Michael Phelps is arguably the greatest Olympian athlete of all time thanks to his recordof 28 medals in total, including 23 gold medals(another record). Undeniably, he is going to be missed in the pools of Tokyo 2020after 16 years of competing in the world’s most prestigious sporting event.
Phelps debuted at the Olympics in 2000 Sidney, at only 15 years old, being the youngest man of the US Olympic swimming team in 68 years. He won medals in the next four Olympics in every event he competed except for the 400m individual medley at London 2012.
There’s no other athlete in the history of the Olympics with such success as him. He has 10 more Olympic medals than former Soviet Union gymnast Larisa Latynina, who won 18 throughout three Games from 1956 to 1964. Here, check out why Phelps won’t be competing at Tokyo 2020.
Michael Phelps during the US swimming trials for Tokyo 2020 (Getty).
Why isn’t Michael Phelps competing in Tokyo 2020?
After winning his final five gold and one silver medals in Rio 2016, Michael Phelps announced he was going to retire from swimming. His final Olympic race was the 4x100m medley relay, when he registered a 47.12 run, the fastest 100 free split of his career.
At 36 years old, Phelps is now dedicated to his family and he has his own brand of swimwear and training gear. Also he found the Michael Phelps Foundation that focuses on water safety and healthy living. Despite his incredible success, Phelps revealed that he suffered from depression during his career and now he’s also a mental health advocate.
However, the star won’t be completely missing in Tokyo 2020. He will be part of the NBC commentary team for the coverage of the swimming events at the Olympics. Phelps have already done some similar work at the US trials for these Games.
