michael phelps
Born in Maryland on June 30, 1985, Michael Phelps started swimming when he was seven years old. [1]
By the end of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Michael Phelps had put to rest the argument over who is the greatest American Olympian and perhaps the greatest from any country. [2]
Not a problem for Michael Phelps, the greatest all-around competitor in the history of his sport. [3]
Michael Phelps is the newest phenomenon to take the swimming world by storm. [4]
By winning eight gold medals in eight swimming events in Beijing, shattering seven world records in the process, Phelps raised his haul of career Olympic medals to 16. [2]
Then he captured the gold in the 100-meter butterfly. [3]
At the age of 15, he placed fifth in the 200-meter butterfly at the 2000 Olympics, where he was the youngest male to compete in the games since 1932. [...] At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, Phelps won eight gold medals, breaking the record of seven golds in one Olympics set by Mark Spitz in 1972. [1]
At 15, Michael became the youngest swimmer to compete for the U.S. in the Olympics in 68 years. [3]
Before the Olympics started, rumor had it that a 19 year-old from Baltimore was thinking of trying to match or even surpass Mark Spitz's legendary seven gold medals. [4]
At the 2001 Spring Nationals in the United States, Phelps became the youngest man ever to break a world record in swimming, at the age of 15 years and 9 months. [1]
Hilary started swimming the year he was born, and Michael spent many afternoons in a stroller watching her practice. [3]
After the 2008 Summer Olympics, Phelps started the Michael Phelps Foundation, which focuses on growing the sport of swimming and promoting healthier lifestyles. [5]
Phelps also became the first swimmer in history to break five individual world records at one meet, at the 2003 World Championships in Barcelona. [1]
In doing so he has twice equaled the record eight medals of any type at a single Olympics achieved by Soviet gymnast Alexander Dityatin at the 1980 Moscow Summer Games. [5]
Sources:
[1] Michael Phelps: Biography from Answers.com
[2] Michael Phelps News - The New York Times
[3] JockBio: Michael Phelps Biography
[4] Michael Phelps - IMDb - The Internet Movie Database (IMDb)
[5] Michael Phelps - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia