The Rio 2016 Olympics have been nothing short of incredible for United States athletes thus far. They have given us incredible athletic performances, from Simone Biles’ gravity defying floor routine in gymnastics to Katie Ledecky’s unstoppable winning streak in the pool. However, there is one performance that stands far and above the rest, and that’s Michael Phelps, participating in his 5th Olympic games. Phelps is the most decorated Olympian of all time with 25 medals overall. It is even more impressive to note that 22 of those 26 medals are gold, an unprecedented accomplishment that will put undoubtedly put Phelps in the record books.
Phelps has been winning medals in the Olympic Games since the Athens Olympics in 2004. Even prior to that first appearance, he had already won five world titles. 15-year-old Phelps turned heads and set the tone for the rest of his Olympic career that year with 6 gold medals and 2 bronze medals. But his accomplishments and record-setting don’t stop there. With his 21st gold medal victory in the 200 meter butterfly, Phelps became the first person to win individual swimming gold in Olympic games 12 years apart. At 34 years old he broke a 96-year-old record to become the oldest man to win an individual swimming gold.
There is no question that in recent months the United States has been decisively divided, with events like the upcoming Presidential election and numerous shootings and terrorist attacks tearing our nation apart. What better than the Olympics, an event that focuses on national pride and accomplishment to bring Americans together again? Much like the men’s 1980 Olympic hockey team did in their shocking victory over the Soviet Union in what is referred to now as the “Miracle on Ice”, Michael Phelps is making history in a similar way, and bringing out the patriotic soul in every one of us.
Now, I wasn’t alive in 1980 so I didn’t get to witness the “Miracle on Ice”. I wasn’t alive to watch Olympic greats like Mark Spitz or Janet Evans dominate the sport of swimming. For people my age, Michael Phelps is the first real Olympic standout that we have been alive to witness in action. 20 years from now when my generation has their own children and NBC shows flashbacks to the 2016 Olympics in Rio, we will get to say that we watched as Phelps set record after record and won gold after gold. The Olympics might only happen every four years, but the legacies they leave behind last a lifetime, and for Michael Phelps, there is no doubt he’s left his mark.
