“I’m a Clumsy Person”- Michael Phelps Overcame a Major Injury Before Beijing Games to Conquer the Pool

The 2008 Beijing Olympics became symbolic because of Michael Phelps and his eight gold medals. He broke the record of Mark Spitz’s seven gold medals, set at the 1972 Munich Olympics. From gripping races to tensed finishes, Phelps dominated the swimming pool in Beijing. However, everything could have gone south for the champion swimmer due to a freak accident two weeks before the Games. 

He trained for the Beijing Olympics in high spirits. However, Phelps fell and broke a small bone in his wrist before the Games. By delivering masterclass performances all the time, his journey could have ended if it deepened into a grievous injury. Thankfully, it didn’t. 

Michael Phelps’ alarming moment

After training in Ann Arbor, Michigan, he fell and tried to catch himself from going down. On that note, he broke a small bone in his right wrist just two weeks before the penultimate Olympic Games. “I’m a fish out of water. I’m a clumsy person. I fell and went to catch myself and I just tweaked it the wrong way,” mentioned Phelps, who was lucky to avoid serious injuries. 

Even though it was not a severe injury, he restricted himself to dry-land training, and that injury wouldn’t dampen his Olympic dream. Irrespective of not jumping inside the pool, Phelps trained hard for the Olympics but soon experienced swelling in that region. As alarming as it sounds, doctors conducted magnetic resonance imaging and found a small crack in his wrist. It forced them to put a small pin on his wrist so that the injury could heal faster. 

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Throughout the injury, Phelps remained tranquil. He knew his preparations were complete and spoke about it calmly. “It’s fine. Everything’s going as we planned. We were taking it very, very cautiously and just trying to get it to heal as fast as we could so we could get back to swimming,” said Phelps. 

The rest is history!

Training day and night, 365 days a year, everybody knew about the fabled tales of Phelps. But this probably could have become much more serious. Thankfully, he could get himself back on track and produce one of the most stunning displays of swimming that people witnessed. He won eight gold medals and made history in Beijing. 

It probably would have been heartbreaking to see the champion swimmer withdrawing from the Olympics just before the Games. However, the swimming gods decided his fate, and he could swim his way to glory at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. To sum up, a lucky escape!

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