Michael Phelps has won the 23rd Olympic medal and the 19th Olympic gold of his life. You would not believe that it is possible to outgrow an epithet like ‘the world’s most decorated Olympian’ but here you go. For Phelps, the decorations keep on coming and the situations in which they come make him who he is.
On Monday morning in India, Phelps and the U.S. relay team of Caled Dressel, Ryan Held and anchor Nathan Adrian won the 4x100 meter freestyle relay gold. Phelps punched the air, but then began laughing an old winner’s laugh before shouting, “Come on, boys!” and hugging Ryan Held. While Adrian punched the waters, Dressel shouted, “Brazil!” at the camera.
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Brazil is Michael Phelps’ fifth Olympic games. It is also the one he has had to fight the most to reach. Retirement after the London Olympics left Phelps without purpose. Out of the pool, he drank, he smoked pot, had his photograph published in the tabloids, courted controversy until he was arrested for a DUI and then suspended from swimming. At the rehab where he went to reaffirm his goals, the pool was three feet deep, he would swim it in two strokes and stand up to wonder what to do next. And what he did next is one of those episodes in individual sports that will be repeated a million times.
Quite simply, Phelps came back. Instances of a comeback making an athlete are few, but here was Phelps, swimming at the Arena Grand Prix, swimming at the Kazan World Championships, losing to people he never thought he would lose to, missing out from the A time slot, making do with the B-time company in the races and finding his way to Omaha in Nebraska where with a resounding splash on the waters he had dominated, he made it through the U.S. Olympic trials to reach his fifth Olympics.
Reminding people of the fact that he is the most medalled Olympian in history did not cut it any more. This was a living man’s story that went far beyond the podium.
The jubilant return to Olympics, in an unusual position
The United States team completed the race within 3:09.92 minutes. France followed a whole second later with 3:10.53 and then Australia at 3:11.37. But, of course, the thrill of the relay is not in its total time but in the excruciating excitement of each one of the four dives, the four splits and the four touches.
The U.S. has a complicated history with the 4x100 meter free relay. Its men have never had to return from an Olympic games without a medal in the relay. It’s the event that helped Phelps win his eighth gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, but also the event that has since disappointed – particularly in the London Olympics, when the U.S. team came second. In the World Championships last year, the team which had Phelps in it failed to make it to the finals of the 4x100.
This time, however, Phelps was second place at the relay line up. It was not a position he was used to in the relay but it was a subtle change by his and the U.S. team coach Bob Bowman, that might have made a difference, seeing that this was one of the few occasions where the U.S. media’s headlines of ‘Michael Phelps leads team to relay victory’ make expression of the truth.
His position in the team was fraught with questions. Was he too old? Was he in the peak of his career? He had not finished in the first six of the American trials’ 100 meter freestyles, so could he do his best in the relay?
Nathan Adrian answered to The Baltimore Sun, “He obviously proved he definitely belonged there tonight.”
He dove slickly, kept to the right and in what was a superb turn at the split, Phelps remained underwater till the 15 meter mark, giving the U.S. a lead over France that it would hold on to and and capitalise on for the remainder of the race.
As little Boomer – Phelps’ less-than-a-year old son watched the proceedings – viewers also saw the natural role of a father slip into the swimmer. In all his quiet happiness, Phelps seemed to channel the maturity that his career has brought in him – he carried the flag for the U.S. in the opening ceremony, he may as well complete his role as the calm senior who’s been there and done that. And earlier Phelps would grin sheepishly a few times after clinching a medal before disappearing sullenly into the dressing rooms. This time, he cradled the head of a sobbing Ryan Held who, having won gold in his maiden Olympics, was naturally emotional.
The marks of the cupping therapy Phelps has been a vocal advocate of are now visible on Phelps’ shoulders. Those that aren’t visible are the marks of a truly inspiring history. As he goes into the individual event heats starting tonight, Phelps will manage to capture the imagination of the world again and this time, he is going to do it one medal at a time.
