"It's that blood in the water mentality"- When Michael Phelps addressed whether he saw himself as a superhero

Michael Phelps once addressed whether he believed he possessed superhero-like abilities due to his success in competitive swimming. Phelps, who is known for his illustrious swimming career, holds the most Olympic medals in the history of the Games.

From his participation in the Olympic Games from 2000 to 2016, Phelps collected 23 gold, 3 silver, and 2 bronze medals. Additionally, he shattered multiple world records during his competitive years and won medals in other prestigious events such as the World Championships (long course) and the Pan Pacific Championships, among others.

In a 2020 interview with the entertainment and pop culture journalist, Allison Kugel, Michael Phelps addressed if he ever believed that he was more than human due to his abilities. Reacting to this, Phelps rejected the notion, adding that the success he achieved was because of his hard work.

“No, because I just wanted it that bad. It was always more of a wanting and a striving. Going into 2008, that was just me. When I become super focused on one thing, it's that and only that,” Phelps said.

“I’m a competitor, and I'm the biggest competitor you will ever see. It's that blood in the water mentality. At that point in my life, when I wanted something bad enough, I was going to outwork every single human being, no matter what it took,” he further talked about his fierce competitive nature.

When Michael Phelps urged swimmers to embrace his clean mindset from 2008 Beijing Olympics

Michael Phelps at Rio Olympics 2016. (Photo by Adam Pretty/Getty Images)

Michael Phelps reflected on how people accused him of cheating due to his successes, but he proved his innocence by voluntarily undergoing more testing every week ahead of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He shared this in a GQ Australia interview in August 2024, stating:

“People called me a cheater throughout my career. Go look at the results. What about going in 2008? I subjected myself to do more testing, blood and urine weekly. Why? For the reason that I can say I'm not cheating and I am clean and here are the results. I did it a clean way. I won 23 Olympic gold medals a clean way.”

He urged swimmers to adopt this mindset to top competitions or step away from international events, adding:

“Everybody should have that same mental approach to what they're doing. If not, go in the cheater games.”

At the end of the Beijing Olympics, Phelps accomplished something no Olympic athlete had ever done before, winning eight gold medals, with world records broken in seven of those disciplines.