Michael Phelps is arguably one of today’s top swimmers. After all, he’s the most decorated Olympian athlete of all time. The United States’ flag bearer and “Baltimore Bullet” has been breaking records since the age of 10, and hasn’t shown signs of stopping since.
He’s just been winning in the Olympics for so long that we don’t remember when it even began.
However, the 100 meter butterfly marked his final Olympic event before his retirement in 2017, and we’re sad to see him wrap up this milestone in his athletic career. Here’s a recap of all 22 of his Olympic gold medals!
1. 400 Meter Individual Medley (Athens, 2004)
Time: 4:08.26
The 400 Meter Medley was his first event at his second Olympics at the age of 19 – and it also ended up being his first gold medal!
2. 200m Butterfly (Athens, 2004)
Time: 1:54.04
In this race, he broke Tom Malchow’s Olympic Record!
3. 4x200m Freestyle Relay (Athens, 2004)
Time: 7:07.33
Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte, Peter Vanderkaay, and Kelte Keller swam their way to yet another victory.
4. 200m Individual Medley
Time: 1:57.14
With an amazing lead, there’s no doubt that he was going to claim gold, with teammate Ryan Lochte in second!
5. 100m Butterfly (Athens, 2004)
Time: 51.25
Another swim, another Olympic record broken.
6. 4x100m Medley Relay (Athens, 2004)
Time: 3:30.68
Although finishing first in the 100m butterfly automatically game him a spot in the relay, Michael Phelps let teammate Ian Crocker swim in the finals. The team went on to break a world record and win a gold medal! He got a medal as well since he swam with the team in the preliminary heats.
7. 400m Individual Medley (Beijing, 2008)
Time: 4:03.84
The first win of an eight-medal sweep, spectators weren’t at all surprised that he would win. But being well ahead of the world record brought the whole stadium to their feet! Such an amazing start to the games.
8. 4x100m Freestyle Relay (Beijing, 2008)
Time: 3:08.24
Michael Phelps, Garrett Weber-Gale, Cullen Jones, and Jason Lezak led the pack to crush another world record!
9. 200m Freestyle (Beijing, 2008)
Time: 1:42.96
Continuing with his gold streak, Michael Phelps also broke his own world record of 1:43.86!
10. 200m Butterfly (Beijing, 2008)
Time:1:52.03
This marked Michael Phelps’ 10th career Olympic medal and yet another new world record!
11. 4x200m Freestyle Relay (Beijing, 2008)
Time: 6:58.56
The American team defended their title as the 4x200m freestyle relay champions, and had an incredible sub-seven minute finish! Michael Phelps also had the second fastest split in historywith a time of 1:43.31.
12. 200m Individual Medley (Beijing, 2008)
Time: 1:54.23
Would you like a world record with that gold medal?
13. 100m Butterfly (Beijing, 2008)
Time: 50.58
Those commentators screaming “He did it!” pretty much represent our exact reaction.
14. 4x100m Medley Relay (Beijing, 2008)
As a result of the team winning this race, Michael Phelps broke Mark Spitz’s record of seven gold medals at a single Olympic games! The perfect way for him to wrap up the Beijing games.
15. 4x200m Freestyle Relay (London, 2012)
Time: 6:59.70
Talk about an enormous lead! The mens’ relay team had yet another golden swim.
16. 200m Individual Medley (London, 2012)
Time: 1:54.27
Once again defending this title, he became the first male athlete to win the same event in three consecutive Olympic games!
17. 100m Butterfly (London, 2012)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8wp96bvHkA
Time: 51.21
As DJ Khaled would say, “Another one”.
18. 4x100m Medley Relay (London, 2012)
Time: 3:29.35
The team winning this event made made Michael Phelps the athlete with double the number of Olympic medals as any other athlete in ANY sport since 1896!
19. 4x100m Freestyle Relay (Rio, 2016)
Time: 3:09.92
People were wary about Michael Phelps’ comeback out of retirement, and this swim with the team proved them wrong!
20. 200m Butterfly (Rio, 2016)
Time: 1:53.36
Here’s gold medal #20! Guess the #PhelpsFace wasn’t the only viral element of this event.
21. 4x200m Freestyle Relay (Rio, 2016)
Time: 7:00.66
Fresh after his 20th gold medal in the 200 meter butterfly, Michael Phelps added yet another gold medal to his collection!
22. 200m Individual Medley (Rio, 2016)
https://twitter.com/HeavensHawkeye/status/763925139348000773
Time: 1:54.66
In one of his last Olympic events of his career, he earned his final solo Olympic gold medal with an astounding lead, leaving the other swimmers battling it out for second and third!
23. 4x100m Medley Relay (Rio, 2016)
Time: 3:27.95
In Phelps’ final golden swim, the team gave it their all – and it definitely showed, earning them not only the gold, but a new Olympic record!
Which was your favourite gold medal swim to watch? Will you miss watching him compete? Let us know by tweeting us at @CelebMix!