Michael Phelps waved one finger and then it was four, in case anyone had lost count. Of course we hadn’t, though Phelps seems intent on reminding us he’s one of the great Olympians ever to live.
He had just dominated the field in the 200-meter individual medley at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro Thursday night, finishing nearly a body length ahead of a field that included longtime American rival Ryan Lochte, who would finish a distant fifth.
Somehow, we should be amazed that at age 31, Phelps remains the best athlete in water. But at this point, nothing Phelps does should amaze us; his greatness has been on display for so long, it has come to be expected.
His four fingers reminded us that, with his 200 IM win, he became the first swimmer to win gold in an event in four straight Olympics, the latest in a career of 22 gold medals and counting. He is already the oldest swimmer to win an individual gold, though that seems to be a footnote among all he has accomplished, making this Rio experience seem like icing on the cake and in some cases overkill.
He will try to add his 23rd gold medal on Friday when he swims in the 100-meter butterfly, another event he’ll be trying to win for the fourth straight Olympics, and even if he somehow doesn’t win gold, well, at this point, who’s counting?
We didn’t need Rio to know Phelps was one of the greatest swimmers of our time. But maybe he needed Rio to show us he is more than that.
For a while, it looked like Phelps might go the way of Johnny Manziel and waste his talent and reputation. Phelps won six gold medals and two bronze in Athens in 2004, and then a few months later was arrested for driving under the influence. He did 18 months of probation and everyone forgot about it when he arrived at Beijing in 2008 and captured eight more gold medals.
Less than a year later, pictures surfaced on the internet of him smoking out of a bong and he was suspended three months from US swimming. Then the Olympics arrived and he earned redemption again by winning four more gold medals in London.
Anything in Rio was gravy.
But after one week, he has emerged as the star of these Games, threatening to win six gold medals at an age when most swimmers are long past their primes. He is not the rock star anymore, which somehow makes him easier to appreciate. Heroes become more real when we know they’ve battled their own flaws.
Through it all, Phelps has survived and thrived. His mother, Deborah, has been joined in the cheering section by Phelps’ girlfriend Nicole Johnson and their 3-month-old son, Boomer. He’s a family man now. Rio is their celebration. That’s why while hearing the US national anthem played for the 22nd time, Phelps still got emotional. This one was special.
“Winning four in a row, when the announcer said that I had a really hard time holding it together,” Phelps said on NBC. “It’s obviously a very emotional event for me. It’s something that’s very special to win 22 Olympic gold medals. It’s something you just dream of. I’m just living a dream come true.”
It means everything to him to be “able to finish how I want to,” he said, adding, “Being able to put in the work and put my body through the pain it’s going through every single race, it’s special. It’s exactly how I want to exit the sport.”