Michael Phelps biography. Michael Phelps

Legendary American swimmer Michael Phelps became a 23-time Olympic gold medalist when he won the 4 x 100 medley relay on August 13.

This award was his fifth "gold" at the Rio Olympics, writes CNN.

The only swim in Brazil where Phelps came in second was won by a fan of his, who only 8 years ago simply dreamed of being next to his idol.

In 2008, a boy from Singapore on vacation with his parents in a hotel ran into Michael Phelps, asked for a photo with him and said that he wanted to be like him. Phelps was then already a world star and an unattainable winner of Olympic records in swimming. He advised the guy to train a lot - and everything will work out.

Michael Phelps and Joseph Schooling in 2008.
Photo: Facebook

An enthusiastic student named Joseph Schooling began to train intensively, in 2016 he set a new world record and took the first Olympic gold in the history of Singapore, ahead of his idol - at that time 22-time Olympic champion Michael Phelps, and leaving him with silver. .

Michael Phelps and Joseph Schooling in 2016.
Photo: Facebook

They were both shocked by the result.

Joseph Schooling called his victory "madness".

“I just wanted to be around him and be happy. I will remember this all my life, ”admitted the Singaporean athlete.

“No one likes to lose. But I'm proud of Joseph,” Phelps commented on his second place.

There is another story that proves that everything Phelps touches turns to gold.

In 2006, a 9-year-old girl named Kathy Ledecky received an autograph from her idol Michael Phelps, who, most likely, advised her to train and persevere towards her goal.

Phelps signs Ledecky's autograph.
Photo: Facebook

And now, in 2016, Katie Ledecky won 4 gold medals and set three world records.

Kathy Ledecky won gold.
Photo: Facebook

For young athletes, this is just the beginning, for Phelps, according to him, the Rio Olympics are a farewell chord that he succeeded in the best possible way. First, he broke an ancient record that had held for over 2,000 years.

The fact is that of Phelps's 23 gold medals, 13 were obtained in single heats, which allowed the American swimmer to break the record of the ancient athlete Leonidas from Rhodes, who won 12 individual awards.

At 36, Leonidas won his last 3 medals in 152 BC. Phelps surpassed Leonidas by winning his 13th individual gold at 31.

In addition, Phelps won 5 gold medals in one Games, which is also a record.

The only "minus" of his achievements is that if Phelps had the desire to show off and put on all his gold medals at the same time, this could become dangerous for his health, writes the Wall Street Journal.

Gold medals weigh differently at different Olympics. The Brazilian awards in Phelps' piggy bank are the heaviest, each medal weighing about 500 grams.

All 23 of the athlete's gold awards weigh about 6.6 kg, that is, if they are hung around the neck, it will feel approximately the same as the average bowling ball.

And if we add to this 3 more silver and 2 bronze swimmer awards, it will be very difficult.

We offer you a selection of interesting facts about the American legend collected by BuzzFeed.

1. Phelps started swimming at the age of 7.
2. The first swimming style he mastered was backstroke, as he was afraid to put his head in the water.
3. He set his first record at the age of 10 in the 100m butterfly in his age group.
4. In 2000, he became the youngest American swimmer to compete in the Olympics in nearly 70 years, at just 15.
5. Phelps' arm span (203 cm) exceeds the swimmer's height (193 cm).
6. He has a 14th foot size (47 by European standards) - 30.2 cm, which also helps him in swimming.
7. He became the youngest swimmer to break a world record when he was 15 years old.
8. At the age of 27, he became the athlete with the largest number of Olympic awards.
9. He still holds the record in 12 different swimming styles and age groups in the US.
10. He is in the top 5 richest Olympic athletes.

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Swimmer Michael Phelps is the most titled athlete in the history of mankind. An American phenomenon is a twenty-three-time Olympic champion. In total, there are twenty-eight Olympic medals and twenty-six gold medals won at the world championships in the Phelps collection.

Born 06/30/1985

Achievements:

• The absolute record holder in the history of the Olympic Games in the number of gold awards (23) and the total number of medals (28).
• 13-time Olympic champion in individual distances (Athens-2004 - 200 and 400 m individual medley, 100 and 200 m butterfly, Beijing 2008 - 200 and 400 m individual medley, 100 and 200 m butterfly, 200 m freestyle, London- 2012 - 200m medley, 100m butterfly, Rio de Janeiro 2016 - 200m medley, 200m butterfly).
• 10-time Olympic champion in relay races (Athens-2004 - 4 × 200 m freestyle, 4 × 100 m combined styles, Beijing 2008 - 4 × 100 and 4 × 200 m freestyle, 4 × 100 m combined styles, London- 2012 - 4x200m freestyle, 4x100m medley, Rio de Janeiro-2016 - 4x100 and 4x200m freestyle, 4x100m medley).
• 26 times world champion.
• Holder of 37 world records.
• World Swimmer of the Year in 2003, 2004, 2006-2009, 2012.
• US Swimmer of the Year 2001-2004, 2006-2009, 2012.

From fidget to the US team

Phelps started swimming at the age of seven, joining the section with his sisters. From early childhood, Michael was not like other children, doctors even diagnosed him with hyperactivity and attention deficit disorder. Being a fidget, he needed somewhere to put his energy, so the pool for the boy was very useful.

In the section, Phelps quickly attracted the attention of the coach, who took up the new student in earnest. Michael regularly breaks US records for children and youths across all ages and becomes a candidate for the main national team. The young swimmer goes to his first Olympics in Sydney and comes fifth in the 200m butterfly. And this at fifteen!

The first victory at the adult level comes to Phelps a year later, at the 2001 World Cup, after which the American falls into the field of vision of the fans, who two years later began to admire Michael. And it was for that - Phelps at the World Championships in Barcelona showed himself to be a multi-stationer, becoming the champion in the 200m butterfly, and also winning both heats in the complex. It is impossible not to note the versatility of the American - he adds gold to his victories in personal heats as part of the combined relay.

sixfold

It is obvious that Athens-2004 will be the high point of the swimmer who has rapidly burst into the world elite. And so it happened - Phelps won six gold medals, having won two victories in his profile distances in butterfly and complex, plus, twice became the champion in relay races - 4 × 200 m freestyle and combined.

But that's not all - Michael won bronze in the most stellar swim of the Olympics - the 200-meter freestyle, imposing a serious fight on van den Hoogenband. Sometimes there was a feeling that Phelps did not get out of the pool - the next qualification was replaced by the final swim and vice versa.

At the 2005 World Championships, Phelps allows himself a little "rest", reducing the number of disciplines. Michael took away four gold medals from Montreal. Melbourne is another matter. At the 2007 World Championships, Phelps decided to hold a dress rehearsal for the Olympics in Beijing. Seven finals - seven victories - one hundred percent result! To two victories in butterfly, complex and relay races, Michael added success at a distance of 200 meters freestyle.

fourteen times

Definitely, Phelps is becoming the best swimmer in the world, and now everyone is worried about two questions - will Michael overtake Mark Spitz in the number of victories in one Olympics (the legendary American swimmer became the seven-time champion of Munich in 1972) and will he become the most titled Olympian in history? In China, Michael answers positively to both questions, winning eight gold medals. Phelps becomes a champion in all types of programs in which he took part - it's fantastic!

Michael Phelps - 2008 Olympic winner

After a grandiose triumph, Phelps slows down a bit at the 2009 World Championships in Rome - refusing to compete in the complex, Michael takes “only” two golds in the butterfly in personal heats, but with world records. Two years later, in Shanghai, Phelps traditionally wins both butterfly heats and again goes to the start in the complex (200 m) - however, he is content with silver, as in the 200-meter freestyle.

eighteenfold

It is clear that Phelps will not be able to keep up with Beijing at the London Olympics. Somewhere he lowered the requirements for himself, perhaps age began to affect - Phelps did not apply for a distance of 200 meters freestyle. Therefore, he does not plan to repeat his Beijing triumph. London brought Michael four golds: in two relay races - combined and 4 × 200 in / c, as well as in the "short" butterfly and complex - 100 and 200 meters, respectively. Phelps for the first time since 2000 did not become a champion in the 200-meter butterfly, and in the 400-meter medley he became the fourth at all.

Shortly after London, Phelps announced his retirement from sports. This decision seemed logical - he is the best swimmer in history, having conquered incredible peaks. Michael's rivals breathed a sigh of relief - now the path to the podium is open. They are diligently preparing for the 2016 Olympics, playing medals at the World Championships, but in 2014 they learn that Phelps is returning to the sport and plans to dive into the pool again in Rio de Janeiro to leave it after the Olympics.

twenty-three times

Phelps comes to Rio in the status of a dark horse - no one knows what the American multichampion is capable of. The first preliminary swims show that Phelps is ready and will fight for gold again in all heats. In Brazil, Michael decided to further shorten his program of performances by removing the 400 m complex from it. But at a distance half as short, Phelps becomes the champion for the fourth time in a row - a unique case!

Michael also wins his fourth Olympic gold medals in two of his favorite relay races - the combined and freestyle 4 × 200 m. In the half-time relay race, the Americans regain the champion status lost in London - Phelps, as usual, is in the championship four. In the butterfly, Michael is rehabilitated in 2012 in the 200m, but in the "hundredth" he becomes the second.

After winning five gold medals in Brazil and becoming a twenty-three-time Olympic champion, Phelps announces his retirement from the sport, this time for good. It's worth it to leave as a winner; leaving as a champion to come back astonishing the world again and leaving swimming is an act worth bowing down to.

It is not known whether a person will appear on earth who can beat Michael's record for the number of Olympic victories, but it is already clear today that this athlete will be from another planet, because Phelps left such a mark in history that an ordinary person clearly cannot surpass.

Michael Phelps is a legendary American swimmer, nicknamed "The Baltimore Bullet". His name is probably known not only to fans. Phelps is the holder of many records and the owner of the largest number of Olympic medals won.

Michael Phelps was born June 30, 1985 in Baltimore. His father, a police officer, played football for the school team in his youth. Mother is a school teacher. Michael also has two older sisters, not without whose influence he came to the sport. As a child, Michael was a very active child: at the age of ten, he was even diagnosed with hyperactivity and attention deficit disorder. The parents of the future world sports star divorced when Michael was 9 years old, and the children stayed with their mother. Until now, the athlete maintains a trusting and warm relationship with his mother.

The beginning of a sports career

Michael has been fond of swimming since the age of seven. He got into the section after his two sisters. There he met his coach, who recognized his talent and took up his training. He remains Phelps' permanent coach to this day.

The young athlete made progress quickly. At the age of 15, he already played for the national team in the Olympic Games, setting the first record - for age. True, at that time Phelps was left without medals, having come to the finish line only fifth. However, the young talent quickly corrected this state of affairs: a year later he set a world record, becoming the youngest record holder in the world. It is not surprising that in his homeland for this achievement he was declared the swimmer of the year. By the way, in total, Michael was awarded this honorary title 9 times!

Michael Phelps set an unthinkable number of records. For example, he became the first 23-time Olympic champion. He has 37 world records, and some of them held for many years. The year 2009 was the richest in success, when the swimmer set 9 world records at once. Michael is the most decorated Olympic athlete to date, collecting a record number of medals. The most "productive" for him were the 2012 Olympic Games, where Phelps collected 22 awards. In total, there are 77 medals in his collection, of which 65 are gold.

Michael Phelps in competition:

Michael's unprecedented success in swimming gave friends and fans a reason to give the athlete another nickname - "Flying Fish". Indeed, in the water this person clearly feels at home!

Michael Phelps at the 2016 Rio Olympics:

A feature of Phelps is not quite an ordinary figure. His feet are too big, his legs are too short, his arms are too wide, and his torso is too long. However, it is easy to see that such an addition does not interfere and, perhaps, even helps Michael set records. He became the pride of his country and his hometown of Baltimore, where a street was named after him.

Michael Phelps receives the gold medal:

Personal life

The personal life of Michael Phelps is romantically and directly connected with the water track, on which he breaks records. For nine years now, Phelps has been dating Nicole Johnson, the owner of the Miss California title. Three months ago, their first child was born. But Michael preferred a sports career, several times “floating away” from the altar.

Michael Phelps with civil wife Nicole Johnson:

In 2016, the famous athlete made a promise to marry if he was defeated at the Rio Olympics. Fate was not slow to give him a chance, sending defeat from a young athlete. A puzzled Michael is about to keep his promise and leave his career for the sake of his family. His lucky bride is already planning their wedding, and there's a chance that her titled fiancé won't run into the pool this time.

As for Phelps' promise to leave his sports career, it's not worth guessing. Michael already announced his retirement in 2012, but still returned to the waterway. Perhaps the king of the pool will still delight fans with new world records.

Biographies of famous athletes you will find

No one has any doubts that overseas swimmer Michael Phelps is a great athlete.

“But at the Olympics, everyone should be on an equal footing. Looking at Michael, you can’t say that he is the same as everyone else!” - envious people scream. What do they mean?

The disproportionality of the native of Baltimore is visible to the naked eye. A very long and thin torso, short legs, wide shoulders with huge arms, like helicopter blades.

With a height of 193 cm, the span of these “blades” is 201 cm - this is somewhat unusual for a person, growth should exceed the “wingspan”.

Phelps also has a super-elastic ankle that allows him to arch his foot even more than ballerinas do when spinning fouettes.

Michael's legs thus turn into fins, the speed of movement in the water increases - not a man, but a torpedo! No wonder Phelps was nicknamed the Baltimore Bullet.

As a child, Michael was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), also referred to as hyperkinetic disorder. Among the symptoms are impulsivity, forgetfulness, a constant sense of impending disaster, and also - attention! - tendency to suffer defeat, inability to complete the task. And how, with such a set, did Michael manage to win 28 awards (from the bottom 23 - gold) at four Olympics ?!

This "unusual" in the biography of Phelps does not end there: he is very voracious - he consumes 12 thousand kilocalories per day, which is five times more than an ordinary man needs. Energetically, this is comparable to 25 Big Macs!

Of course, Phelps eats low-fat foods rich in carbohydrates. They are essential for energy. During the Beijing Olympics, the swimmer's menu was made public. For breakfast, he needs 3 sandwiches with fried eggs, onions, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes and mayonnaise; omelette of 5 eggs; a bowl of oatmeal with berries; 3 pancakes with chocolate; 3 French toast with icing sugar and 2 cups of coffee. Phelps' lunch consists of half a kilo of pasta with tomato sauce; 2 large sandwiches with ham, cheese and mayonnaise and an energy drink. For dinner, the athlete eats another half a kilo of pasta, a large pizza, and washed it all down with an energy drink.

However, there is an athlete's track record and "achievements" characteristic of mere mortals - for example, an arrest for drunk driving. That is, even "mutants" nothing human is alien ...

It's hard to imagine that anyone can surpass Michael Phelps in terms of the number of awards. A photo: Nail VALIULIN

BY THE WAY

Phelps has broken several records in his career. First, he surpassed American swimmer Mark Spitz, who won seven gold medals at the 1972 Olympics. Secondly, he overtook the record holders of past years - our gymnast Larisa Latynina, Finnish and American athletes Paavo Nurmi and Carl Lewis, who won the Olympics 9 times each. But the most phenomenal thing is that he broke the record of 2000 years ago and became the most titled Olympian in history. Phelps has won 13 individual Olympic victories. And the ancient Greek athlete Leonid of Rhodes, who specialized in running, from 164 to 152 BC. won a total of 12 Olympic wreaths.

Phelps, of course, did not fight alone. He won 12 Olympic medals in the relay. Moreover, there were situations when he frankly failed his stage, but his teammates rescued him. But after all, all former multi-champions received "gold" not only in individual competitions.

So who will now surpass the phenomenal achievement of a swimmer? Only Michael himself, if he suddenly changes his mind about ending his career and goes to the next Olympics. Or some kind of swimmer, athlete or gymnast - only in these types you can score several medals for the Games.

HAVE AN OPINION

Athletes from the United States mask the use of anabolic steroids

Renat AKHMEROV, professor, doctor of medical sciences, developer of the Plasmolifting system:

I am sure that American athletes cover up the use of hormones with cupping massage. They use hormones, and after 2-3 months they stop taking them, and switch to PRP-therapy (plasmolifting), and only then to banks. Even if analyzes show growth factors at the Olympics, this will not be a reason for suspension from the competition ().

Phelps Michael(English) Michael Fred Phelps II, born June 30, 1985 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA) is a great American swimmer, the only fourteen-time Olympic champion and 17-time world champion in the history of sports. Height - 193 cm, weight - 91 kg, foot size - 47th. The sports nickname is "The Baltimore Bullet".

Biography

Michael Phelps was born on June 30, 1985. His father Fred Phelps was a police officer and his mother Debbie Phelps was a teacher. The Michael Phelps family lived in Baltimore (Maryland, USA).

Michael started swimming at the age of 7 when his two older sisters, Whitney (born 1978) and Hilary (born 1980), were accepted into the local swim team. In 1994, his parents divorced, and the children began to live with their mother, with whom Michael still has a very close relationship.

Michael met his coach, Bob Bowman, while training at the Swim Club in North Baltimore. Bob immediately recognized the potential of Michael and became his coach, who trains him now.

At 15, Michael Phelps became the youngest Olympic swimmer in American swimming history. He participated with the American team in the Sydney Olympics (2000), although he came only fifth there.

A year later, at less than 16 years old, Phelps broke the world record in this event, becoming the youngest world record holder in history. Then he was declared the swimmer of the year in the United States.

2002 brought Phelps participation in the American Summer National Competitions (U.S. Summer Nationals). And a few more records: a new world record in the 400m medley and US records in the 100m butterfly and 200m medley. At the same event the following year, Phelps broke his own 400m medley world record in 4:09:09.

Shortly after graduating from Towson High School (a suburb of Baltimore) in 2003, 17-year-old Michael Phelps set 5 world records, including the 200m medley at the World Swimming Championships in Barcelona with a time of 1:56:04. Then, during the 2004 Olympic qualifiers, he again broke his own world record for the 400m medley in 4:08:41.

Phelps became a celebrity after the 2004 Athens Olympics, where he earned 8 medals (6 of them gold). So he repeated the record of the Russian gymnast Alexander Dityatin for the total number of medals received in one Olympics, set by Dityatin in 1980. Phelps received gold for distances of 100 m butterfly, 200 m butterfly, 200 m complex, 4x200 freestyle and 4x100 complex, bronze - for 200m freestyle and 4x100 freestyle. He also set 3 Olympic records and 1 world record.

In 2004, Bob Bowman was transferred to Michigan, and Michael went with him. He entered the University of Michigan in the Department of Sports Marketing and Management, continuing to train under the guidance of his coach.

In 2007, Phelps took part in the World Championships in Melbourne, where he won 7 gold medals, setting 5 new world records. In preparation for the 2008 Olympics, Phelps set himself the task of breaking the record of his compatriot Mark Spitz, who won 7 gold medals at the 1972 Olympics in Munich.

At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Phelps became a real sensation, winning 8 gold medals. At the XXIX Games in Beijing, Spitz's "eternal" record of 1972 was broken.

The phenomenally talented American won the 400m medley, 200m freestyle, 200m butterfly, 200m medley, 100m butterfly, 4x100m freestyle and 4x200m freestyle relays. In all these heats, except for the 100-meter butterfly, M. Phelps set world records. And he set the final "golden" point as part of the relay team at a distance of 4x100 meters in individual swimming. At the same time, the American team won the relay with a world record of 3 minutes. 29.34 s.

Thus, in just a career, the 23-year-old American won 14 Olympic gold medals and turned out to be the most titled athlete in the history of the Olympics. M. Phelps set world records 32 times in total.