Swimming legends Michael Phelps and Natalie Coughlin were among eight individuals inducted into the United States Olympic & Paralympic Hall of Fame on Friday as members of the Class of 2022.
The class also featured 55-time Paralympic swimming medalist Trischa Zorn-Hudson, who competed in seven Paralympic Games from 1980 to 2004.
The class featured a total of eight individuals, two teams, two legends, one coach and one special contributor.
One of the teams was the 1976 women’s 400 freestyle relay that was comprised of Kim Peyton, Jill Sterkel, Shirley Babashoff and Wendy Boglioli. The quartet broke the world record and upset the East German that had won back-to-back world titles in 1973 and 1975.
Class of 2022 Inductees:
- Natalie Coughlin (swimming)
- Muffy Davis (Para alpine skiing and Para-cycling)
- Mia Hamm (soccer)
- David Kiley (Para alpine skiing, Para track and field, and wheelchair basketball)
- Michelle Kwan (figure skating)
- Michael Phelps (swimming)
- Lindsey Vonn (alpine skiing)
- Trischa Zorn-Hudson (Para swimming)
- The 1976 Women’s 4×100 Freestyle Relay Swimming Team
- The 2002 Paralympic Sled Hockey Team
- Gretchen Fraser (legend: alpine skiing)
- Roger Kingdom (legend: track and field)
- Pat Summitt (coach: basketball)
- Billie Jean King (special contributor)
Phelps is the most decorated athlete in Olympic history, owning a career total of 26 medals, 23 of them being gold.
Coughlin owns 12 career Olympic medals, including back-to-back individual golds in the women’s 100 backstroke in 2004 and 2008. She also won gold on the U.S. women’s 800 free relay in Athens.
Below, find some images from the event, along with the induction speeches:
MICHAEL PHELPS
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- Michael Phelps – The induction of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Hall of Fame, Class of 2022 took place June 24, 2022 at the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Museum in Colorado Springs, Colo. Photo by Mark Reis
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- Michael Phelps – The induction of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Hall of Fame, Class of 2022 took place June 24, 2022 at the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Museum in Colorado Springs, Colo. Photo by Mark Reis
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- Michael Phelps was joined by his family before being inducted into the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Hall of Fame, Class of 2022, during a ceremony at the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Museum in Colorado Springs, Colo June 24, 2022. Photo by Mark Reis
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- Michael Phelps was inducted into the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Hall of Fame, Class of 2022, during a ceremony at the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Museum in Colorado Springs, Colo June 24, 2022. Photo by Mark Reis
NATALIE COUGHLIN
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- Natalie Coughlin – The induction of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Hall of Fame, Class of 2022 took place June 24, 2022 at the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Museum in Colorado Springs, Colo. Photo by Mark Reis
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- Natalie Coughlin was inducted into the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Hall of Fame, Class of 2022, during a ceremony at the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Museum in Colorado Springs, Colo June 24, 2022.
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- Natalie Coughlin was inducted into the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Hall of Fame, Class of 2022, during a ceremony at the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Museum in Colorado Springs, Colo June 24, 2022.
TRISCHA ZORN-HUDSON
1976 WOMEN’S 400 FREE RELAY
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- Shirley Babashoff, right, speaks on behalf of members of the 1976 U.S. Women’s 4×100 Freestyle Relay Swimming Team which was inducted into the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Hall of Fame, Class of 2022 June 24, 2022 at the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Museum in Colorado Springs, Colo. Pictured are, left to right, Barbara Peyton (mother of team member Kim Peyton), Jennifer Hooker and Wendy Boglioli. Photo by Mark Reis
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- Shirley Babashoff, right, speaks on behalf of members of the 1976 U.S. Women’s 4×100 Freestyle Relay Swimming Team which was inducted into the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Hall of Fame, Class of 2022 June 24, 2022 at the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Museum in Colorado Springs, Colo. Pictured are, left to right, Barbara Peyton (mother of team member Kim Peyton), Jennifer Hooker and Wendy Boglioli. Photo by Mark Reis
OTHER INDUCTION SPEECHES
Roger Kingdom
Muffy Davis
Mia Hamm
David Kiley
Michelle Kwan
Lindsey Vonn
Gretchen Fraser (Jeff Fraser on her behalf)
2002 Paralympic Sled Hockey Team
Billie Jean King
Congrats Phelps, Coughlin, and the ’76 relay. You are all American heroes! Thank you!
#AthleteLivesMatter
As Shirley points out, it was in women’s swimming where the onslaught of steroid cheating pretty much wrecked the whole competition.
The East German won all the races except for the 200 breast and that relay.
What a beautiful family Michael has.
What took so long? This is the GOAT 🐐
Headscratcher quote from L. Vonn at about 1:00 in: “ln my later years of my career, I was literally just trying to keep count of my gold medals. It’s a hard job, so many.”
Maybe she was joking or was talking about World Cup wins, but it’s a USOPC HOF ceremony and she has exactly one Olympic gold medal. Don’t think she was joking…but if she was, it fell very very flat or was arrogant, especially considering her audience.
…Michael’s medals?
Phelps, Coughlin, Vonn, Hamm could use some mentoring/coaching regarding public speaking.
Look at Phelps now versus the 2000s. Hell look at him now compared to 2015. He’s not a stage performer, speaker, or a stellar interviewee. He never will be. He did a good job.
“It’s not the critic who counts counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall… Read more »