6、He has done what Mohammed Ali did for boxing, Michael Jordan for basketball, Roger Federer for tennis and Tiger Woods for golf. Twenty-three-year-old Michael Phelps has become a phenomenon in swimming.
At the 2008 Summer Olympic Games, he won eight gold medals. That was more than the whole Australian team could put together. He beat Mark Spitz's 1972 record of seven wins in the pool at the one Games. Phelps has put his name next to seven world records.
Nine days, 17 games, morning and night he competed and won. He had to beat former world record-holders and gold medalists. He had to turn their wins into old news.
"I'm just lucky to have the drive that I have, the talent that I have and the excitement for the sport," Phelps said after winning his last medal.
After the Olympics, swimming will not be in the news so much. But Phelps has decided to keep working to popularize it.
"I don't want this sport to be an every-four-years sport," Phelps said. "Over the past four years, it's skyrocketed. I'm honored to help this sport for the next generation of swimmers who will have it better than I have."