Phelps’s leadership was key on a squad replete with athletes who have no memories of an Olympics without him.
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In 2014, Colin Schooling dismissed stubborn speculation that his son was a “foreign talent” because of his surname – declaring that Joseph, a third-generation Singaporean, was a true son of the republic.
Speaking of the picture Schooling has kept of him and Phelps, he commented, “That’s pretty insane, what happens in eight years”.
At 31, the Baltimore native has racked up 28 Olympic medals, including a record 23 gold medals, so far – that’s counting five gold medals and a silver medal won in Rio.
“It’s insane to think of what happens in eight years”, Schooling said, adding, “A lot of this is because of Michael”. Phelps finished in a three-way tie for silver with longtime rivals Chad le Clos of South Africa and Lazslo Cseh of Hungary.
But as a sendoff for Phelps, it might have meant more than any previous race.
But when making his Olympic debut in 2012, Schooling’s swim cap and goggles were rejected just before the 200m butterfly heats for not meeting Olympic regulations.
They clasped hands and stepped up together.
“When you think of the history of Baltimore, you’re going to think about Ray Lewis and Michael Phelps and Johnny Unitas and Cal Ripken”, Lewis said. “It was right to do that”. His legs felt leaden but his heart was light.
The victory continued America’s stranglehold on an event they have never lost in Olympic competition.
Blume won Denmark’s first gold medal in any event at the Rio Games by storming to victory in the women’s 50m freestyle.
While Michael Phelps is reportedly leaving the game for good, Ledecky is seamlessly replacing him as the greatest name in her sport, man or woman. After answering several questions directed at him, Phelps playfully protested.
Phelps said he was proud of Schooling.
Like Phelps, Ervin well knows the dangers of retiring without a real backup plan.
While the teams’ lineups won’t be released until an hour before start time, we haven’t heard a peep about Phelps possibly not racing. “So being able to share that one moment that I had with him, definitely very special”, he said with his voice quivering.
She was surely thinking about all the work she put in to make it there, not to mention all the changes to come as she gets ready to head off to college.
When it comes to the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Michael Phelps has been a superstar for the United States.
I just wanted to push myself and see what I could do.
Four years ago, she seemingly came out nowhere to capture gold as a 15-year-old at the London Games.
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Like many of his contemporaries in Rio, who grew up idolising Phelps, he keeps an old photo of himself as a bespectacled teenager with the American that was taken at a meeting in Singapore after the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
