news
Share icon

Share

Michael Phelps has now won more Gold medals than most countries

Published 12:25 10 Aug 2016 BST

Rosanna Cooney
Michael Phelps has now won more Gold medals than most countries

Homenews

Phelps V. The World. It almost doesn't seem fair.

Only 39 countries have ever won more gold medals than Michael Phelps has all by himself. He is the most decorated Olympian of all time and if he were to put all 21 of his medals around his neck he would be 6.58kg heavier. https://www.instagram.com/p/BIppXtvg2OH/?taken-by=m_phelps00 If Phelps were to be counted as a country all on his own he would rank 13th in the number of gold medals won since the Athens 2004, the first Olympics he ever competed in. Phelps, now 31, is almost a decade older than the age most swimmers hit their peak. He temporarily went into retirement after the last Olympics but the lure of gold and the chance to, once again, be aquatically invincible was too strong. Rio 2016 Olympic Games Day 2, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 7/8/2016 Men's 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay USA's Michael Phelps celebrates as after his team won the goal medal Mandatory Credit ©INPHO/James Crombie Speaking in an interview after the 200m fly where he beat his long time rival, Chad le Clos, Phelps said 'there wasn’t a shot in hell I was losing'. Le Clos was the athlete seen trying to intimidate Phelps before the race with some shadow boxing and odd gyrating. https://twitter.com/OctaviaAtlas/status/762981044404363264 What a chump. unnamed

Explore more on these topics:

Michael Phelps has now won more Gold medals than most countries