimming in Beijing, before 2012 London Olympics he was written off with many questioning his preparedness for such a big occasion and such a big stage. He was expected to be a loser, as far as media attention was focussed on his teammate Ryan Lochte, who, after arriving at London Olympic village had said that it was his Olympic.

But once Olympic 2012 began, Michael Phelps was once again the lord of the London Olympic swimming, winning gold, silver and bronze and within days he became the world’s highest medal winner in Olympics history.

Though Michael Phelps has said that he is retiring from professional swimming, his mother has said that she wants him to continue till the next Olympics. On a recent edition of 60 Minutes, Debbie Phelps said she would like her son to continue swimming through the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Phelps, though, has insisted for years that the upcoming London Games will be his last.

But Phelps insists that he is not going to make a comeback. “I’ve said I don’t want to swim past the age of 30…I definitely would love to go to Rio and be able to just be there for support, see what it is like on the other side of the fence and just enjoy it.”

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Posted by admin on August 5, 2012. Filed under Life & Style. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry