Michael Phelps, the greatest champion in Olympic history

(Baonghean.vn) - With 22 gold medals in hand, the American swimmer continues to affirm his position as the most successful athlete in Olympic history.

In the individual event alone, Michael Phelps has just surpassed the record set by Leonidas of Rhodes, an ancient Greek sprinter, one of the greatest record-holders in history. Leonidas was the most famous runner in the four Olympiads in 160, 156 and 152 BC with 12 championships in running competitions.

Michael Phelps, full name Michael Fred Phelps, was born on June 30, 1985 in Baltimore, Maryland, a state in the United States. In 2000, at the age of 15, he became the youngest male swimmer in 68 years of the US Olympic team. Although he did not win any medals that time, just 5 months later, Phelps broke the world record in the 200m butterfly, becoming the youngest swimmer to break a world record. In the 5 years from 2000 to 2004, Phelps also broke the world record 5 times in the individual medley and butterfly events. And since then, the American blue-lane swimming legend has conquered a series of milestones in his glorious career with a series of titles.

In the next 3 Olympics from Athens 2004, Beijing 2008 to London 2012, Phelps almost monopolized the Olympic blue swimming lane, some people even said: "Every time Phelps jumped into the water, it was like there was a gold medal". Looking back at his career, at the 2004 Athens Olympics, held in Greece, Phelps won 6 gold medals, 2 silver medals, equaling the record for the number of medals achieved by an individual in a single Olympics (set by gymnast Alexander Dityatin in 1980). In addition, Phelps also broke and held many world records in swimming, he was voted World Swimmer of the Year in 2003, 2004, 2006 and 2007.

At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, Phelps competed in 8 events (5 individual and 3 team) and won all 8 gold medals, setting 7 world records and 1 Olympic record. With a total of 14 gold medals, he broke the record for most Olympic gold medals in a career and also set the record for most gold medals won in a single Olympics. Phelps won 8 gold medals in all the events he competed in, making all of his opponents bow in admiration.

At the 2012 London Olympics, Phelps competed quite well, winning 4 gold medals and 2 silver medals, the best achievement among swimmers at the 2012 Olympics. It seemed that Phelps would end his glorious career with a total of 22 medals, including 18 gold medals from 4 Olympics, by announcing his retirement, but 2 years later he suddenly announced his return to the blue lane.

The 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, the 5th Olympic Games in his career, were marked by 4 gold medals in the 4x100m relay, 200m butterfly, 4x200m relay, 200m medley, becoming the athlete leading the number of gold medals at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Although in the coming days, Michael Phelps will continue to compete in the 100m butterfly and the opportunity to win more medals is completely possible. In total, up to now, Phelps has 26 medals including 22 gold medals, 2 silver medals and 2 bronze medals, an amazing achievement for an athlete, an unimaginable record in Olympic history. No one in Olympic history has won more gold medals than Michael Phelps, that saying is still true when the 2016 Rio Olympics are taking place. Michael Phelps has become the athlete with the most gold medals of all time, breaking all records in Olympic history.

In terms of economics, according to Celebrity Net Worth, Michael Phelps's net worth (i.e. assets after taxes) is currently over $55 million. This figure helps the super swimmer who just won his 22nd gold medal in his career soon enter the top richest stars of the Olympic village, along with Usain Bolt, Serena Williams, Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Durant and Neymar Jr.

It is said that if Michael Phelps were a country, it would be ranked 35th out of 207 countries and territories in the Olympic rankings, with 22 gold medals won. It must be affirmed that it will be a long time before an athlete surpasses the achievements of the American swimmer. It took 2,168 years for a Michael Phelps to surpass the record of 12 victories in individual competitions of Leonidas of Rhodes, an ancient Greek sprinter. Who knows how many thousands of years it will be before someone breaks the American swimmer's record?

An Thanh