Triggered Michael Phelps Alarms Katie Ledecky and Team USA Against Australia at Paris Olympics 2024: “Make Them Eat Every Word”

You can take Michael Phelps out of the Olympics, but you can’t take the Olympics out of him. Even after retiring years ago, it seems like the Baltimore Bullet can’t resist weighing in on the USA’s fierce rivalry with Australia as another Olympic Games stare us in the face. The Australians’ dominance at last year’s World Championships prompted four-time Olympic gold medalist Cate Campbell to diss the USA, and now that Michael came across her words for the first time, he isn’t one to let things slide.

At the 2023 World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Australia and the USA got entangled in a battle of words thanks to the competition’s point system. “Such, such sore losers,” Campbell called out the American swimmers as Australia racked in more gold medals than the USA for the first time at a major competition. Now, Phelps seems to think Campbell’s words could work as the perfect catalyst for the USA’s Paris dream.

In a recent post on X by NBC Olympics & Paralympics, Phelps was shown Campbell’s comments from the 2023 tournament held in Japan. The Olympic icon’s face immediately curls up in response as Campbell can be heard saying, “…it is just so much sweeter beating America.” As Cate went on to talk about how nice it felt not having to hear Star-Spangled Banner on the first night of the competition, or how the fans’ avid “USA! USA!” chants weren’t missed, Phelps seemed like his nerves were itching for a befitting reply.

“I appreciate your words, Cate,” said Micahel sarcastically as soon as the video was over. Considering how the most decorated Olympian of all time has had his fair share of run-ins with the Australians, he justifiably got a little fired up after Campbell’s jeers. “Somebody said that to me, I would lose it, I would literally make them eat every word they just said about me,” said the Flying Fish with a rather cold demeanor.

To reiterate how trash-talking can backfire, Phelps reminded how Chad le Clos and Ian Thorpe both tried to dampen the former’s spirit with their woeful words, only to be shown their status. “I had the last laugh,” chuckled Michael as he used the opportunity to send out a message to the American swimmers ahead of the Paris Olympics.

“If you see what I just saw, I would watch that thing every single day,” noted the world’s most decorated Olympian of all time, claiming that the Australian’s words would act as the perfect thing to supply with all the boost the Americans need to show their rivals their place at the big showdown. However, it wasn’t just Michael who snapped back at Cate after her sneering statements against the USA’s stars.

It’s not just Michael Phelps who has a thing to say to Campbell

Two-time Olympic gold medalist and America’s breaststroke specialist Lilly King was among the first people who retorted back to Cate’s comments with their own jibe. “Sorry we aren’t so uptight we can’t cheer for our teammates as they walkout for events,” wrote King in her social media post, as she expressed her excitement to meet the Australians in Paris.

King has secured her place in both the women’s 100m and 200m breaststroke races for Paris and will be looking to back up her words as she meets her Australian opponents head-on. On the other hand, the rivalry between these two swimming powerhouses will be further accentuated because the USA’s Regan Smith once again snatched the women’s 100m backstroke world lead from her Australian foe Kaylee McKeown.

On the other hand, with Ariarne Titmus reclaiming her top spot in the 200m free event, Katie Ledecky might just sit this out in Paris. While the decision comes as a result of Ledecky’s focus on longer races, the banter between the USA and Australia’s loyalists has obviously erupted.

Phelps, whose rivalry with Ian Thorpe became one of the most iconic competitions in the swimming world, is naturally all fired up to see how his successors do on the big stage at the French capital. With that in mind, he has set his eyes on using any chance that comes across him as a way to motivate his colleagues to subdue the Australian stars at the upcoming games. Do you think his advice will benefit the US stars? Tell us more in the comment section below!