He initially retired after the 2012 London Olympics, only to decide about a year later to return to the pool.
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It was the ninth consecutive win for the United States in the 4×100-meter medley, according to Team USA, which said that Phelps officially announced his retirement afterward, with chants of “Michael Phelps” coming from the stands.
Bolles’ 2014 graduate Joseph Schooling, swimming for Singapore, out-dueled Michael Phelps in the 100-meter butterfly Friday night to claim the gold.
This race was the final competition in the swimming category at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
Michael Phelps closed out the Rio Olympics in the only way imaginable.
At the top of the list: being a father.
Phelps’ Olympic stats are truly staggering: He was already the most decorated Olympian in history, but he leaves his Olympic career with a total of 28 medals, 23 of which are gold.
He ditched the athletes village and spent the night with his fiancee, Nicole Johnson, and their 3-month-old son, Boomer.
“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. “I changed a diaper last night”.
Dare I say it, he nearly looked old, save for the 88 kilograms of lean muscle and bone that has made him the greatest of all time. But he was just 15 then, so cut him a break. Phelps considers this the best race of his career.
“It’s incredible. Really. I have been dreaming of this moment since I was a child and it’s unbelievable”, said the 21-year-old Paltinieri.
“I might let him take one for “show and tell”, he laughed. Another cool number: since the start of Phelps career, the number of year-round swimmers in US swimming clubs has increased by 52.4 percent, according to TIME, up to a current total of337,000.
“That’s number one for me”, Phelps said. Being able to look back at my career and say we’ve been able to accomplish everything we wanted. It’s my favorite place to go when I just want to go to the beach or just see family. As they huddled up prior to the race to go over strategy, they felt the magnitude of the moment, and the weight of what they knew they had to do to help Phelps get his flawless ending.
“I still want to have the opportunities to compete on this level”.
Per US Magazine, Phelps and Johnson have a rocky relationship for eight years. While Great Britain’s James Guy did well to hold him in check during the butterfly leg, there was never much doubt the U.S. would take gold.
Phelps and his soon-to-be wife intend to continue living in suburban Phoenix, at least for the next couple of years.
It seemed only apt that Phelps and his teammates would extend that record to 1,001 golds shortly after. Madison Kocian and Gabby Douglas will also be on the mat, competing in the individual uneven bars event at 3:21pm EST. Yes, swimming affords plenty of podium opportunities but that should theoretically give his rivals more chances to unseat him in some of his less specialist disciplines. He hopes to carry on that momentum, even though he’s stepping away from competitive swimming.
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France’s Florent Manaudou, the defending champion, finished second and just 0.01 seconds behind the 35-year-old veteran, who won in 21.40 seconds in a splash and dash down the pool.
