Michael+Phelps+wins+eighth+gold+medal

The year of 1985 was when an incredibly talented athlete was born in Baltimore, Maryland. Michael Phelps began his long swimming career at a very young age, and he always knew that he wanted to swim professionally. When he was only fifteen years old, he had his first United States Olympic trials in which he finished second in the 200-meter butterfly. Phelps’ coach since the age of twelve, Bob Bowman, was also Phelps’ close friend and mentor. Phelps enrolled at the University of Michigan and swam for the varsity swim team, which Bowman was also the coach of. But because Phelps was not an amateur, sponsored by huge companies such as Speedo, Omega, Visa and PowerBar, his professionalism prohibited Phelps from remaining a part of the team for long. Instead, he helped Bowman coach the team while keeping on campus majoring in Sports Marketing and Managing.

 This six foot four swimmer won a total of 6 gold and 2 bronze medals at the Olympic Games in Athens, Greece of 2004. Victory hungry, Phelps continued to compete and in another four years, Phelps wins his record-breaking eighth gold medal at the Beijing Summer Olympics on August 17, 2008. Known for his tenacious, admirable demeanor, Michael Phelps soon became an icon and role model to young aspiring athletes. In all, Phelps set five world records and surpassed many, such as Ian Thorpe’s record of 200-meter freestyle and Mark Spitz’s record winning seven gold medals. Phelps cultivated to be one of the most popular celebrities of his time, attracting a lot of attention from fans and the media. In one interview with IGN Sports, the interviewer asked Phelps, “ You've had some time reflect. Has the magnitude of your accomplishments set in? ” Phelps answered, “If you'd asked me that right after the Olympics, I would have said no, but at this point I think it has. Everything that happened last summer was so much fun and totally changed my life forever.” And while Phelps was making his dreams come true, making millions of dollars for his triumphs, a majority of the United States was not as lucky. The poor state of the economy forced many people into panic and struggle on earning enough money to support themselves and their families. The people fought and protested, but it all came back to one thing—they needed one person, a president, to effectively run the whole country and bring about progressive change to all.