“It’s incredible. Really. I have been dreaming of this moment since I was a child and it’s unbelievable”, the 21-year-old said. “That island has given me so much, so much love and support throughout my whole career, and I just owe this to them”.
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“Done, done, done – and this time I mean it”, he told “TODAY’s” Matt Lauer on Monday.
“I don’t think so boys and girls”, he said. I am retiring, this is it. “This is just the start of something new”.
Phelps is more aware of his place in history, too.
“It’s not even once in a generation”, said his coach, Bob Bowman.
“…four of the countries ahead of him are Germany, which over time has competed as Germany, West Germany, East Germany and the Unified German Team”.
“To do it in one of the most-watched races in the history of swimming, Michael’s last race – that’s something I am going to cherish forever”, Murphy said of the 51.85 seconds he swam to eclipse Peirsol’s 51.94 set in the bodysuit era in 2009. Swimming felt like a chore.
“I want to give people all over the world the opportunity to swim”, he said. Connor Jaeger of the US took the silver, and Paltinieri’s countryman Gabriele Detti increased Italy’s joy by taking bronze in a dramatic tussle at the finish with American Jordan Wilimovsky. But he still couldn’t have imagined such a golden medal haul.
Phelps, who was still a teenager, won six gold medals and two bronzes in Athens – a feat which already made him the second most successful American athlete in a single Games.
Not five, including revenge in the 200 fly and a two-second victory over a star-studded field in the 200 IM. “It’s it. We’re finished.’ I’m happy with my career”.
If that was the end – and Phelps insists it was – what a way to go out. And atop the podium. “This whole thing started with one goal and one dream”. Last warm-down. Check. “Being able to walk out like this – I am proud of me”. Phelps’ performance helped the United States men’s team to emerge as winners in the 4×100 medley relay at Rio. The moment called for a splash of sentimentality, even with a race on the line.
“We came together as a team and Michael was like ‘You know guys, I don’t really have anything to say”. “But that might have been thrown out there”.
Two-time gold medalist Murphy put the Americans out front with a world-record split on the backstroke – it counts since he was leading off – but Britain surged ahead on the breaststroke with its own world-record holder, Adam Peaty. He touched the wall after his 100 meters of butterfly with the relay ahead by nearly a half-second. Adrian cruised through his final 100 to secure gold. “Tonight’s the last one, and there’s a lot to think about”.
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“I’ve lived a dream come true, something that I wanted for so long”.
