Instead of partying it up in the Olympic Village with the rest of his teammates, Phelps opted to spend the night with his fiancée, Nicole Johnson.
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His most important triumph to date, however, is becoming a father. This time, Michael was adamant. he’s not coming back. After all, he said the same thing after the 2012 London Games.
“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”, Phelps said.
“I’m not going four more years and I’m standing by that”, he said. Supporters of Phelps say that this proves he knows the difference between merely enjoying his off-time and cheating to gain an edge.
“He might be there”, Phelps said.
Phelps also told Costas he was honored to be selected as the United States’ flagbearer in the Olympics’ opening ceremonies, and even more touched to be voted as one of the swim team’s captains, one of the only titles that had eluded him throughout his Olympic career.
“I felt very inspired this week, for sure”, he said.
While in Rio, Michael has won five gold medals and one silver, making him the most decorated Olympian in history. “That human spirit, that capacity to heal”.
“In his case, and those of other modern athletes, we can evaluate his times (including Olympic and world records) as well as the number of his victories”.
“I think I could take her in a 400”. Maybe I wasn’t paying much attention to the buildup or perhaps I thought NBC was playing him up the way it always does with stars (see Missy Franklin). Phelps acknowledges he was lax about training in the run up to London in 2012 – where he still won four gold and two silver.
Now that Michael Phelps’ Olympic career is over, he can turn his focus to his next big challenge: wedding planning.
Ryan Lochte will be 36 when the next Summer Olympics, the 2020 Tokyo Games, are staged. “The Baltimore Bullet” has competed in five Olympic Games but did not manage to get among the medals back in 2000 while swimming in Sydney. And, and I finally was just, like, ‘You know what?
He now says the games in Rio – where Team U.S.A. dominated in the pool – mark the end of one life and the beginning of something new.
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Both Phelps and Johnson have been posting photos of Boomer on Instagram every few days since he was born, with the swimmer commenting on multiple occasions that having a son has made him the ‘happiest person in the world’.
