Michael Phelps had to declare in advance to say goodbye water pools after this Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
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Phelps won 6 gold medals and 2 bronze medals at the 2004 Athens Olympics and then went onto bag 8 gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
In the previous race, Simone Manuel anchored the United States women’s 4x100m medley team to the 1,000th gold medal in her country’s Olympic history.
An Olympic record time of 3:27.95 was lost in the emotion after the race as Phelps tearfully saluted the crowd while his beauty queen fiancee Nicole Johnson looked on sobbing as she cradled baby son Boomer.
U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian in history, has announced that he has made a decision to retire.
Ervin returned to make the American team in 2012, but failed to win a medal in London.
He assured fans Saturday that while he has had an awesome time in Rio, the race with Adrian, Miller and Murphy would end it all.
NBC’s Saturday night Olympic coverage, featuring Phelps’ last swim, posted a 16.4 overnight rating. I am proud of the work I have put in over the last two-plus years to be able to get back to where I am today. Overall, the 20-year-old won four medals in Rio.
So what is next for Phelps?
Standing atop the medal podium for the 23rd time, listening to the “The Star-Spangled Banner” as he’s done so many times before, Phelps teared up a bit and gave a little nod.
“When I went down, I thought, ‘Oh my God, that is it.’ I just got up and wanted to stick with the guys and stay strong”, Farah said. His 200-meter individual medley performance won him his 13th individual gold medal, beating a record set by ancient Olympian Leonidas of Rhodes, who had won the most Olympic individual medals of all time, taking twelve.
With one gold and five silvers, it was British swimming’s most successful Games since 1908. Murphy broke U.S.A.’s previous Olympic record, which gave him his third gold medal at Rio 2016.
Record breaking is just another thing that has come naturally to the 31-year-old, doing it from his very first entry into the pool to the last.
The American, far and away the most decorated athlete in Olympic history, finished with five golds and one silver in Rio after signing off in dramatic style, as he cam to the rescue in the 4x100m medley final. I’m in a better state of mind this time than I was four years ago.
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The 1,000 mark – a first for any country – was reached earlier Saturday, when the American women swimmers won the 4×100 meter medley relay.
