Michael Phelps

Michael Phelps made a big difference in the sport of swimming because of his incredible talent and dedication. Throughout his career, Phelps made goals for himself that others thought he would never reach. A former Olympian said, "It's crazy he's going for three consecutive Olympic golds in four events." No man had ever won the same individual swimming event in three consecutive Olympics." (Crouse). After being the first to achieve this, Phelps proved to the rest of the world that he was going to make a difference in this sport. The talent that Phelps has is mesmerizing. He continues to impress people as well as other athletes with his accomplishments. By training constantly and working hard, Phelps was able to achieve his goals. Year by year he continued to accomplish things others thought were never possible. During the 2012 Olympic Games Phelps won 6 medals; 4 gold and 2 silver. During the 2008 Olympics he won a total of eight gold medals. Phelps also won 8 medals during the Olympic games in Athens in 2004. He finished off his career in London with a total of 22 medals and was crowned the most decorated Olympian of all time. This record had not been broken in over 5 decades but Phelps did it. (USA). When he first started swimming, no one really accepted much of him, but he proved to others that underestimated him that with hard work and dedication that you can achieve just about anything. Without having talent, Phelps could never have achieved any of this. Others athletes as well as fans are utterly amazed at this and continue to look up to Phelps as an inspiration. From the start, everyone knew Phelps would have an amazing career because of how talented he was which led him on to achieving great things.

Throughout his career, it took Phelps a lot of determination to be able to accomplish different things. Some opinionate that Phelps doesn't deserve to have so many medals because swimming is a sport that allows the competitors to win more medals rather than other sports where competitors can only get one or two medals. Sebastian Coe, a two-time Olympian in track and the chairman of the London Organization Committee is one of the people that agrees with this. His argument was that swimming, unlike other sports, offers a smorgasbord of individual events and allows its athletes the opportunity to team up on relays, too. (Crouse).This is true but he has not put into consideration that this does not come off as easy to Phelps. To earn his 22 medals, Phelps had to race 46 times including preliminaries and semi finals over the course of four Olympics games. Despite hearing negativity, Phelps was determined to show viewers that swimming isn't an easy sport, you have to train hard and believe in yourself to accomplish things, and many underestimate it. From the start of his career as a world-class Olympic swimmer, Michael Phelps did not just want to be like any other athlete; he actually wanted to make a difference. Michael Phelps, the youngest man to break a swimming world record, knew by 2001 that, as part of his career, he wanted to change the way that people looked at the sport of swimming (Phelps). If people had a better perspective on swimming then athletes that compete in this sport will gain more fans and will be more respected. Phelps did not just work hard to accomplish things for his own good but it was for the sake of other athletes and that's what makes him a true hero. It took time and effort to be able to change millions of people's perspective on a sport. But after becoming "the most decorated Olympian of all time", Phelps finally did it. He always believed that with determination you can achieve anything if you set out to do it. He set important goals for himself that he wanted to reach. He stayed determined and in the end reached his goals. That is what makes him a great athlete and a role model for other athletes around the world. Even when he did not accomplish what he anticipated on, he never gave up but instead learned from his mistakes and tried even harder to make sure it would not happen the next time.

Phelps serves as an inspiration to many around the globe for many significant reasons. As his famous quote goes. "You can't put a limit on anything, the more you dream the further you can get." (Phelps). Meaning if you think negatively about something and you strongly believe you will never be able to achieve it, then you wont. Phelps wants his fans to know that without believing in yourself, you won't achieve much. The more you believe, the more you will achieve. After beating Le Clos of Africa in a race Le Clos was disappointed yet inspired. "To be honest, I didn't really think that I was going to win the race," Le Clos said. " I was just very proud. The race for me was more than an Olympic final. Ever since the 2004 Olympics, Michael's always been an inspiration to me and a role model" (Crouse).Phelps doesn't just inspire arising young athletes, he also inspires world famous Olympians. To be able to inspire your competition was very touching for Phelps. To this day, Le Clos continues to look up to Phelps as a swimmer and hopes to one day accomplish what Phelps had during his astonishing career. Despite his swimming career being over, his amazing accomplishments will never be forgotten. He wants young athletes everywhere to promote healthy lifestyles, set goals, and to always do their best.