Michael Phelps is an American swimmer and most decorated Olympian of all time. As of August 12, 2016, Phelps has collected 26 Olympic medals over five Olympics, with 22 of them being gold. He is truly one of the best athletes to ever live. Here is an overview of all of the medals he has won in the past five Olympic Games.
Sydney 2000
At the young age of 15, Michael Phelps qualified for his first Olympics. He became the youngest male to make a United States Olympic Swimming Team in 68 years. At this Olympics, Phelps did not medal, but he placed fifth in the 200-meter butterfly.
Athens 2004
Michael Phelps entered the 2004 Olympics at the age of 19. He won eight medals in Athens, with six of them being gold and two being bronze. He broke the Olympic record in the 100-meter butterfly, the 200-meter butterfly and the 200-meter medley. He broke the World record in the 400-meter individual medley, the 4x200-meter freestyle, and the 4x100-meter medley. He then took the bronze medal in the 200-meter freestyle and the 4x100-meter freestyle. Michael Phelps proved himself to be a world class swimmer at these Olympics with a promising future in swimming.
Beijing 2008
At the age of 23, Michael Phelps was ready to dominate the swimming world once again, and that is exactly what he accomplished. At the Beijing 2008 Olympics, Phelps collected eight more gold medals to add to his collection. He broke the world record in seven out of the eight events he competed in and he broke the Olympic record in the 100-meter butterfly. His other gold medal events included the 200-meter freestyle, the 200-meter butterfly, the 200-meter medley, the 400-meter medley, the 4x100-meter freestyle, the 4x200-meter freestyle and the 4x100-meter medley.
London 2012
Michael Phelps came to the London Olympics ready to conquer once again. In making his fourth Olympic team, many questioned if Phelps was truly ready to compete in another Olympics. At 27-years-old, Phelps proved many wrong by adding six more medals to his collection, four gold and two silver. He won the gold in the 100-meter butterfly, the 200-meter medley, the 4x200-meter freestyle and the 4x100-meter medley. He took the silver in the 200-meter butterfly and the 4x100 meter freestyle.
Rio 2016
As the most decorated Olympian of all time, Phelps was asked to be the flag bearer for the United States of America. At the age of 31, Phelps has performed extremely strong throughout these Olympics thus far. He has collected four Olympic gold medals thus far at the games in the 200-meter butterfly, the 4x100 meter freestyle, the 4x200 meter freestyle and the 200-meter medley, in which he broke an ancient record set 2,168 years ago by Leonidas of Rhodes. Phelps still has the potential to collect more Olympic medals at the games.
