Once I retire, I’m retiring. I’m done.
MICHAEL PHELPSOnce I retire, I’m retiring. I’m done.
MICHAEL PHELPSI learned how fast you can go from being an international hero to being a reference in a joke on a late night talk show.
MICHAEL PHELPSPeople say to me, ‘You’re so lucky. You get to see the world.’ But I don’t. I go to the hotel and to the pools and back again. That’s it.
MICHAEL PHELPSI’m the same kind of guy before all this happened.
MICHAEL PHELPSI am 26 and, and I don’t recover as fast as I have in the past.
MICHAEL PHELPSI want to retire how I want to retire – and I have a great opportunity to do that.
MICHAEL PHELPSI used to always go to church on holidays, but I don’t go much any more.
MICHAEL PHELPSEvery day after I wake up, I think, ‘Wait, this can’t be real; I’m still going to wake up.’
MICHAEL PHELPSI try to separate my personal life from swimming.
MICHAEL PHELPSI can only control my own performance. If I do my best, then I can feel good at the end of the day.
MICHAEL PHELPSI think sometimes I guess you see records, say you want to get there and use that as motivation. In a way, it’s kind of cool if there is a possibility to rewrite history and be up there with the greats of Olympic history.
MICHAEL PHELPSI think to be – for me to be an American is – you know, it’s one of the greatest things in the world for – you know, for me just because I’ve been able to grow up with everything. The freedom. You know, in my eyes this is the greatest country in the world.
MICHAEL PHELPSIf I didn’t swim my best, I’d think about it at school, at dinner, with my friends. It would drive me crazy.
MICHAEL PHELPSMy goal is one Olympic gold medal. Not many people in this world can say, ‘I’m an Olympic gold medalist.’
MICHAEL PHELPSFor the millionth time, I’m retired. I keep saying it, and people keep answering, ‘Well, maybe he doesn’t mean it this time.’ But I do.
MICHAEL PHELPSMy mom put me and my sisters in the water to feel comfortable, to have water safety.
MICHAEL PHELPS