Michael Phelps
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Michael Phelps Professional Sports Career
Michael Phelps, born in 1985, is an American former competitive swimmer. Phelps is considered as one of the most successful swimmers across the globe. Phelps is the most decorated Olympian. Over his career, he managed to obtain a total of 28 medals that were won under different competitions. He managed to obtain the most medals compared to any other athlete since the Olympic Games started being held (Epstein, 2017). Phelps is the first male swimmer to have ever taken part in five Olympic teams.
Phelps managed to obtain a gold medal at the age of 28 hence getting to the books of history of being the oldest swimmer to have ever won a gold medal. Phelps retired as a professional swimmer in 2016. During that Olympic event, he manages to win one silver medal and five gold medals. Phelps broke the world record of Mark Spitz that has previously been set in 1972 after he won eight gold medals in the Olympic Games that were held in Beijing (Hodler, 2016). Spitz has set the record after managing to win seven gold medals. Phelps has won the honor of being the only swimmer to have won four gold medals in a row and in the same event. The event that has won him the honor is the 200-meter individual medley.
Major Events
Michael Phelps managed to participate in different events during his career life. Phelps has participated in the different summer Olympic Games. Such Olympic Games where Phelps took place include the ones held in Athens, Beijing, London, and Rio (Hodler, 2016). He participated in 200-meter individual medley in all the competitions. Phelps still participated in the 400-meter individual medley in all the Olympic Competitions. The other events that he took part include the 200-meter freestyle and the 200-meter butterfly.
References
Epstein, A. (2017). Image Restoration in the Apologetic Rhetoric of Professional Athletes: A Case Study of Tiger Woods, Kobe Bryant, and Michael Phelps. Florida Atlantic University.
Hodler, M. R. (2016). The greatest Olympian of all-time? The ideological implications of celebrating Michael Phelps.