I’ll admit that when i first heard of Michael Phelps a few years back, my first impressions were cocky and arrogant. As Aussies, we are very protective of our swimmers and swimming, like all sports is full of good natured rivalry and a bit of sledging to throw the other team off.
After seeing interviews with Phelps in the subsequent years and in the lead up to Beijing and now over the 8 days of swimming competition, I have the utmost respect for the man. He has just become the most successful athlete at a single Olympic Games, EVER with 8 gold medals and the most decorated Olympian of all time with, I think, 12 Gold. The man is a machine, with an arm span 7 inches longer than his actual height and a surprising amount of modesty and respect for all his fellow competitors. I won’t say he’s not a little cocky or arrogant, but I don’t say it in a bad way. Every elite athlete has to be a bit selfish and full of themselves or they won’t achieve the greatness that Phelps has. Congratulations Michael and continued success!
And don’t forget those awesome size 14 feet!!!!
For sure he is a great swimmer, but I would like to see all of this year’s swimmers compete without the new suits that increase efficiency by 5-10%. I am sure that world records would still be broken and gold medals still won, but how can we compare his efforts to Ian Thorpe’s or Mark Spitz’ with the use of the new suit? It is just not fair for this new technology to be introduced this year.
That was said with a lot of class. So many people want to bash people who are successful. I know some are arrogant, but not everyone.
I thought Thorpe’s presence at the last race was somewhat a surprise. It was nice to see his huge smile in the stands.
I was touched seeing Thorpe give Phelps’ mum a hug and then a warm congratulations to Phelps … was very generous.
On the other hand, in the few TV intvus I caught, it seemed to me (and I could be wrong) Spitz came off a tad … bitter?
You know I think that this is an amazing effort BUT the one thing I’m not going to do is say he is the greatest athlete of all time. I remember people saying how great Marion Jones was and five years later, well those people pretend they didn’t say it. Not saying that Phelps is using drugs but let’s wait for eight years before we say how great it is. I sure as hell hope that he is clean, for sports sake!!
Has anyone seen naked pix of Michael Phelps?