Amidst Paris Olympics Hype, Michael Phelps’ Unbelievable Dominance Over World Competition Unearthed

Everyone knows that Michael Phelps is the most decorated Olympian, winning twice as many medals as his closest competitor. However, you only get a sense of the depth of his incredible achievements when, nearly a decade after retiring, new stats emerge in support of the icon’s greatness. Independent reporter Buttstroke Swimming unearthed one such stat on X.

Buttstroke Swimming compiled the data on Phelps’ Olympics, Pan American Games, and World Championships career. What did the data contain? The wins vs. losses that the 39-year-old has suffered against swimmers from 11 rival nations, throughout his illustrious. The stats have surfaced right as the best swimmers in the world prepare to go head-to-head in Paris.

“Can’t believe the swim gods let us have this DEMON on our team for 16 years,” wrote the X-user in his post. The stats showed that Phelps dominated the international stage even outside the Olympics. Among the 11 countries, competitors from China, Great Britain, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, and Russia failed to beat Phelps even once. However, they tried plenty of times.

In fact, Michael Phelps faced competitors from these six countries a combined 127 times. Yet, athletes from the five countries that did manage to beat The Baltimore Bullet, did so only a handful of times. The 39-year-old holds a record of 16-2 against South Africa, 17-1 against Germany, 21-1 against Mexico and 58-1 against Japan. Phelps has the most losses against Australia.

The Flying Fish lost five time times to Australian swimmers out of 54 races. Finally, to put the swimming GOAT’s dominance into perspective, the Olympic legend has lost 10 out of 293 races. As insane as the number sounds, it only proves that Phelps is indeed the greatest swimmer in history. However, that doesn’t mean everything in Paris should seem lackluster. Fellow American Katie Ledecky is on the cusp of making history.

Can Michael Phelps’ former teammate create history?

While the icon from Maryland was nearing the twilight of his career, Katie Ledecky emerged as the most promising prospect in women’s swimming. Today, the formidable champion holds multiple world records and is the most decorated female to ever jump in a pool. However, the Team USA star has the opportunity to join Michael Phelps’ league in the Olympics.

As things stand, the four-time Olympian is tied to second place as the most gold-medal-winning Olympian (female). However, since Ledecky will compete in the 400m, 800m, 1500m, and 4x400m relay, she could take the top spot by winning all four. Current record holder Larisa Latynina has nine, while equestrian Isabell Werth also has seven. Yet, Werth will compete in two events.

Besides this prestigious title, the 27-year-old also has the opportunity to become the only woman to win the 1500m Olympic gold consecutively. While Michael Phelps remains the GOAT, records are meant to be broken, even if it only happens once in a lifetime.