59 Fun Facts About Michael Phelps

How many Olympic medals did Michael Phelps win in total?

Phelps won 28 Olympic medals across four Games, Athens 2004 to Rio 2016, the most by any Olympian; he also competed at Sydney 2000 without medalling.

How many of Phelps's Olympic medals were gold?

Phelps won 23 Olympic gold medals: 13 in individual events and 10 in relays, spread over Athens 2004, Beijing 2008, London 2012 and Rio 2016.

How many gold medals did Phelps win at the 2008 Beijing Olympics?

Phelps won 8 gold medals at Beijing 2008, the most by any athlete at a single Games, beating a record that had stood since Munich 1972.

In which city was Phelps born?

Phelps was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the youngest of three children, and swam from childhood with the North Baltimore Aquatic Club at the Meadowbrook pool.

In which year was Phelps born?

Phelps was born on June 30, 1985, the youngest of three children; his mother Debbie was a middle-school principal and his father Fred a Maryland state trooper.

Which coach trained Phelps from the age of 11 through his entire career?

Bob Bowman began coaching Phelps at his home club when Phelps was 11 and stayed his coach through his final Olympics at Rio 2016.

Phelps was diagnosed with which condition as a child?

Phelps was diagnosed with ADHD as a boy and was prescribed Ritalin for a time; he later said he channelled his restless energy into the pool.

At what age did Phelps start swimming?

He has said the only reason he got in the water was that his mother wanted him to learn to swim.

How old was Phelps when he made the U.S. team for the Sydney 2000 Olympics?

Phelps qualified for Sydney 2000 at age 15, the youngest male on a U.S. Olympic swim team since Ralph Flanagan in 1932, 68 years earlier.

Where did Phelps finish in his only final at Sydney 2000?

Phelps finished 5th in the 200-metre butterfly final at Sydney 2000, his only event there; Tom Malchow of the United States won the gold.

In March 2001 Phelps became the youngest male ever to set a swimming world record, at what age?

Phelps was 15 years 9 months old when he set a 200-metre butterfly world record of 1:54.92 at the U.S. Spring Nationals in Austin on March 30, 2001.

Phelps won his first world title in 2001 in which Japanese city?

Phelps won the 200-metre butterfly at the 2001 World Championships in Fukuoka, lowering his own world record to 1:54.58 in the final.

In which event did Phelps win his first Olympic gold medal, at Athens in 2004?

Phelps won the 400-meter individual medley on the first night of Athens 2004 in a world-record 4:08.26, the first of his six golds at those Games.

At Athens 2004 Phelps tied the record of eight medals at one Games, held by which Soviet gymnast?

Alexander Dityatin medalled in every men's gymnastics event at Moscow 1980, including three golds; Phelps matched his single-Games total at Athens with six golds and two bronzes.

Where did Phelps finish in the 200-metre freestyle 'Race of the Century' at Athens 2004?

Phelps finished Third in the 200-metre freestyle at Athens 2004, taking bronze in 1:45.32 behind the Australian and Dutch favourites in the so-called Race of the Century.

At Athens, Phelps gave up his medley relay final spot so which teammate could swim for gold?

Phelps ceded his butterfly leg in the medley relay final to Ian Crocker, whom he had beaten by 0.04 seconds in the 100 fly; Crocker swam, and Phelps still received gold for the heats.

Which 2008 autobiography did Phelps write with journalist Alan Abrahamson?

No Limits: The Will to Succeed, published by Free Press in December 2008, recounts Phelps's Beijing campaign and the training philosophy he developed with his coach.

Which American swimmer's single-Games gold-medal record did Phelps break at Beijing 2008?

Mark Spitz set the single-Games mark at Munich 1972, each of his wins coming in world-record time; Phelps passed it with his final gold in the Beijing medley relay.

Which US swimmer anchored the Beijing 4x100 freestyle relay, running down Alain Bernard by 0.08 seconds?

Jason Lezak swam a 46.06 anchor split to overhaul Alain Bernard after Bernard had said the French would 'smash' the Americans; the U.S. won in a world-record 3:08.24.

What went wrong for Phelps during his 200-metre butterfly gold in Beijing?

His goggles filled with water from the start, leaving Phelps unable to see for the final 100 metres; he counted strokes and still won in a world-record 1:52.03.

The Beijing 4x200 freestyle relay that Phelps led off was the first team to break which barrier?

The U.S. quartet of Phelps, Ryan Lochte, Ricky Berens and Peter Vanderkaay swam 6:58.56, the first time under Seven minutes, beating the old mark by more than four seconds.

Which Serbian swimmer did Phelps beat by a hundredth of a second in the Beijing 100-metre butterfly?

Milorad Čavić led until the final stroke, but Phelps's half-stroke finish won by 0.01 seconds, 50.58 to 50.59; Serbia's protest was dismissed after FINA reviewed the timing footage.

How many Olympic medals did Phelps win at London 2012?

Phelps won 6 medals at London 2012: gold in the 200 IM, 100 fly, 4x200 freestyle relay and medley relay, plus silver in the 200 fly and 4x100 freestyle relay.

Which South Korean took silver behind Phelps's world-record 200-metre freestyle in Beijing?

Park Tae-hwan, Beijing's 400-metre freestyle champion, took silver in 1:44.85 as Phelps won the 200-metre freestyle in a world-record 1:42.96.

Which anti-doping programme did Phelps cite when asked in Beijing if his feats were 'too good to be true'?

Phelps pointed to Project Believe, a voluntary USADA pilot scheme he joined in 2008 that used extra blood and urine testing to build a biological profile of each athlete.

Which German swimmer in a polyurethane suit ended Phelps's unbeaten run in the 200 free at the 2009 Worlds?

Paul Biedermann, in an Arena X-Glide suit, beat Phelps by more than a second in Rome and took his 200-metre freestyle world record with 1:42.00; Phelps's coach threatened a boycott until such suits were banned.

At the 2009 Worlds Phelps became the first man to swim the 100-metre butterfly under what time?

Phelps swam 49.82 in Rome to become the first man under 50 seconds for the 100-metre butterfly, beating his Beijing rival by 0.13 seconds in a world record.

Which sponsor dropped Phelps after a photo of him using a bong went viral in 2009?

Kellogg's said in February 2009 it would not renew Phelps's contract, calling the behaviour inconsistent with its image; USA Swimming suspended him for three months.

Where did Phelps finish in his first final at London 2012, his first non-medal since 2000?

Phelps finished 4th in his opening London final, having scraped in as the slowest qualifier; Ryan Lochte won, with Thiago Pereira and Kosuke Hagino completing the podium.

Which South African beat Phelps by five hundredths of a second in the 200-metre butterfly at London 2012?

Chad le Clos out-touched Phelps by 0.05 seconds, 1:52.96 to 1:53.01, in the London 200-metre butterfly; he had grown up idolising Phelps and called him his hero.

Which Soviet gymnast's all-time record for most Olympic medals did Phelps pass in London?

Larisa Latynina's 18 medals, won between 1956 and 1964, had stood as the record for 48 years until Phelps's 19th medal in the London 4x200 freestyle relay.

In which month and year did Phelps announce his comeback after retiring in 2012?

Phelps's comeback was announced in April 2014, when his coach confirmed he would enter the Arena Grand Prix in Mesa, Arizona, his first meet since London.

Why was Phelps left off the U.S. team for the 2015 World Championships?

A second DUI arrest in September 2014 led USA Swimming to suspend Phelps and bar him from the 2015 Worlds in Kazan; he spent 45 days in a treatment programme in Arizona.

Rio 2016 was Phelps's fifth Olympics; which woman was the only U.S. swimmer to get there before him?

Dara Torres swam at five Olympics, from Los Angeles 1984 to Beijing 2008, where she won three silvers at 41; Phelps became the first American man to match her.

What honour did Phelps receive at the Rio 2016 opening ceremony?

Phelps was the U.S. flag bearer in Rio, chosen by a vote of team captains; it was the first Olympic opening ceremony he had attended, having always skipped them to rest before racing.

Which French swimmer, overtaken by Phelps in the Rio 4x100 free relay, called him 'the extraterrestrial'?

Fabien Gilot, part of France's silver-medal quartet, called Phelps 'an extraterrestrial' after Phelps's 47.12 second-leg split helped the United States win gold.

The Rio ready-room meme of Phelps glowering at a shadow-boxing rival spread under which hashtag?

#PhelpsFace went viral after cameras caught Phelps's hooded, scowling glare in the Rio 200-metre butterfly semi-final ready room while a rival shadow-boxed in front of him.

How old was Phelps when his Rio 200 fly win made him the oldest individual Olympic swimming champion?

Phelps was 31 when he won the Rio 200-metre butterfly on August 9, 2016; Anthony Ervin, 35, took the record three days later by winning the 50-metre freestyle.

By winning the 200 IM a fourth straight time in Rio, Phelps joined which two track-and-field greats?

Al Oerter (discus, 1956-68) and Carl Lewis (long jump, 1984-96) had each won the same individual event at four straight Games; Phelps matched them with his Rio 200 IM.

Phelps's 13th individual gold broke a 2,000-year-old record for individual Olympic titles held by which Greek?

Leonidas of Rhodes won the stadion, diaulos and hoplitodromos at four successive ancient Games from 164 to 152 BC, a 12-title record that stood 2,168 years.

Who beat Phelps in his final individual race, the Rio 100-metre butterfly?

Joseph Schooling of Singapore won in an Olympic record, his country's first Olympic gold; Phelps tied with two rivals for silver in 51.14.

Phelps's last race, the Rio medley relay, gave the US which milestone Summer Olympics gold medal?

The medley relay of Ryan Murphy, Cody Miller, Phelps and Nathan Adrian won the United States' 1,001st Summer Olympic gold, minutes after the women's medley relay had claimed the 1,000th.

What is the name of Phelps's first son, born in May 2016?

Boomer Robert Phelps was born on May 5, 2016, three months before Rio, where he watched from the stands with his mother Nicole Johnson as his father raced.

Which Laureus award did Phelps win in 2017?

Phelps took the Laureus World Comeback of the Year award in 2017, recognising his return from retirement to win five golds and a silver in Rio.

Phelps's wife Nicole Johnson previously held which title?

Nicole Johnson was crowned Miss California USA in 2010 and competed at Miss USA that year; she and Phelps married quietly on June 13, 2016.

At the 2012 Alfred Dunhill Links, Phelps set a record for the longest televised putt, from how far?

He is a keen golfer and considered turning professional after swimming.

Phelps founded the Michael Phelps Foundation with a $1 million bonus from which sponsor?

Speedo paid Phelps a $1 million bonus for his Beijing haul, and he used it to start the Michael Phelps Foundation in 2008; its 'im' programme teaches water safety.

A famous myth claimed Phelps ate roughly how many calories a day in training?

The 12,000-calorie figure spread during Beijing 2008; Phelps later said he actually ate around 8,000 to 10,000 calories a day at his training peak.

How many world records did Phelps set in his career, more than any other swimmer recognised by FINA?

Phelps set 39 world records recognised by FINA, 29 individual and 10 in relays, the most by any swimmer; the previous best was 33.

Phelps became a minority shareholder in which English club owned by 49ers Enterprises?

Phelps bought into Leeds United in 2023 through 49ers Enterprises' takeover, alongside fellow American athletes Russell Westbrook, Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas.

Which Ravens linebacker did Phelps credit with helping him find purpose and decide to compete in Rio?

Ray Lewis, the retired Ravens linebacker, gave Phelps a copy of Rick Warren's The Purpose Driven Life and urged him into treatment in 2014; Phelps said it changed his outlook.

In 2011 Phelps lent his name to a swimming video game for which motion-sensing system?

Michael Phelps: Push the Limit, published by 505 Games in 2011, used the Xbox Kinect camera so players swam by moving their arms; reviews were lukewarm.

After the 2004 Olympics Phelps followed his coach to train at which college?

Phelps moved to Ann Arbor in 2004 when his coach became head coach at Michigan, training with Club Wolverine and taking sports-marketing classes without pursuing a degree.

Which Australian idol's doubts about his Beijing goal did Phelps tape to his locker?

Ian Thorpe had said he doubted Phelps could sweep his Beijing programme; Phelps pinned the quote in his locker, and Thorpe later said he had never been happier to be wrong.

In which Towson neighbourhood was Michael Phelps raised?

Phelps grew up in Rodgers Forge, a rowhouse neighbourhood in Towson just north of the city line, and graduated from Towson High School in 2003.

At which university did Phelps's longtime coach swim as a college athlete?

Phelps's coach swam for Florida State in Tallahassee, where he earned a degree in developmental psychology before turning to coaching club swimmers.

At which 2002 meet in Yokohama did Phelps win three golds and two silvers?

At the 2002 Pan Pacific Championships in Yokohama, Phelps opened by winning the 400 IM in 4:12.48 ahead of American teammate Erik Vendt.

Phelps narrated and produced which 2020 HBO documentary on athletes' mental health?

The Weight of Gold premiered on HBO in July 2020; Phelps narrated and executive-produced it, and Olympians including Bode Miller, Lolo Jones and Gracie Gold discuss depression in it.

How long did USA Swimming suspend Phelps in October 2014?

USA Swimming banned Phelps for Six months in October 2014 and withdrew him from the 2015 Worlds; he returned to competition at Mesa, Arizona, the following spring.