Photo: Agência Brasil Fotografias / CC BY 2.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Michael Phelps is one of those rare athletes who broke the scale entirely. Twenty-eight Olympic medals, twenty-three of them gold, is not a record so much as a different category of human, and the Baltimore-born swimmer's 193 cm frame, vast wingspan, and uncanny lung capacity made him look genetically built for the water. But what I respect most is the grinding repetition behind the genius; back-to-back Athlete of the Year honors in 2008 and 2012 were accumulation, not magic. His later candor about depression rounded him out for me. Strength and fragility in the same person is far more compelling than invincibility ever was.
Overview
Michael Fred Phelps II (born June 30, 1985) is an American former competitive swimmer. He won more Olympic medals than any other athlete, a total of 28 medals across four Olympic Games. Phelps also holds the all-time records for Olympic gold medals (23), Olympic gold medals in individual events (13), and Olympic medals in individual events (16).
Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Michael Phelps
- Name (Japanese)
- マイケル・フェルプス
- Reading
- まいける・ふぇるぷす
- Born
- June 30, 1985 (age 40)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Cancer / Ox
- Origin
- Baltimore, Maryland, United States
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- 193 cm
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- swimmer
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Towson High School
- University
- University of Michigan
Awards & achievements
- 2008 Associated Press Athlete of the Year
- 2012 Associated Press Athlete of the Year
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
Swimmer — see all → · More people from United States →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.