2016 RIO OLYMPIC GAMES
- Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Swimming: August 6-13
- Olympic Aquatics Stadium, Barra Olympic Park, Rio de Janeiro
- Prelims – 9:00 a.m/12:00 p.m PST/EST (1:00 p.m local), Finals – 6:00 p.m/9:00 p.m PST/EST (10:00 p.m local)
- SwimSwam previews
- Rio Schedule & Results
- Live Stream (NBC)
Throughout his career Michael Phelps has always had one singular mindset: win or lose. While many athletes would celebrate after a silver or bronze medal performance, Phelps didn’t see it that way. A loss was a loss, no sugarcoating it (a phrase his coach Bob Bowman often says).
Phelps fortunately hasn’t suffered very many losses in his international career. Coming into these Games, he had lost just four of the fifteen individual events he’s competed in at the Olympics.
One of those times was when he was just 15 in Sydney. Another won was when he willingly took on the two best freestylers in the world – Ian Thorpe and Pieter van den Hoogenband – in the 200 freestyle in Athens. Though Phelps obviously wanted to win those races, it wasn’t a huge surprise that he didn’t.
It’s pretty clear what they did to him though. They motivated him to no end until he could eliminate the chance another loss would happen.
After the 5th place finish in 2000, Phelps went out and broke the 200 fly world record just six months later. After losing the 200 free in 2004, Phelps won back-to-back World Championship gold medals in the 200 free, including breaking Thorpe’s longstanding world record in his native Australia in 2007.
It wasn’t an Olympic lost, but when Ian Crocker beat him in the 100 fly at the 2003 World Championships, Phelps taped a picture of Crocker in his locker so he could remind himself every day what he was working towards.
At the 2004 Games, Phelps beat Crocker by four one-hundredths for gold.
When Phelps was at his physical peak and was 100% invested in the sport, he was unbeatable. Case in point: the 2007 World Championships and 2008 Olympics. Phelps went 10-for-10 between those two meets individually, not to mention 5-for-5 in relays (the prelim medley relay was DQed in Melbourne).
When that dedication started to wan, more losses came. Phelps was beat handily (although controversially due to the suits) in the 200 free in 2009 by Paul Biedermann, and twice in 2011 at the hands of Ryan Lochte. But his most notable loss came in 2012, as Chad Le Clos unseated his incumbency in the 200 fly. Phelps exited the pool lightning fast clearly enraged.
After those losses Phelps was not someone anyone would want to approach, but that’s not the case anymore.
After losing the first 100 butterfly of his Olympic career, Phelps promptly showed up for an interview with NBC with a smile on his face.
“Obviously I always want to be faster and I always want to be on the top of the medal podium,” Phelps said. “But that’s what I could do today”.
There was certainly some disappointment in his voice, and how could there not be, but his post-race demeanor was much different than it would have been in the past.
He would later go onto comment about his reaction after the race: “Well I saw second next to my name and then I looked up again and then I looked over at Laszlo and Chad like, huh, we all tied for second, that’s kind of cool.”
He also spoke to the significance of finishing his individual career with a three-way tie for silver with two of his biggest rivals throughout his career:“It’s wild. Chad and I have had some races over the last four years and Laszlo and I – I can’t even remember when our first race was. Probably as long as Ryan and I. So kind of special and a decent way to finish my last race. I can’t complain too much.”
Four years ago a silver medal for Phelps had him agitated and upset, and that festered with him throughout his brief retirement. Did the anger towards that loss fuel his comeback to the sport? There’s no doubt it had something to do with it. Did it give him the will to go and reclaim the 200 fly on Tuesday night in one of the most thrilling races of the Games? Absolutely. But while the motivation was useful, the anger was not.
But that anger is visibly gone, and Phelps is much more content even if it means he isn’t at the top of the podium. What has fuelled this drastic change?
Phelps is now in a good place in his life. Between 2009 and 2012, he was swimming just to get it over with. In 2013 and 2014, Phelps had lost his identity without the sport. Once his whole DUI and rehab situation came and got resolved, Phelps transformed.
He’s a different person now, and stated prior to the Games he would be fine with any outcome as long as he put his best effort forward. He now knows that any win or loss doesn’t define who he is, and that is what has helped him become content even in the agony of defeat.
OTHER NORTH AMERICAN HIGHLIGHTS FROM DAY 7:
- American Maya Dirado won a surprise gold medal in the 200 backstroke, defeating the favored Hungarian Katinka Hosszu by six one-hundredths of a second. That gives Dirado her fourth medal of the Olympics, joining Hosszu and Penny Oleksiak as the only swimmers with four medals here. Only Phelps and Katie Ledecky have more (5).
- Canada’s Hilary Caldwell also won a bronze in the 200 back, giving the Canadian women their sixth medal of the swimming competition.
- Katie Ledecky won her second consecutive 800 free title in a new world record of 8:04.79, tying her with Phelps with her fourth gold of the meet. Ledecky won by over eleven seconds.
- 16 years after winning gold in Sydney, Anthony Ervin claimed gold in the men’s 50 free at the age of 35, making him the oldest Olympic swimming gold medalist in history. Nathan Adrian won bronze.
- 100 free gold medalist Simone Manuel advanced to the women’s 50 free final tomorrow night after clocking 24.44 in the semi-finals to qualify 6th overall.
- Kylie Masse broke her own Canadian record leading off the women’s medley relay this morning, and the relay broke the national record too. They qualified 2nd for the final behind their fellow North Americans the United States.
- Vanessa Garcia became the first Puerto Rican woman under 25 seconds in the 50 free, breaking the national record in 24.94.
- Rebecca Heyliger broke the Bermudian record in the 50 free, clocking 26.54.
|
COUNTRY |
GOLD |
SILVER |
BRONZE |
TOTAL |
|
USA |
14 |
6 |
9 |
29 |
|
CAN |
1 |
1 |
4 |
6 |
The U.S. won three more golds tonight to push their count to 14, along with a silver and a bronze which gives them 29 total medals with one day to go.
Canada won another bronze, giving them six medals.
Phelps lost 6 to 7 pounds this week he said.
Not to say Phelps didn’t give it everything, but I wonder if he had a different mindset.
Because that determination either was there, but that’s what it took to get 51.14, or it was a different version of it. He split 24.12 on the first 50, similar to his 24.1 last year, but 27.02 on the last 50. Well off his 26.35 which I believe is largely due to his exhaustion from the week.
Not here to take anything away from Phelps, but even his peak condition self has never beaten Lochte’s 1:54.00. Phelps was on the top of the world in 07/08 no doubt, but saying that he lost a few times in 09/10/11/12 just because he didn’t have the motivation is taking a lot away from the guys (Lochte, Biedermann) who not only beat Phelps but also smashed his WRs. Him not being as dominant was a combination of less training and the other competitors going all out for him.
Anyway, Phelps just taped a picture of Joseph Schooling in his locker…
What’s the over-under on Phelps’ weight gain in the next year? I’m saying 30 pounds.
When they went to the podium holding each other hands for the silver…Phelps, Chad and Cseh that was probably the nicest scene it the entire race.
He is not coming back, except perhaps to masters after he hits 40.
He won both 200s and was key in the 4×200 and 4×100 free. That was better than any other male swimmer and better than most of us (me included) expected.
As for the 100 fly, it never was an event close to his heart. More over, none of his traditional competitors beat him and he knows a new generation has arrived with Schooling.
He says he won’t do Masters. If he won’t swim competitively in the usa swimming he won’t do masters for sure.
Nice article James. It’s great to see Phelps retire on his own terms and as a fantastic success in Rio. I don’t want to see him swim again after Rio. Think of the superstars who stayed too long: Michael Jordan, Willie Mays, Phelps’ friend Ray Lewis. Go out on top!