Vorace in water as a predator, he won 28 Olympic medals and 26 world golds obscuring the myth of Mike Spitz: “I did everything I wanted as a child: become the best”
The man who changed swimming, who obscured Mark Spitz, who took more medals than every Olympic athlete (therefore not only in swimming), turns 40 today. They called him the Baltimore Kid. In the water it was voracious like a shark. Michael Phelps, MP, like Michael Jordan was MJ in basketball. A very long career, which began at the age of 15 at the Olympics in Sydney 2000: fifth in the 200 butterfly final. A few months later, in March 2001, he won the 200 butterfly in Austin’s US championships becoming the youngest ever to beat a world record. Then, in Fukuoka he won the first world gold with record in the 200 butterfly, the family specialty (he followed in the footsteps of the sisters). In total, there will be 26 world gold (33 in total), of which seven won in Melbourne 2007 exceeding the six of Ian Thorpe right in Fukuoka.