Michael Phelps
Trending
Almost as famous as the greatest athlete of all time is his pre-race routine. In his 16 year long Olympic career, Phelps has had the same way of walking to the pool with his head bowed down, the same playlist of Eminem, Young Jeezy and Michael Jackson blasting through his headphones, the same adjustment of the diving board, followed by the putting on of the goggles.
But it is what he does on the diving board that has become as big a sensation as him. While his competitors bend down to take position, Phelps extends his 6’7” wingspan, flaps his arms around himself twice, and after two resounding backslaps, touches the board to dive from it.
A social media sensation of its own, the #MPBackslap is by now all that the cameras focus on before a race involving Phelps.
Before the Rio Olympics, when Phelps introduced his line of customised emojis, the backslap one, he said, was his ‘favourite’.
