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Michael Phelps is the most decorated Olympian of all time. His 28 Olympic medals across five Olympics (Phelpsmedaled in only four of them) put him alone atop the all-time leaderboard. His run in 2008 is one of the all-time greatest Olympic performances of all time.
Following the 2012 Olympics, the swimmer retired. He had no plans of competing any more and was going to enter retirement at just 27. Fortunately for his mantle and for his fans, Michael Phelps changed his mind.
Why Phelps retired and then unretire?
But why did Michael Phelps initially want to retire? Phelps had been swimming since he was seven, so there could have been fatigue involved. However, this is what the Olympian had to say in an interview after the London Olympics:
"I am getting older, and I do find it harder to recover."
He also cited a desire to actually be present more in the cities he traveled to and added:
"After the summer, I really don't know what I'm going to do. Obviously, I'd like to be able to travel around and take some time and just sort of take a break, and travel, and SEE some cities. You know, I haven't been able to see too many of the cities that I've been able to travel to, just because I see the pool and I see the hotel."
However, as American viewers know, Phelps did not stay retired. He returned to the Rio de Jainero Olympics in 2016 and capped off an iconic career. Why did Phelps return to competitive swimming after retiring?
Ultimately, it came down to a desire to swim and a love for the sport. Michael Phelps explained:
“That’s the only reason I want to do it. For me. I love to swim. I want to swim."
Phelps also mentioned feeling like he had more he wanted to accomplish. At that point, the decorated swimmer had already amassed 22 medals, 18 of which were gold. It appears the Olympian had the desire to become the greatest athlete of all time.
There was also some disappointment in the fact that Chad le Clos of South Africa had overtaken the American in the event in which he was known for - the 200m butterfly.
Michael Phelps did retire after the 2016 Olympics as the most decorated Olympic athlete ever. There were rumblings that he might come out of retirement for the Tokyo Olympics but these rumors didn't come to fruition.
