"Why not give it to Michael Phelps?" - Legendary swimmer's fans demand Presidential Medal of Freedom for him as he misses out another year

When the list of recipients for the Presidential Medal of Freedom was announced, many Michael Phelps fans wanted to know if the Baltimore Bullet made the cut. They were disappointed when they found out that he was not among the 17 who were bestowed the highest civilian honor in the United States of America.

The list, though, includes two world-famous athletes, Simone Biles and Megan Rapinoe, who were bestowed the honor by the President of the United States of America, Joe Biden, on July 7, 2022. The selection of the two Olympians over Phelps enraged a lot of fans on social media.

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Twitter rage as Michael Phelps misses out on Presidential Medal of Freedom

Michael Phelps is a renowned swimmer who has won 28 Olympic medals (Image via Olympics)

Michael Phelps is the best former American competitive swimmer who happens to be the most decorated Olympian ever.

He has 28 Olympic medals, including 23 Gold, three Silver and two Bronze. Apart from that, he has also won numerous gold medals in the World Championships, Pan Pacific Championships and World Aquatic Championships over the years.

Here are all the 17 recipients, along with their designations, who were honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom:

• Simone Biles – Olympian and most decorated American gymnast
• Simone Campbell - former Executive Director of NETWORK
• Julieta Garcia - first female Hispanic college president (former president of The University of Texas)
• Gabrielle Giffords - youngest woman ever elected to the Arizona State Senate
• Fred Gray - one of the first black members of the Alabama State Legislature since Reconstruction
• Steve Jobs (posthumous) - co-founder, chief executive and chairman of Apple, Inc.
• Alexander Karloutsos - former Vicar General of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America
• Khizr Khan - founder of the Constitution Literacy and National Unity Center
• Sandra Lindsay - New York critical care nurse
• John McCain (posthumous) - Republican nominee for president in 2008.
• Diane Nash - founding member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
• Megan Rapinoe - Olympic gold medalist and two-time Women’s World Cup champion
• Alan Simpson - US Senator from Wyoming for 18 years
• Richard Trumka (posthumous) - president of the 12.5-million-member AFL-CIO
• Wilma Vaught - one of the most decorated women in the history of the US military
• Denzel Washington - actor, director, and producer who has won two Academy Awards, a Tony Award, and two Golden Globes.
• Raul Yzaguirre – served as CEO and president of the National Council of La Raza for 30 years.

Recognizing his excellence, Michael Phelps was recently inducted into the US Olympic and Paralympic Hall of Fame the previous month.

He attended the ceremony with his wife and three sons on June 24, 2022. However, that did not stop his fans from fuming over his Presidential Medal of Freedom snub.

Here are some of the tweets from Phelps' fans:

Unfortunately, many of the tweets embedded above criticized Simone Biles for being the recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom and have compared her achievements with Michael Phelps'.

Many Americans are not fond of Biles, as she withdrew her name from four events at the 2020 Summer Olympics, denying the country possible medals. Some of them failed to notice that Biles had a legitimate reason to do so, as she was suffering from mental health issues.