“I was like a race horse with blinders on”: Michael Phelps sits down with Chris Paul on show ‘How I Got Here’
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Michael Phelps
Michael Phelps recently got on Chris Paul’s show ‘How I Got Here’, where he talked about his highest and lowest moments, and how he became so passionate about mental health.
Phelps is a 23 time Olympic medallist and is considered one of the greatest swimmers of all time. Talking to Paul, he credited the beginning of his career to his two sisters, who were a part of competitive swimming even before he made his entry into the sport. He was persuaded at the age of 11 to take swimming seriously, as he set his sights on the Olympics. “I was swimming 5 days a week. It was not always the nicest, but I got better and better soon enough,” said Phelps.
Soon, Phelps started breaking national age groups records, breaking over 200 of them over his career. “I broke the open age group record at the age of 16. That is when I knew I was special.”
“I think I swam 60,000m”: Michael Phelps talks about his journey to success
Michael Phelps said that he was a deer in the headlights when he went to his first Olympics at the age of 15. After not winning a medal at the 2000 Olympics, it fuelled Phelps desire to win even more, and brought him to the 2004 Athens Olympics. At the 2004 Olympics he took 6 Gold medals and 2 bronze medals, however he felt that he could do much better.
“We had all the tools at that point to be able to compete at that level at every single race. During that race in Beijing I think I swam 60,000m,” said Phelps, reminiscing about the Beijing Olympics. He described himself as a race horse with blinders on, performing the same program again and again. He talked about the importance of maintaining his weight during this hectic Olympics, and the importance of it during races.
Eventually Phelps said that his fuel ran out in 2012 when he retired. He had enough, and he wanted to be a kid and explore his life other than swimming. Although he did not want to walk away, it was the right time for him to walk away. Out of his 23 gold medals, he credited the 200m freestyle event from the 2008 Beijing Olympics to be his favourite and best gold medal win. “My favourite besides that has to be the four-peat. To win the same event four times at four straight Olympics, like that’s kinda crazy to think about,” concluded the star.
Phelps talked about his struggles with mental health, as he struggled with depression during his career. He talked about the importance of taking care of oneself, especially with self care.
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Saivee Phatak
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