Child with Attention Deficit Disorder. How did Michael Phelps become an Olympic legend? 

23 Olympic gold medals, 27 world championship awards, countless world achievements, the title of the strongest swimmer of all time and one of the best athletes in history - and all this is "Bullet from Baltimore" Michael Phelps. But not everyone knows that Phelps, undefeated in the pool, has struggled with psychological problems throughout his career. And almost lost. Michael Fred Phelps was born on June 30, 1985 in Baltimore. His mother was a high school principal and his father was a police officer. Michael began swimming at the age of seven, following the example of his older sisters Whitney and Hillary. Whitney, by the way, was among the candidates for a trip to the Olympic Games in Atlanta in 1996,usa missed and soon retired from the sport due to injuries. The younger brother's career could have ended as soon as it began - at first, Michael hated the pool and was afraid to put his HEAD in the water. Therefore, the boy was first taught to swim on his back, and over time, the fear of diving disappeared.
In elementary school, Phelps was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. The boy grew up as a mischievous person - he dabbled with gas burners in science classes, signed up as a juggler for the school talent show, not knowing how to juggle, and could not sit in the lessons without fidgeting. At the same time, young Phelps spent several hours in the pool after school. Many years later, Michael wrote in his autobiography that as a child he could only control his body in water, and it was swimming that helped him release excess energy.
At age 10, Phelps set a national record in the 100m butterfly in his age group, and in 1996 began training at the North Baltimore Swimming Center. There he was mentored by Bob Bowman, who then coached Michael throughout his career. The boy began to show stunning seconds at an adult level long before he came of age. In 2000, 15-year-old Phelps qualified for the Sydney Olympics, becoming the youngest American swimmer at the Games in 68 years. And he was very close to the medal - at a distance of 200 meters butterfly, he took 5th place. The second Olympic cycle Phelps' first high-profile success happened six months after the Games: during the national selection for the 2001 World Cup, the swimmer broke the world record in the signature two hundred butt. At the planetary forum, Michael improved his own achievement, adding to it the first personal gold in major tournaments. But this was only the beginning: two years later, Phelps brought six awards from the world championship.
The 19-year-old athlete approached the 2004 Games in the status of a five-time world champion. No one doubted that in Greece the swimmer would open an account for Olympic medals, and Michael did not disappoint. Performances in the Athenian pool brought the athlete six gold medals, three Olympic and one world record.
At the end of 2004, Michael changed the situation - his coach was invited to work at the University of Michigan, and the swimmer followed him, enrolling in the faculty of sports management. In a new place, Phelps, who had a hard time meeting people, suffered from loneliness, yearned for loved ones and tried to return home. But after a conversation with a mentor, the young swimmer pulled himself together, bought a house and began to learn to live without a mother - to cook on his own, use household appliances and pay the bills. Phelps's "Catch" reached its design capacity at the 2005 World Cup and won five gold medals. However, the swimmer was very angry with himself - only two of them were personal. The next couple of years passed in a regime of enhanced training, and at the 2007 World Forum, the athlete reached the peak of his career and took all the gold he could reach. The US anthem in honor of Michael sounded seven times,
The athlete qualified for the Beijing Olympics in five individual disciplines and was declared to participate in three relay races. On the eve of the Games, the great swimmer Ian Thorpe said that this time Phelps will not be able to win all the gold. Michael didn't answer, but printed out the Australian quote and pasted it on the locker door in the dressing room. And flew away from CHINAundefeated, becoming the first athlete in history to win eight gold medals at the same Games. In an interview after the final swim, Phelps, who surpassed the achievement of Mark Spitz (7 wins in 1972), issued the iconic phrase: "Records are there to be broken." "The greatest Olympian in history" 14 gold medals in four years, and now Michael is the most titled athlete in the history of the Olympics. Ahead is a new goal - to beat the result of the great Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina in terms of the total number of awards at the Games (18). But before that, you need to prove the seriousness of intentions at two world championships. Phelps coped effortlessly: world forums brought him 12 more awards, and the total number of podiums at the World Cup became simply “indecent” - 34.
The Olympic Games in London in 2012 began unsuccessfully for Michael. In the final of the 400 meters individual event, he finished fourth, the first time he was left without a medal in a separate event. The next day, the American quad with Phelps took second place in the 4x100m freestyle relay, losing gold to the French. With silver, the athlete remained at the crown distance of two hundred butterfly. The first gold of London came only in the 4x200 meters relay, and it was this award that became the very 19th at the Games: Latynina's record was broken. Larisa Semyonovna, who was present in the capital of Great Britain, presented Phelps with one of her medals as a sign of respect, calling the swimmer "the greatest Olympian in history." It seemed to inspire the American - before the end of the Games, his collection was replenished with three more gold awards. Leaving - returning - leaving "I'm definitely done and will never return to swimming," - so Michael announced his retirement at the first press conference after the Olympics. Without sports, Phelps lasted even less than two years. Already in May 2014, he returned to training, and in August he was enchanting at the Pacific Ocean Championship. A year later, at the U.S. Championships, the 30-year-old proved to the youth that he was still the same by winning three golds and paving the way for his fifth Olympic Games.
In Rio de Janeiro, Michael was first entrusted with carrying the Stars and Stripes flag at the opening ceremony and appointed captain of the delegation. In the Brazilian pool, the swimmer was again unstoppable - five gold and one silver medal brought the total number of Olympic awards to 28. By the way, according to this indicator, Phelps is ahead of 161 countries in the world. Even the record of 2168 years ago could not resist Michael: the ancient Greek athlete Leonid of Rhodes won 12 personal gold medals at the Olympics. The Bullets from Baltimore had 13 of them. At the end of the Games, Phelps again announced his retirement from the sport - this time for good. Other Michael The swimmer's family and friends describe him as a "great friend", "a good family man", and "an incredibly kind person". But Michael's biography is not so clean - the athlete got into scandals several times. At the end of 2004, the nineteen-year-old champion was caught driving while intoxicated and sentenced to a year and a half on probation. Phelps paid a $250 fine and traveled around the country for several months telling schoolchildren and students about the dangers of ALCOHOL. The punishment was not too severe: the swimmer loves children and spends a lot of time with them quite voluntarily.
In February 2009, a photograph of Michael smoking marijuana circulated on the Web, and the athlete lost a major sponsorship contract. Phelps issued a public apology, saying "his behavior was inappropriate." In the fall of 2014, Michael was again caught for drunk driving, received a year of probation in prison and was required to attend meetings of anonymous alcoholics. The National Swimming Federation suspended him for six months, which cost the athlete participation in the 2015 World Championships.
Michael's legendary return to Rio may not have happened. In 2018, the athlete admitted that after the Games in London he fell into a deep depression. The swimmer practically refused food and sleep and even thought about suicide, since such thoughts were driven away. However, two years later, after being re-arrested, the idea of ​​suicide returned. But instead of going even deeper into himself, Phelps began to share his experiences with loved ones and was able to overcome depression.
Now the great champion is doing well. Michael is married to model and former "Miss California" Nicole Johnson, the couple has three sons. The athlete runs the Michael Phelps Foundation, a charitable foundation that promotes swimming and a healthy lifestyle, and also owns a personal brand of swimming equipment. For his records, Phelps can be calm - they will obviously not be beaten soon.

| Material. | Photo from open Internet sources.

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