Phelps, Michael (1985-…), an American swimmer, ranks as the most dominant and versatile competitor in the history of the sport. Phelps has set world records in five different individual events—the 100-meter butterfly, 200-meter butterfly, 200-meter freestyle, 200-meter individual medley, and 400-meter individual medley. He has also been part of relay teams that set world records in the 400-meter medley, 400-meter freestyle, and 800-meter freestyle. Phelps set an Olympic Games record by winning 28 medals. His winning 23 gold medals is also an Olympic record.
At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, Phelps won six gold medals and two bronze medals. Only one other Olympian, the Russian gymnast Aleksandr Dityatin in 1980, had ever won eight medals at a single Olympics. At the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, China, Phelps competed in five individual events and three relay events. He won gold medals in all eight events, in seven of them with world-record times. Phelps became the first athlete ever to win eight gold medals at a single Olympics. The previous record was seven, achieved by the American swimmer Mark Spitz in 1972. At the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London, Phelps won four gold medals and two silver medals. Phelps won five gold medals and a silver medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Phelps has also set a number of records at the FINA World Swimming Championships. FINA is the world governing body for the sport of swimming. At the championships in Barcelona, Spain, in 2003, Phelps became the first swimmer to set five individual world records in a single meet. Phelps won five gold medals—three of them in relays—at the 2005 championships in Montreal, Canada. At the 2007 championships in Melbourne, Australia, he won gold medals in all seven events he entered, setting five world records. The seven gold medals set a record for the world championships, tied by American swimmer Caeleb Dressel at the 2017 meet in Budapest, Hungary. At the 2009 championships in Rome, Italy, Phelps won five gold medals, setting four world records, two in individual events and two in relays. At the 2011 championships in Shanghai, China, Phelps won seven medals—four gold, two silver, and one bronze. Two of the golds were in individual events and two in relays. Phelps did not compete in the 2013 and 2015 FINA World Swimming Championships.
Michael Fred Phelps II was born on June 30, 1985, in Baltimore, Maryland. He competed in the 2000 Summer Olympic Games at the age of 15, the youngest male swimmer on the United States Olympic team in 68 years. Phelps discusses his swimming career in No Limits: The Will to Succeed (2008), written with journalist Alan Abrahamson. In December 2016, Phelps announced his retirement from competitive swimming.
