At a glance
- Age
- 41
- Born
- June 30, 1985
- From
- Baltimore
- Nationality
- United States
Biography
The number people quote is 28 — more Olympic medals than any athlete in history. Twenty-three of them are gold. Sixteen came in individual events, thirteen of those gold, which is another all-time record. The swimmer from Baltimore, born in June 1985, competed at four Olympic Games and finished as the most successful athlete of the meet at every one of them, four in a row.
The run started in Athens in 2004, where he took six golds and two bronzes. Eight medals at a single Games matched the mark set by the gymnast Alexander Dityatin. Four years later in Beijing he changed the terms entirely, winning eight golds and passing Mark Spitz's 1972 total of seven wins at a single Olympics — a record that had stood for 36 years.
He kept going after that. London in 2012 brought four golds and two silvers; Rio in 2016 added five golds and a silver. He has since retired from competitive swimming.
Most of what Phelps is asked to talk about traces back to that stretch of results and what it took to produce them across twelve years of Olympic cycles.
The run started in Athens in 2004, where he took six golds and two bronzes. Eight medals at a single Games matched the mark set by the gymnast Alexander Dityatin. Four years later in Beijing he changed the terms entirely, winning eight golds and passing Mark Spitz's 1972 total of seven wins at a single Olympics — a record that had stood for 36 years.
He kept going after that. London in 2012 brought four golds and two silvers; Rio in 2016 added five golds and a silver. He has since retired from competitive swimming.
Most of what Phelps is asked to talk about traces back to that stretch of results and what it took to produce them across twelve years of Olympic cycles.
