THE greatest Olympian of all-time Michael Phelps has condemned the entire sporting world for failing to conquer the war on drugs as his fifth Olympic Games at Rio descends further into a doping farce.
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According to various media reports, the USA men’s and women’s basketball teams will not stay in the Olympic Village, a cluster of lodgings where almost every other country’s delegations (including other U.S. athletes) live for the duration of the games.
The American was chosen by his fellow team members to carry the United States of America flag at Friday’s opening ceremony. At the past three Olympics, Phelps skipped the ceremony to rest up for his first event, the 400-meter individual medley, which was held the next day.
Others like eloquent fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad, the Duke graduate who will become the first American Olympian to compete in a hijab and an argument for whom was deftly made by Yahoo’s Eric Adelson.
The 31-year-old Phelps announced his retirement from swimming after the London Games but quickly reversed that decision.
In 2000, Phelps had just wanted to make the team.
“We never take it for granted when we come to the Olympics”, three-time gold medalist Sue Bird said.
“I think I’m at the point where whatever is left here, I will be able to turn the page and say I’ve been able to finish my career how I wanted to”.
“And now, I want to walk in the opening ceremony, take it all in, represent America in the best possible way and make my family proud”.
In a way, this is a flawless capper to Phelps’ career, no matter how many medals he adds to his already staggering total in Rio. “So that’s really good for my mindset going into this Olympics that I’m the underdog and I have to earn my spot on the podium”.
“Sometimes on their own teams, there’s a pressure to do everything, so the beauty of this they only have to do their part and enjoy it”.
But Phelps seemed remarkably stress-free as he looked forward to the arrival of Nicole and Boomer to watch him race.
The news, along with his newly proclaimed senses of peace and reconciliation and fulfillment in the arrival of a son, accounts for why he says his “emotions will be 10 times what they’ve ever been before” as he swims in what he jokingly (we think) called his “potential last Olympics”.
“I’ve been able to enjoy life”, he said of his comeback. It is also notice that his team-mates may not care too much about past transgressions: in recent years, Phelps has been arrested for driving while intoxicated and also photographed holding a water pipe that could be used for smoking marijuana. Things have settled in the last two years more than they ever have been.
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“Once you’ve felt that passion, that thrill of racing the top people in the world, and that goes away, you miss it really quick”, said Lochte, who turned 32 Wednesday and who is rooming with Phelps here.
