“I think I could take her in a 400”, Phelps said. “That was the last race ever”. “If there’s a kid that’s hungry enough and will work hard enough, it’ll be enjoyable for me”.
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“And it turned out pretty cool”.
“This is the way I wanted to hang my suit up”.
“Being able to cap it off with these Games is just the ideal way to finish”.
“Hopefully that’s a message to the rest of the world for four years’ time when James and Duncan will be a lot more mature, have a lot more muscle, and hopefully if Chris decides to carry on he’ll be a lot faster”.
Staffordshire-born Olympic champion Peaty claimed a second medal of the Rio Games in the early hours of Sunday morning, coming second to Phelps’ USA foursome in the 4 x 100m medley relay. “I won’t be in the pool”.
“The gold medal wasn’t just for me”.
“The biggest thing between now and London was that I was more emotional during these games and that showed on camera”, Phelps said. “This is how I wanted to finish my career”. It was a challenge getting back to this point. “And this was the cherry on top of the cake that I wanted”.
“I’m in the best place possible with everything that’s going on in my life”.
“This is it. This is the last time you’ll ever see me racing in the water”.
“I will never let myself get to 230 pounds again”, vowed Phelps, who put on weight after previous Olympics. “I wouldn’t change anything about my past”.
The USA’s first medal dates back to 1896, when James Connolly won triple jump gold.
“I honestly don’t know”, he said.
He and and every other Olympic medalist will have to pay a “victory tax”. I’m retired. I’m done.
“I am done competing, but by no means does this mean it’s the end of my career”.
“I am retiring, but I’m not done with swimming”.
“This is the part of my life where I get to start this whole new chapter …”
Baltimore’s own Michael Phelps has dominated the sport of swimming and the Olympic games for the past 12 years.
And there is no doubt the sport has enjoyed a much higher profile during his tenure as its leading figure.
“You guys won’t see me at one of these things for a long time”, he told reporters. “Yeah, I’ve done a lot, but it’s not done”. But on Monday Phelps himself seemed inspired by the rising star.
Now he will return home to Arizona, where he will spend time with his fiancee Nicole Johnson and three-month old baby Boomer and join his coach Bob Bowman on the deck of the Mona Plummer Aquatic Center at Arizona State University as a volunteer assistant coach.
“I was watching him in Athens, in Beijing, in London”.
“Now will be even more special”.
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“Twenty-three is a special number, always has been”.
