OAN Staff Blake Wolf
3:21 PM – Wednesday, August 7, 2024
Aside from a few standout swimmers, Michael Phelps expressed his disappointment in the Men’s USA swimming results at the Paris Olympic games.
“For me as a whole, I was pretty disappointed to see the U.S. swimming results,” Phelps said in an Interview with USA Today. “Obviously, there were a few standout swims, and those you have to recognize.”
However, Phelps did praise swimmer Bobby Finke for his “unbelievable” performance in the 1500-meter freestyle swim, which resulted in a gold medal as well as a new world record.
“I have chills right now talking about it,” Phelps said, regarding Finke. “That was one of the greatest swims in the Olympics, in my opinion. Being able to break that world record in the [manner] that he did it. Just taking it out, challenging the other guys just to make a move, he was prepared.”
In the interview, Phelps also explained his concern for the future of the USA swimming team.
“One of the things that I’ve always said over the last couple of years is the rest of the world is catching up,” Phelps said. “I think a lot of the things that we’ve done as a country for so long, the other people are catching up. They’re doing the same thing.”
The 23x gold medal swimmer then issued an open challenge for American swimmers looking to obtain the same level of greatness as Phelps has achieved.
“Everyone thought what I was trying to do was impossible, and if somebody’s trying to do it now, you guys will all say it’s impossible,” Phelps continued. “If somebody wants to do it and they want it bad enough, and they’re willing to take the little baby steps that it takes to get there, then I want to see it.”
Phelps concluded the interview by saying, “Records are made to be broken. The records that I was chasing throughout my career motivated me. So hopefully I can motivate somebody to do the same thing.”
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