“Everyone Was Convinced That I’d Go Into Labor”: Michael Phelps Hits Fans With Nostalgia of His Legendary Eight Olympic Gold Win in 2008

The most decorated Olympian in history, Michael Phelps earned a whopping 28 medals, with 23 golds, three silvers, and two bronze. He earned several nicknames, like the ‘Baltimore Bullet’, the ‘Flying Fish’, or, you know, the Greatest Of All Time. Of course, his journey came with its ups and downs.

Phelps failed to finish on the podium in his first Olympics, the 2000 Sydney Games, where he made the team at a very young age of 15. But by 2004, he had already won 8 medals in Athens, tying the record for most medals won in a single Games. And four years later, he topped that.

Michael Phelps’ glorious medal haul in Beijing

At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Michael Phelps came home with 8 Olympic titles, breaking Mark Spitz’s record for the most Olympic golds won at a single Games. He set world records in seven of his eight races, and even the remaining one proved to be an Olympic record.

To achieve this feat, Phelps had to win every single race he had qualified for, and the biggest obstacle in his way proved to be the second event. For the 4×100 meter freestyle relay, Team USA had to beat France, the favorites for the title. The French team had claimed they would “smash” the Americans, and they came pretty close to doing just that.

Trailing the French team by nearly 6/10th of a second, entering the final leg, the U.S. team came from behind to set a new world record. After 12 years, the United States finally clinched the elusive 4×100 meter freestyle relay title. Phelps led the team and with Jason Lezak acting as the anchor, the race had been nail-bitingly close.

READ MORE: “More Than Anybody Else on the Planet”: Michael Phelps Reveals How a Piece of Paper Changed His Swimming Career

Lezak chased down world record-holder Frenchman Alain Bernard on the last 25-meter stretch, setting an anchor time of 46.06, the fastest ever split in the event’s history. The U.S. Team finished in 3:08.24 while the French team came in second with 3:08.32 on the clock.

Phelps’ throwback to the epic race had fans in a tizzy

On Friday, swimming GOAT Michael Phelps retweeted a clip of the same race, writing, “That was a fun one 🤪”.

Though if you ask the fans, “fun” is quite the understatement. Take it from American professional golfer Ricky Barnes.

Fans had a field day reminiscing about the exact moment they watched the American team win the title. It proved to be an exciting day not just for the swimmers but for all those watching from home too.

The event would go down in history as one of the most exciting races the sport has ever seen.

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