OLYMPIC GAMES | SWIMMING
When did Michael Phelps retire? How many Olympic medals did he win?
In a glittering Olympic career that encompassed five Summer Games, Phelps became the most successful athlete in the event’s history.
Over the course of five Summer Games, US swimming legend Michael Phelps established himself as the Olympics’ most decorated athlete.
Having made his debut at the Games as a 15-year-old in 2000, after becoming the youngest male swimmer to make his country’s Olympic team in 68 years, Phelps went on to amass a career haul of 28 medals at the event.
Phelps says goodbye at Rio 2016
At the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in 2016, Phelps concluded his illustrious Olympic career with five gold medals and a silver medal, leaving him with an overall total of 23 golds, three silvers and two bronzes.
In his final race, the 4x100m medley relay, Phelps not only won gold, but did so with a group of younger teammates he led to one of the great team swimming performances in Olympic history.
For Phelps, who retired from swimming after the 4x100m medley, it was the perfect way to say goodbye. Rio was Phelps’ motivation to overcome all the problems he had after the London Games. That’s when he had to deal with figuring out how to live a life without the thing that made him someone. After having issues with alcohol, he focused on a new goal: ending his career the right way in Rio.
Before that, Phelps had won eight medals at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, eight medals again (all gold) in Beijing in 2008 and six in London in 2012.
A swimming superstar
It was his performance in Beijing that took swimming to previously unimaginable heights, turning it into primetime, must-see television. That year, the swimming finals at the Olympics were moved to the morning in China so they could be shown on primetime TV the previous evening in the US.
Asked ahead of Tokyo 2020 whether he missed competing at the Olympics, Phelps said he expected to enjoy the Games in a different way.
“It’s weird,” he admitted. “But hopefully relaxing. I think it will be good to watch it with the whole family. During a big meet, I always feel like I’m on high alert, super tense, and this should be more relaxing.”