Michael Phelps won his 23d Olympics medal overall after the men’s 4x100m freestyle relay race on Day 2 of the Rio Olympics. (Getty)
Swimmer Michael Phelps finished the Rio Olympics and his Olympic career on Saturday by winning his 28th overall Olympic medal, adding more to his massive collection. The 30-year-old is the most decorated Olympian ever and the only male swimmer from the U.S. ever to qualify for five Olympics. His records go far beyond just the number of overall medals, so here’s a look at his career achievements.
Phelps Has 15 More Medals Than Any Other Olympic Swimmer
Phelps has 15 more medals than any other Olympic swimmer. The next closest is Jenny Thompson, Dana Torres and Natalie Coughlin, who each have 12 and are all Americans. The next closest male swimmers are Mark Spitz, Matt Biondi and Ryan Lochte, who have 11 each.
Amazingly, if Phelps was a country, he’d have the same overall number of medals as Morocco. He has more medals in his career than over 30 countries. He also has one more gold medal than Austria and Argentina in the summer games.
Phelps Has Seven World Records
Phelps has three solo swimming records and has a share in four relay swimming records. In 2009, he set the records for the 100m butterfly (49.82) and 200m butterfly (1:51.51). In 2008, he set the record for the 400m individual medley (4:03.84).
He was also on the USA team that set the record for the 4x100m freestyle relay at the Beijing Olympics in 2008 (3:08.24). In 2009, he was on the teams that set the 4x200m freestyle (6:58.55) and 4x100m medley (3:27.28) relays.
Phelps Is in His Fifth Olympic Games
Phelps made his Olympic debut at age 15 at the 2000 Sydney Games, but did not medal. He became the youngest American male swimmer in 68 years. Now in his fifth Games, the 31-year-old is the first male American swimmer to make it to five Games. Dara Torres is the only female American swimmer to make it to five Olympics.
While Phelps won six races in Athens, the Beijing games cemented his greatness. He won eight Gold medals, breaking Spitz’s record of seven golds won in 1972.
In Rio, Phelps is competing in the 200m butterfly on Monday night, the 200m individual medley on Wednesday and the 100m butterfly on Thursday. That means he could finish his career with 26 medals if he medals in any of his remaining races in Rio.
Here’s the full list of all the Olympic medals Phelps has won:
Gold (23):
Athens (2004)
100 m butterfly
200 m butterfly
200 m medley
400 m medley
4×200 m freestyle
4×100 m medley
Beijing (2008)
200 m freestyle
100 m butterfly
200 m butterfly
200 m medley
400 m medley
4×100 m freestyle
4×200 m freestyle
4×100 m medley
London (2012)
100 m butterfly
200 m medley
4×200 m freestyle
4×100 m medley
Rio (2016)
4×100 m freestyle
200m butterfly
4x200m freestyle relay
200m Individual Medley
4×100 m medley
Silver (3):
London (2012)
200 m butterfly
4×100 m freestyle
Rio (2016)
Men’s 100m butterfly
Bronze (2):
Athens (2004)
200 m freestyle
4×100 m freestyle
