The Phelps Dream...turned Reality

Win E.

Michael Phelps is a man who won’t quit. He is a man who thinks of himself as a champion, who has to be best. The 23 year-old American swimmer is not yet at his prime, but he is shattering world records everywhere he goes. This year, at the Beijing Olympics, he attempted to break a record set by Mark Spitz, a fellow American swimmer, almost 40 years ago. That record was winning 7 gold medals in an Olympics. Michael Phelps dreamt of 8 golds this summer. That dream just turned into reality on Sunday August 17. He won 8 gold medals in the 8 events he participated in. In doing so, he also set 7 world records. Probably the biggest scare for him was when he swam for his 7^th gold; in the nail-biting last few meters, he beat his closest rival by merely one hundredth of a second.

Currently, Michael Phelps has also broken a very prestigious world record. Swimmer Mark Spitz, gymnast Larysa Latynina and atheletes Carl Lewis and Paavo Nurmi are going off the record books; Michael Phelps has beaten them with a record in being the most decorated Olympic gold medalist. After breaking Mark Spitz’s record, he has a total of 14 gold medals in his career compared to 9 of the other four Olympians. He is only 23 years-old now, and what he has achieved is already tremendous. He’ll still have at least a couple more years to his career. If he goes on to London 2012, what could he achieve then? For sure, he will be remembered as the one greatest Olympians.

The Beijing Olympics has been great so far and the person that dominates the recent headlines is Michael Phelps himself. Although I’m not much of a swimming fan, the Michael Phelps saga has caught my interest. The interesting part about it is how one person manages to win so many medals.

How do you feel about Michael Phelps?