Michael Phelps made it official on Monday, announcing on Today that he is packing away his Speedos and saying goodbye to the world of competitive swimming.
'Done, done, done - and this time I mean it,' Phelps told host Matt Lauer.
'I wanted to come back and finish my career how I wanted and this was the cherry on top of the cake.'
Phelps
went on to say he will still be involved in the sport, but for now
wants to focus on his fiance and newborn baby Boomer, who he was seen
carrying as he arrived for his live segment on Monday.
'This
is the part of my life where I get to start a whole new chapter, which
is getting to build a family with Nicole,' explained Phelps.
The
31-year-old swimming great spoke with Matt Lauer after finishing up the
Rio Games with yet another impressive haul of medals, taking home five
golds and one silver to bring his total medal count to 28 over the
course of four Olympics.
Phelps has competed in five Olympic Games but did not medal back in 2000 while swimming in Sydney.
Of the 28 medals Phelps has won, 23 are gold. Only 37 countries have taken home more medals.
'Between now and London, I was so much more emotional during these Games, I think that showed at times on camera,' said Phelps.
'That's
the difference. Because I knew this was the last time. I knew this was
the last race that I ever had, the last Olympics that I ever had. And
everything just really hit hard.'
One person who was not buying
Phelps' retirement claim however was fellow swimmer and close friend
Ryan Lochte, who in an interview on Friday said he expected to see his
Rio roommate in Tokyo for the 2020 Games.
Phelps previously announced he was retiring from the sport in 2013, but returned to competition within less than a year.
He and Johnson welcomed Boomer in May, and shared a photo of the newborn on Instagram soon after.
'Welcome
Boomer Robert Phelps into the world!!! Born 5-5-2016 at 7:21 pm !!!
Healthy and happy!!! Best feeling I have ever felt in my life!!!' wrote
Phelps.
The
swimmer dropped out of a planned event scheduled for a week after the
birth at that time to focus on the new addition to his family.
Both
Phelps and Johnson have been posting photos of Boomer on Instagram
every few days since he was born, with the swimmer commenting on
multiple occasions that having a son has made him the 'happiest person
in the world.'
Phelps has spent most of Boomer's first months away from home however while training for the Olympics.
Phelps
and Johnson, 31, were engaged in February of last year, shortly after
the swimmer left rehab and began training for the 2016 Olympic games in
Rio.
Johnson, who was crowned Miss California USA in 2010, began dating Phelps in 2009, though in 2012 the couple briefly split.
The swimmer revealed in an interview with Sports Illustrated
last year the crucial role that Johnson played in getting him help
after he was charged with a DUI in late 2015 following a night of
drinking and gambling.
Johnson even accompanied him when he flew to The Meadows in Arizona for rehab.
Phelps
faced some setbacks in rehab, most notably when his self-proclaimed
former flame Taylor Lianne Chandler came forward and revealed graphic
details of their alleged sex life.
Chadler,
who is intersex and was born with male genitalia but no testicles,
claimed the two met on Tinder and detailed one wild sex romp between the
pair during a Baltimore Ravens game in a bathroom.
Then
in March of 2015, plus-sized dominatrix Kim Petro gave a story to The
National Enquirer claiming that Phelps gave her a $900 'donation' for
her to come to his hotel in February 2013 and allegedly engage in
explicit acts with the swimmer while he was wearing 'skimpy women's
underwear.'
By
this time however Phelps was a changed man, having finished his 45 days
in treatment and given up alcohol until after the Rio Olympics.
'I’m back to being the little kid who once said anything is possible,' said Phelps in his interview with Sports Illustrated.
'You’re going to see a different me than you saw in any of the other Olympics.'
No comments:
Post a Comment