“Built Me Up as..”- Weighed Down by Pressure, Michael Phelps Once Revealed the Biggest Misconception About Him

The word perfection has a lot of definitions. Michael Phelps trained that way to win 23 Olympic gold medals, and his record tally reflects the same. But for Phelps, it is much more than that. He cannot understand why fans dubbed him as the “All-American boy” of a person who doesn’t commit any mistakes. Hence, he once spoke about not being perfect as the rest of us.

Under coach Bob Bowman, he trained hard to become a world-class swimmer. From a swimmer’s perspective, it is great to see someone training for 365 days. But Phelps thought otherwise.

A shocking revelation

Wanting to speak the truth, he arrived at Meadows for rehabilitation after his DUI arrest in 2014. While staying there, he played volleyball with people and made good relationships which he still keeps to date. After that, everyone watched Monday Night Football when news broke out that USA swimming barred him from competing for six months. He missed the 2015 World Championships and focused on his rehab.

News read that Phelps received a suspension, and confusion broke among the patients. “Yep, that’s me.” He spoke about how he differed from what people perceived him to be. “People kind of built me up as the all-American boy. Perfect, no mistakes, this and that. But that wasn’t me, you know? I wanted people to get to know the real me,” said Phelps after that incident. 

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To see a world-class swimmer go through these problems is disheartening. However, Phelps made everyone realize how he was the same as everyone else. From that rehabilitation, he decided never to touch alcohol until the 2016 Rio Olympics. Determined to make amends, the rest, as they say, is history. 

The legend of Michael Phelps!

At the 2016 Rio Olympics, he won five gold medals and one silver to bid goodbye to the sport. The Olympic Games meant a lot to him as his son, Boomer, arrived in the stands to watch him swim. His wife, mother, and family representatives appeared for the event to see the master winning his last Olympic medals. It was important to him. It may have been the most relaxed Phelps arrived for the Olympics. 

Thus, he showcased his talents and turned his life around. Struggling hard with depression, Phelps made an epic comeback to silence everyone. Everyone knew he was not the Phelps of old, and fans saw the last of him inside the swimming pool. To sum up, he is a human rather than a machine. Going through struggles just like us, Michael went through a lot. In the end, he conquered. 

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