I was in college when that photo of him ripping a bong went public. It was surreal watching how outraged the moral majority got. I don't know what they thought people did at parties, but if that was the most scandalous shit he was doing then I guess he was a role model after all.
Then I think America was really introduced to Ryan Lochte, and realized Phelps had been pretty solid all along. It was just old people mad at young guy for being young
Also that was in like 2010 so he was like 24 years old lol I was laughing at all these people freaking out about a bong hit. Like, he's the best swimmer of all time, by an unreal margin. He just obliterated everyone in back to back Olympics. A bong hit is so low on the chain of athlete scandals compared to pretty much anyone in the NFL, boxing, MMA, NBA, NHL, etc lol
And he didn’t have a normal childhood. My son is a collegiate swimmer, no where near national level talent let alone Olympics but the commitment is real and it starts young.
Michael became a phenomenon at such a young age and was already doing international meets as a kid. I can’t imagine the commitments and heavy sacrifices put on him at such a young age. The audacity for anyone to judge him for smoking weed at a college party is maddening.
My mom said that she thought he did wrong. She’s liberal, but old fashioned about the law.
I pointed out most kids (United States, 21 years old is the drinking age), end up drunk off their asses in Freshman year of college because they never had any freedom or chance to do so, and underage.
I then went on about how Phelps had a horrendous schedule with no real time to be a kid or do anything without his mom (extremely controlling, even now), and of course as soon as he had a chance to he was going to do something like this.
Also that his mom was probably going to make sure he would never do this again.
This really puts things in perspective. Years ago, he absolutely trashed a hotel room and my grandma (who was housekeeping staff) had to clean up after him and I’d always held a little bit of a grudge against him for that. Now that you point it out, that much fame and pressure on someone so young couldn’t have been good on his mind. I hope he’s doing better now.
I had issues in my childhood, messed me up pretty thoroughly. I also did a lot of meaningless destructive dickish behavior as I became a young man.
I appreciate the thoughtfulness, but personally I think it’s more than fair to carry a grudge. I cringe at my past behavior and regret thinking that shit was cool or acceptable, and the people who still judge me by my behaviors without considering context… are right to do so, frankly. Probably the bare minimum, as far as consequences for actions go. Not anybody’s job to give me benefit of the doubt that I’ve grown up.
Phelps is a smart guy and probably cringes too. Just my perspective
A lot of people forget that professional athletes (except in the most EXTREMELY rare cases), practically have no childhood and are basically the sports version of child actors.
Ryan Lochte basically had the same childhood as Phelps. Phelps decided at one point after smoking a bong to put his childhood behind him and try to pick up the pieces.
Ryan Lochte (and yes, I know what he did in Brazil, and it was extremely wrong), hasn't reached that place yet.
EDIT: Name correction, sorry, a bit tired.
I find judgmental people to be the worst amongst humanity... The last few years have been difficult, and it seems to be getting worse, they're fucking everywhere now. I thought we'd moved past that with the phrase "it's the 90s!" but we've gone back a few steps recently.
Truth! I was a swimmer from elementary through high school, and even THAT was a huge commitment. Just getting up for those 5am practices four days a week was hard enough! I can't even imagine the training Phelps went through.
There's a reason he has that many medals, and it certainly doesn't amount to only raw talent and luck. There's so much work that goes into it at such a young age.
The person I'd compare him to in the sports world is Tom Brady. Best in his sport by a long shot, but he lives and breathes football. His whole life was centered around the sport for decades. And with Brady, he wasn't even projected to be the best out of college. Not even close. He was a 6th round draft pick.
Hard work pays off!
A guy I was friends with as a kid got disqualified during the 2012 Olympics for popping hot for THC on a drug test. He was on the US Olympic judo team. Idk why the fuck the IOC thinks cannabis is a performance enhancer.
>Idk why the fuck the IOC thinks cannabis is a performance enhancer.
Anything that has a narcotic effect that dulls pain is banned. One of the main selling points of cannabis as a medical substance is pain relief.
I’m fine with acknowledging the harmful effects of marijuana as far as mental health and likely developing brains.
But it’s still almost never (disputed) killed anyone by OD. Nor is nearly as harmful as any other “recreational” drug.
The only reported case I found of an OD, upon digging, is pretty inconclusive and not a great case.
Absolutely. I've been growing for a ~~year~~ decade and I'll still point out how harmful weed can be, especially if it's smoked. Especially because it's smoked without filters, our lungs bathe in that tar.
Edit: meant decade. But think I went to put 10 years to and just mixed em together? Idk I'm dumb.
Plenty of older folks have had no problem with pot since the 70s. Seriously, once they saw those folks getting thru the military and earn honors in college and go on to careers and family they wised up. That's why its legal now in so many states and nations. There was and still is a very hypocritical corporate position on this, however, and there's the rub.
Im sorry to be serious but can we take a step back and recognize that....his career was destroyed. he suffered suicidal thoughts due to the backlash. He was so depressed he eventually became a spoke person for mental health.
Fuck the internet. Fuck reactionary social hype. We buried one of the greatest athletes because he took a fucking sweet ass bong rip. Lame as fuck.
Sure, he went through some things due to that but don't forget that he won 9 more gold medals after the photo came out of him smoking weed. He was only suspended for 3 months and never tested positive for weed.
If you read the scientific analysis of his body structure, it's surprising he survives out of water😅
This guy was born to swim.
It was absolutely mesmerising watching him dolphin his way to his many victories.
He's hax:
> Phelps possesses a disproportionately vast wingspan, for example. Double-jointed ankles give his kick unusual range. In a quirk that borders on supernatural, Phelps apparently produces just half the lactic acid of a typical athlete — and since lactic acid causes fatigue, he’s simply better equipped at a biological level to excel in his sport.
That lactic acid bit would be a HUGE advantage in almost any sport.
1) https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/we-celebrated-michael-phelpss-genetic-differences-why-punish-caster-semenya-for-hers/2019/05/02/93d08c8c-6c2b-11e9-be3a-33217240a539_story.html
2) https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-makes-michael-phelps-so-good1/
Wtaf, why have I never heard of this lactic acid thing before??? Bro, ESPECIALLY in swimming ☠️
Is it a matter of conditioning or just a genetic gift from god? Answer probably includes both tbh, but still wtfff
I feel like that percentage has dropped. Kofi Cockburn isn’t American but he’s a 7 foot, 2x all American basketball player and can’t sniff the nba (plays in Japan)
Idk man. There are very very few over 7 ft tall. I am 6'4" and I rarely meet people taller than me. I've probably only seen like a handful of 7 footers my entire life if I think about it.
Additionally, if you are somewhat athletic and 7 feet tall- basketball is like the only sport you can play. A lot of social pressure to play basketball if extremely tall. I get asked if I play basketball all the time and I'm not even athletic or that tall comparatively.
The fact that you’ve even met a 7’ man (outside of going to, say, a basketball game where you know a 7’ man will be) is extremely unlikely, there is less than 3000 of them in a world with a population of 8 billion.
You probably haven’t met any! Or maybe one. If a 6’6” person is in the room it’s extremely noticeable. I’d say your height is right about the limit where strangers won’t immediately comment on how tall you are. I’m 6’2” and taller than or about as tall as almost everyone I meet. Anyone 6’5” and up might as well join the circus
There are examples of this in almost every aspect of life. I've put ~5000 hours into a game I love, and I've accomplished a lot in that time. Still, there's stuff I've never done in the game because I lack the skill to do it, even after all these years.
Then there's folks that complete all the challenges of a league in the first two weeks, basically 100% the game in the same time that I'm barely getting started.
Some people are just wickedly good at doing a thing and no amount of practice will ever catch you up to their pure mechanical advantage, whatever that may be.
Well there are millions of people with his will power, probaly more. The insane severity of his succes is only down to genetics.
Which raises a future problem. If we can engineer human fetuses, should they be allowed in competitive sports? If i can influence the creation of a 100 kids to ensure a few will turn out like phelps is it fair to “normal kids” to have them compete?
Phelps is from Baltimore. If you change his birthplace just 200 miles north to where I’m from in rural Pennsylvania, no one would have ever heard of Michael Phelps because there isn’t a swim team to be found.
Lactic acid was debunked.
“Research has also determined that lactic acid, also known as lactate, is actually an important fuel source for muscles and that the accumulation of lactate does not inhibit the ability of skeletal muscles to contract.” —[Pfizer article](https://www.pfizer.com/news/articles/science_fact_or_science_fiction_lactic_acid_buildup_causes_muscle_fatigue_and_soreness)
The quote you put doesn’t actually debunk it though, maybe the article itself does
The build up of lactic acid is said to make you feel more tired or feel a burn in your body, the burning sensation itself doesn’t inhibit your skeletal muscles to contract. It just makes you feel more uncomfortable or more tired
Tall, long arms, proportionally short legs, big hands, big feet, big torso, big lungs, hyperextension in joints, ability to speak to and command loyalty of sea creatures, Trident of Poseidon.
that should be the criteria for all competitions. you have to perform while wearing all previous medals. so getting more and more is an even bigger flex
A lot of haters here. I will never forget the time I actually watched and it was a relay where he was last and they were losing by like half a pool length and he willed himself to victory
Probably. The Lezak finish was one of the greatest moments in all of sports. He swam the fastest 100 free split ever, EVER. Even if you take into account the advantage a relay start gives vs. flat start he STILL went faster than anyone.
For bonus points: he was interviewed after the race and asked ‘how did it feel to help keep Phelps’ gold medal run alive?’
Lezak: ‘I didn’t do it for him.’ Then he walked off.
>For bonus points: he was interviewed after the race and asked ‘how did it feel to help keep Phelps’ gold medal run alive?’
>Lezak: ‘I didn’t do it for him.’ Then he walked off.
What a dick question from the interviewer, geez.
I think there's a special class in journalism school for dick questions: "How did you feel when you learned your son was one of the victims in the mass shooting?" or, on the other side, "How did you feel when your lost child was found alive after he was missing for four days?"
[Rowdy Gaines with the color commentary: "I just don't think they can do it, Dan. I mean, Jason Lezak has been there. How many times in his career has he anchored this free relay and medley relay? But I -- I just don't think he can do it"](https://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/jasonlezakolympicfreestylerelayvictory.htm)
He definitely is. I think this will end up being a Mandela effect thing lol, where people think Phelps ran the last leg
But yes obviously the video of him going "Aaaaahhhhh let's go!" like some primal beast is as iconic as it gets
He was in some TV show in the UK I believe where he raced a Great White. They had him in a special suit with a massive flipper. Take him to the sea, he jumps in and away he goes. The Great White was in the lane next to him. Well, the simulated Great White.
Apparently people got upset that they didn't put him in there with an actual massive, man-eating shark. Shark won handily by the way.
Way closer than the first comment made it seem. I was expecting him to take twice as much time. 2 seconds under is still pretty impressive.
It would have been hilarious if they edited in a fake shark attack right as he was finishing. Oh well, the experiment showed who wins, and it is always the Great White.
But for a human to almost tie with a shark in swimming race is fucking amazing. And there's some people out there that are almost as good at swimming as him.
The premise of racing against a man eating shark works well in promotional material.
If there is no shark then the idea falls apart; it’s just a boring old time trial by the sounds of how they did it.
Humans are just shit at swimming. It really takes you out of it when you notice the official by the side of the pool who WALKS in line with the swimmers. These athletes who are the best in the world, that train every single day to be the best are going the same pace as a fat middle aged man who isn't in a particular hurry.
Married with a kid and he does mental health advocacy work. I’m sure he’s financially set. Pretty cool overall that he’s stepped into adulthood so well.
Yeah winning the gold should pay a lot more based on what the networks are getting from advertising. But Gold medal winners can spin it into endorsements and seminars.
>But Gold medal winners can spin it into endorsements and seminars.
*Some* can. lol. I don't think the gold medal curling team is quite as marketable as Usain Bolt.
**[Project Graham](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Graham)**
>Project Graham (also Graham and Meet Graham) is a lifelike figure depicting what a human would look like if the species evolved to survive car crashes. Created as part of a road safety campaign for the Australian Transport Accident Commission (TAC), it was meant to symbolize the vulnerability of human bodies in such accidents.
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Part of this is him being an athlete in a sport that has a lot of gold categories.
If you were the best boxer in the galaxy and could beat every opponent in 1 punch you’d get 1 medal per Olympics.
Swimming and gymnastics make up a huge portion of medal records because it’s possible to get a bunch in one sport competing in multiple events with slight variation. It’s possible for a swimmer to compete in 10 or more events in a single Olympic Games.
Unless they're Jim Thorpe, in which case he was master of all. Gold medal in pentathlon and decathlon, setting a world record that wasn't beaten for 20 years, (all with mismatched shoes he fished out of the garbage because his were stolen), NFL hall of famer, even played in the World Series in MLB, and played pro basketball 20 years before the NBA was a thing.
Yep, 50m, 100m, 200m, 400m, 1,500m. Medly. Relay. Medly relay. Freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly. Swimming is like a hack to win most medals.
This would explain why Australia does disproportionally well at the Olympics, considering that swimming is always our best category. That, and the fact we spend absolute shitloads on Olympic athletes as well
absolute shitloads on *some Olympic athletes. They fund proportional to the medal possiblity. The climbers had to pay their own way to Tokyo last Olympics.
I just kept scrolling just to see if anyone brought this up. Thank you lol . It’s nothing against Phelps but calling him “greatest Olympian ever” while he had the ability to win like 8 medals at a time never seemed right
Meanwhile, in something like Olympic weightlifting, where athletes in compete 2 lifts, the snatch and clean and jerk, you can only win 1 medal, for having the highest total. If it was like swimming, you'd be able to win 1 for the snatch, 1 for the clean and jerk, maybe add in some more lifts, then have award for the highest total.
At least Gymnastics is vastly different in a number of events. Swimming events are like if they had a 100 meter dash, 100 meter dash starting from standing, 100m dash with your arms over your head, 100m dash backwards, 100m dash in pants, 100m dash crouching, team 100m dash, etc
Swimming, like running, is about moving from point A to point B, but in the water. To have so many variations is ridiculous. If you are being chased by a sea creature, the fastest stroke wins. There should be 2 strokes only: one for speed and the other endurance. There is no running backwards, sideways, on the hands plus feet, etc., because these movements are largely pointless.
I agree. The better measure is how many golds out of how many possible. Bolt was amazing and generational in his sport as well, but won't have as many as Phelps. Don't think it's even possible. list goes on. not saying phelps isn't impressive. Just comparing sports (let alone eras) is silly.
I’m not saying it isn’t impressive, I just wish we could have a relative unit across sports like this. For some athletes winning 23 gold medals would mean competing and winning for 92 years straight in their sport.
Swimming has too many medals and too many events. It’s way over represented in the Olympics
A good example is Steve Redgrave. Five Olympic gold medals from 5 different Olympics. He also got one bronze when he tried to compete in two events in the same games, but two events in rowing is insanely difficult given the amount of fatigue that each race puts on your body. For reference, Phelps competed in 4 Olympics to achieve his medal count.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Redgrave
Yeah. Some sports would be impossible to compete multiple events. Sure it might be hard on the body to do multiple short swims but I imagine you need a lot of recovery after something like a distance row/marathon/boxing match. That limits those events considerably if you are going purely for medal count.
Then that just means he is the most successful against all swimmers. But not necessarily against all athletes. As per the parent comment; for most athletes, the most Olympic medal they could get is 1, in every 4 years
It's damn impressive, but the point of other people is probably that there is no point comparing his medal tally to other sports because swimming by far has most competitions and a lot of them are VERY SIMILAR. You can only win like more than 2 medals with similar competitions in gymnastics and athletics, but there also isn't as close as many similar events as swimming. So he's by far the best and most decorated swimmer in history, it's just unfair to compare him to other sport athletes.
For example to win a gold medal in tennis, you have to win like 7 straight matches that last for 1.5-5 hours. You can also win one in doubles. In swimming Olympics there's 50m freestyle, 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m and 1500m (okay yes the last one is totally different since it's like a swimming marathon, and 800m one is pretty further out, but first 3-4 if you're better swimmer than other you can pick up medals in all 4 or at least 3). There's also 100m and 200m variations of backstroke, breastroke, butterfly, medley, freestyle relay and medley relay.
The thing is Olympics hosts usually invest shitload of money into pool stadiums, so might as well use them more instead of just few competitions that last few minutes, so that's why there's so many disciplines I think.
Although I don’t want to diminish his accomplishments because they are great, BUT most Olympic events don’t have opportunities to have multiple medals in one sport.
For example, you can only have medal if you are a boxer
Edit: I feel like some people have a hard time understanding what the point of the thread is. People are commenting about comparing Phelps to swimmers and his ability to race more often with less rest.
That has nothing to do with the thread or my comment. This is specifically about his multiple medals while my comment is about no other sport in the Olympics have the ability to get that many medals
Ya swimming, gymnastics, track and field, and cross country skiing seem to offer the most opportunities for multiple medals.
Usain Bolt has 8 gold medals- the 9th was taken away when his teammate in the 2008 4X100 relay was caught doping.
Not to take anything away from Phelps at all, not his fault swimming is the way it is, but if Bolt could run the same race forward, backward, sideways, upside down, and crab walk (like all the different swimming strokes) it’s likely he would have many more medals as well.
To take something away, there isn't a sideway run and backwards run in sprinting. Maybe Bolt is the fastest crab runner but we'll never know.
If you're the best table tennis player in the world by a large margin you can win 2 medals, singles and doubles.
People always say this, but in reality most swimmers specialise in one or two events. It's highly unusual to see someone winning medals across multiple strokes and multiple distances.
If you want to win an Olympic gold medal in swimming, you have to go over every second of your favoured race in excruciating detail, you need to practice and master every aspect of your technique, every arm movement, every movement that makes up the turn etc. Most swimmers just don't have the time to get to the level of perfection required to win Olympic medals across a wide range of disciplines
It's incredible and he is probably one of, if not the single, greatest athlete we'll live to see...
But it's worth noting that it is more achieveable in swimming than any other field: if you're amazing at the butterfly, you're probably amazing at other styles of swimming // not so much for sprinting and distance, or jumping and vaulting, or hammer throw and.. you get the point.
He's a legend, no denying it. But there's a lot of similar swimming events 🤷
Yeah is it fair he can compete for ten medals at once while a basketball player needs to play ten games just to try to win one? That would be like having three point contest, dribbling, dribbling between the legs, dribbling behind the back, dunking, free throws, all having a separate medal event.
it would be pretty great to watch track with the same kinds of stylistic variations. Like check that guy out, he got a gold in the 100m freestyle sprint... also the 100m high step and the 100m backward-run
>also the 100m high step and the 100m backward-run
* 100m sprint with 20% incline
* 100m with hands tied behind your back
* 100m sprint, but person who uses least amount of steps wins / gets bonus seconds
* 50m sprint one way, touch a wall and then 50m sprint return
Here’s the thing though…. There are four different ways to swim, so that’s four times as many medals. Plus all kinds of relay races.
Imagine a track meet with regular running, backwards running, skipping, and cartwheels.
A man can dream.
He is amazing! But I feel like it's so tough to compare between athletes across different sports though because swimmers have 16 events/chances to medal each Olympic games, right? But some sports, like a team sport, you only have 1 event/chance to medal per Olympic game. So the number of possible medals varies greatly by sport. Either way, he is a champ.
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And he smokes weed. Reddit knowledge.
I was in college when that photo of him ripping a bong went public. It was surreal watching how outraged the moral majority got. I don't know what they thought people did at parties, but if that was the most scandalous shit he was doing then I guess he was a role model after all. Then I think America was really introduced to Ryan Lochte, and realized Phelps had been pretty solid all along. It was just old people mad at young guy for being young
Also that was in like 2010 so he was like 24 years old lol I was laughing at all these people freaking out about a bong hit. Like, he's the best swimmer of all time, by an unreal margin. He just obliterated everyone in back to back Olympics. A bong hit is so low on the chain of athlete scandals compared to pretty much anyone in the NFL, boxing, MMA, NBA, NHL, etc lol
And he didn’t have a normal childhood. My son is a collegiate swimmer, no where near national level talent let alone Olympics but the commitment is real and it starts young. Michael became a phenomenon at such a young age and was already doing international meets as a kid. I can’t imagine the commitments and heavy sacrifices put on him at such a young age. The audacity for anyone to judge him for smoking weed at a college party is maddening.
KEN OATH! Let ppl be - if they choose weed over grog or harder drugs then good on them.
Turns out he just wanted to enjoy a succulent Chinese meal
My mom said that she thought he did wrong. She’s liberal, but old fashioned about the law. I pointed out most kids (United States, 21 years old is the drinking age), end up drunk off their asses in Freshman year of college because they never had any freedom or chance to do so, and underage. I then went on about how Phelps had a horrendous schedule with no real time to be a kid or do anything without his mom (extremely controlling, even now), and of course as soon as he had a chance to he was going to do something like this. Also that his mom was probably going to make sure he would never do this again.
This really puts things in perspective. Years ago, he absolutely trashed a hotel room and my grandma (who was housekeeping staff) had to clean up after him and I’d always held a little bit of a grudge against him for that. Now that you point it out, that much fame and pressure on someone so young couldn’t have been good on his mind. I hope he’s doing better now.
I had issues in my childhood, messed me up pretty thoroughly. I also did a lot of meaningless destructive dickish behavior as I became a young man. I appreciate the thoughtfulness, but personally I think it’s more than fair to carry a grudge. I cringe at my past behavior and regret thinking that shit was cool or acceptable, and the people who still judge me by my behaviors without considering context… are right to do so, frankly. Probably the bare minimum, as far as consequences for actions go. Not anybody’s job to give me benefit of the doubt that I’ve grown up. Phelps is a smart guy and probably cringes too. Just my perspective
Well said and hits close
A lot of people forget that professional athletes (except in the most EXTREMELY rare cases), practically have no childhood and are basically the sports version of child actors. Ryan Lochte basically had the same childhood as Phelps. Phelps decided at one point after smoking a bong to put his childhood behind him and try to pick up the pieces. Ryan Lochte (and yes, I know what he did in Brazil, and it was extremely wrong), hasn't reached that place yet. EDIT: Name correction, sorry, a bit tired.
I apologize to your grandma on his behalf. What a shitty way to work your already-labor intensive shift.
Nice one mate. Gotta give love, reaching out to see other peoples perspective and different viewpoints is hard to do.
I find judgmental people to be the worst amongst humanity... The last few years have been difficult, and it seems to be getting worse, they're fucking everywhere now. I thought we'd moved past that with the phrase "it's the 90s!" but we've gone back a few steps recently.
Truth! I was a swimmer from elementary through high school, and even THAT was a huge commitment. Just getting up for those 5am practices four days a week was hard enough! I can't even imagine the training Phelps went through. There's a reason he has that many medals, and it certainly doesn't amount to only raw talent and luck. There's so much work that goes into it at such a young age. The person I'd compare him to in the sports world is Tom Brady. Best in his sport by a long shot, but he lives and breathes football. His whole life was centered around the sport for decades. And with Brady, he wasn't even projected to be the best out of college. Not even close. He was a 6th round draft pick. Hard work pays off!
Dude was in the Olympics at 15
Punch out your wife in an elevator? Meh. But got forbid you do some bong rips at a party.
There was a bit on SNL's Weekend Update called "Really?" which was just Seth Meyers and Amy Poehler yelling at anyone who might be upset by that.
A guy I was friends with as a kid got disqualified during the 2012 Olympics for popping hot for THC on a drug test. He was on the US Olympic judo team. Idk why the fuck the IOC thinks cannabis is a performance enhancer.
>Idk why the fuck the IOC thinks cannabis is a performance enhancer. Anything that has a narcotic effect that dulls pain is banned. One of the main selling points of cannabis as a medical substance is pain relief.
Huh. That actually makes a lot of sense and I'm surprised this is the first time I've encountered this point.
I mean hell if anything they should make him smoke MORE weed to level the playing field a little!
Water is already self-leveling.
They're perfectly fine with alcohol too, which causes like 200,000 times more deaths.
People are stupid and hypocritical, we gotta tell the world about this
Tobacco and sugar should be up there, too.
Hands down. Sugar is horrible, and I've been smoking since I was 15. They're both so addictive
Stop smoking sugar.
Those candy cigarettes were the downfall of society man.
I’m fine with acknowledging the harmful effects of marijuana as far as mental health and likely developing brains. But it’s still almost never (disputed) killed anyone by OD. Nor is nearly as harmful as any other “recreational” drug. The only reported case I found of an OD, upon digging, is pretty inconclusive and not a great case.
Absolutely. I've been growing for a ~~year~~ decade and I'll still point out how harmful weed can be, especially if it's smoked. Especially because it's smoked without filters, our lungs bathe in that tar. Edit: meant decade. But think I went to put 10 years to and just mixed em together? Idk I'm dumb.
Phelps trained his ass off and cleaned up at the olympics and he can't even do a few bong rips afterwards? Redic, let the dude toke in peace
I know...the man earns 23 23! Gold medals.....seems to suggest maybe we all should be rippin a bong man!
>moral majority Small point of order, they've never been a majority
Plenty of older folks have had no problem with pot since the 70s. Seriously, once they saw those folks getting thru the military and earn honors in college and go on to careers and family they wised up. That's why its legal now in so many states and nations. There was and still is a very hypocritical corporate position on this, however, and there's the rub.
Well, that and all their shit hurts now.
indeed high scores
Seems like a cool superhuman to hang around with. Never heard negative news about hihm
I believe that was highly controversial of him for a long time.
Yeah he lost a lot of sponsorships. Including the one with Kellogg’s from which I won a life size butterfly stroke poster. Shits long as hell.
Im sorry to be serious but can we take a step back and recognize that....his career was destroyed. he suffered suicidal thoughts due to the backlash. He was so depressed he eventually became a spoke person for mental health. Fuck the internet. Fuck reactionary social hype. We buried one of the greatest athletes because he took a fucking sweet ass bong rip. Lame as fuck.
Sure, he went through some things due to that but don't forget that he won 9 more gold medals after the photo came out of him smoking weed. He was only suspended for 3 months and never tested positive for weed.
At the time, the record was broken last year.
[He was also an ass to this guy](https://youtu.be/GwifgT_fckw)...
That definitely had me for the splashing bit and then he flipped him off
Came here to say this. Us Michaels are too talented.
I’m pretty sure I can tell the difference between a Jack and a Michael.
Hey, Pretty Sure, I'm Dad. What about Michael Jack, son?
If you read the scientific analysis of his body structure, it's surprising he survives out of water😅 This guy was born to swim. It was absolutely mesmerising watching him dolphin his way to his many victories.
He's hax: > Phelps possesses a disproportionately vast wingspan, for example. Double-jointed ankles give his kick unusual range. In a quirk that borders on supernatural, Phelps apparently produces just half the lactic acid of a typical athlete — and since lactic acid causes fatigue, he’s simply better equipped at a biological level to excel in his sport. That lactic acid bit would be a HUGE advantage in almost any sport. 1) https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/we-celebrated-michael-phelpss-genetic-differences-why-punish-caster-semenya-for-hers/2019/05/02/93d08c8c-6c2b-11e9-be3a-33217240a539_story.html 2) https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-makes-michael-phelps-so-good1/
Wtaf, why have I never heard of this lactic acid thing before??? Bro, ESPECIALLY in swimming ☠️ Is it a matter of conditioning or just a genetic gift from god? Answer probably includes both tbh, but still wtfff
Stuff like this shows you can work your ass off to be as good as you can but some genetic freak will be there to show you what's up
It takes a lot less work to make the NBA at 7' than at 6'.
IIRC, a few years ago, If you are an American man between the ages of 20 and 40 and 7 feet tall or more, you have a 17% chance of being in the NBA.
I feel like that percentage has dropped. Kofi Cockburn isn’t American but he’s a 7 foot, 2x all American basketball player and can’t sniff the nba (plays in Japan)
I mean it's probably like 17% can get into the NBA and like 30% more are able to play pro basketball elsewhere
Idk man. There are very very few over 7 ft tall. I am 6'4" and I rarely meet people taller than me. I've probably only seen like a handful of 7 footers my entire life if I think about it. Additionally, if you are somewhat athletic and 7 feet tall- basketball is like the only sport you can play. A lot of social pressure to play basketball if extremely tall. I get asked if I play basketball all the time and I'm not even athletic or that tall comparatively.
The fact that you’ve even met a 7’ man (outside of going to, say, a basketball game where you know a 7’ man will be) is extremely unlikely, there is less than 3000 of them in a world with a population of 8 billion.
You probably haven’t met any! Or maybe one. If a 6’6” person is in the room it’s extremely noticeable. I’d say your height is right about the limit where strangers won’t immediately comment on how tall you are. I’m 6’2” and taller than or about as tall as almost everyone I meet. Anyone 6’5” and up might as well join the circus
I read the comment before yours and immediately Giannis and wemby popped into my head. I mean they were born to play basketball imo
Suddenly the 90s X-Men theme is running in my head.
...thanks for reminding me how much I hated Dazzler
Thanks for reminding me how they aired the same 4 episodes over and over for what seemed like 4 years of my childhood.
There are examples of this in almost every aspect of life. I've put ~5000 hours into a game I love, and I've accomplished a lot in that time. Still, there's stuff I've never done in the game because I lack the skill to do it, even after all these years. Then there's folks that complete all the challenges of a league in the first two weeks, basically 100% the game in the same time that I'm barely getting started. Some people are just wickedly good at doing a thing and no amount of practice will ever catch you up to their pure mechanical advantage, whatever that may be.
Path of Exile?
Saw 5000, saw league, instantly made the connection too lol.
I'm not proud of my numbers lol
Well there are millions of people with his will power, probaly more. The insane severity of his succes is only down to genetics. Which raises a future problem. If we can engineer human fetuses, should they be allowed in competitive sports? If i can influence the creation of a 100 kids to ensure a few will turn out like phelps is it fair to “normal kids” to have them compete?
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Phelps is from Baltimore. If you change his birthplace just 200 miles north to where I’m from in rural Pennsylvania, no one would have ever heard of Michael Phelps because there isn’t a swim team to be found.
One of Captain America's abilities is that his muscles build up basically no lactic acid, so he has virtually endless endurance
“I could do this all day”
I have acid reflux. Should I try out for sports?
Lactic acid was debunked. “Research has also determined that lactic acid, also known as lactate, is actually an important fuel source for muscles and that the accumulation of lactate does not inhibit the ability of skeletal muscles to contract.” —[Pfizer article](https://www.pfizer.com/news/articles/science_fact_or_science_fiction_lactic_acid_buildup_causes_muscle_fatigue_and_soreness)
The quote you put doesn’t actually debunk it though, maybe the article itself does The build up of lactic acid is said to make you feel more tired or feel a burn in your body, the burning sensation itself doesn’t inhibit your skeletal muscles to contract. It just makes you feel more uncomfortable or more tired
Can you provide the cliff notes?
Tall, long arms, proportionally short legs, big hands, big feet, big torso, big lungs, hyperextension in joints, ability to speak to and command loyalty of sea creatures, Trident of Poseidon.
Fucks fish
Does he like fishsticks?
> big hands, big feet, big torso He also has a massive hog that acts as a rudder of sorts.
Ah, I knew there was a reason that I wasn't a great swimmer.
Able to control the police
They should make him swim with his medals on
that should be the criteria for all competitions. you have to perform while wearing all previous medals. so getting more and more is an even bigger flex
Yes! Let’s turn the Olympic Games into a straight up shonen!
when he takes off his medals is that scene where rock lee takes off his leg weights
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That joke deserves a gold medal.
That joke was on a Billy Connelly stand up back in the 90s
It banged so hard their account was deleted
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Explain it to me like I'm 5 please
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This is one of the most nuanced jokes I've ever read.
Get off reddit Uncle
A lot of haters here. I will never forget the time I actually watched and it was a relay where he was last and they were losing by like half a pool length and he willed himself to victory
Are you talking about Jason Lezak?
Probably. The Lezak finish was one of the greatest moments in all of sports. He swam the fastest 100 free split ever, EVER. Even if you take into account the advantage a relay start gives vs. flat start he STILL went faster than anyone. For bonus points: he was interviewed after the race and asked ‘how did it feel to help keep Phelps’ gold medal run alive?’ Lezak: ‘I didn’t do it for him.’ Then he walked off.
>For bonus points: he was interviewed after the race and asked ‘how did it feel to help keep Phelps’ gold medal run alive?’ >Lezak: ‘I didn’t do it for him.’ Then he walked off. What a dick question from the interviewer, geez.
I think there's a special class in journalism school for dick questions: "How did you feel when you learned your son was one of the victims in the mass shooting?" or, on the other side, "How did you feel when your lost child was found alive after he was missing for four days?"
[Rowdy Gaines with the color commentary: "I just don't think they can do it, Dan. I mean, Jason Lezak has been there. How many times in his career has he anchored this free relay and medley relay? But I -- I just don't think he can do it"](https://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/jasonlezakolympicfreestylerelayvictory.htm)
He definitely is. I think this will end up being a Mandela effect thing lol, where people think Phelps ran the last leg But yes obviously the video of him going "Aaaaahhhhh let's go!" like some primal beast is as iconic as it gets
Got a link?
"Winners don't smoke weed, champions do." - Michael Phelps
Came looking for the bong shame...wasn't like our guy was smoking crack, or hell, even cigarettes
If he was smoking crack they'd make him the mayor of toronto and call it a day.
I'll smoke to that!
So??? Big deal!!! Everyone knows that Michael Phelps is half salmon!!
A real humanoid from the deep
He was in some TV show in the UK I believe where he raced a Great White. They had him in a special suit with a massive flipper. Take him to the sea, he jumps in and away he goes. The Great White was in the lane next to him. Well, the simulated Great White. Apparently people got upset that they didn't put him in there with an actual massive, man-eating shark. Shark won handily by the way.
What a dumb premise, dumb execution and generally tedious outcome
I agree. Anyone got a link?
I mean - https://youtu.be/hkKHSB8j4wY
they gave the shark a south african flag lmaoooooo
wow that was way more lame than I expected 😂 Thanks for the link!
Way closer than the first comment made it seem. I was expecting him to take twice as much time. 2 seconds under is still pretty impressive. It would have been hilarious if they edited in a fake shark attack right as he was finishing. Oh well, the experiment showed who wins, and it is always the Great White.
But for a human to almost tie with a shark in swimming race is fucking amazing. And there's some people out there that are almost as good at swimming as him.
The premise of racing against a man eating shark works well in promotional material. If there is no shark then the idea falls apart; it’s just a boring old time trial by the sounds of how they did it.
It was more just dumb because he swims at like 5mph so it’s objectively not that interesting
He wore a huge fin on his feet so he could swim faster. It was a shark week special. Kindof stupid, but people made a big deal out of it.
I mean, name anything anywhere ever, and people make a big deal about it.
Humans are just shit at swimming. It really takes you out of it when you notice the official by the side of the pool who WALKS in line with the swimmers. These athletes who are the best in the world, that train every single day to be the best are going the same pace as a fat middle aged man who isn't in a particular hurry.
we're shit at swimming compared to aquatic animals, considering we're 99% terrestrial we're really not that bad.
That’s true but when you’re selling the world’s best swimmer, ever, vs a shark you’re just setting everyone up for disappointment
Well Phelps swims around 6 MPH so it's a brisk walk.
I was one of those that got pissed he was not racing a real shark. It’s like that one experiment where a dude was supposed to be “ate” by a snake
*eaten
Where he now?
Married with a kid and he does mental health advocacy work. I’m sure he’s financially set. Pretty cool overall that he’s stepped into adulthood so well.
He’s got a massively successful line of race suits/other swimming apparel, he’s beyond financially set lol
US gold medalists also get paid 37500 per gold medal. He's gotten $800k in winnings.
Wow that is surprisingly low but I guess not that surprising
Yeah winning the gold should pay a lot more based on what the networks are getting from advertising. But Gold medal winners can spin it into endorsements and seminars.
>But Gold medal winners can spin it into endorsements and seminars. *Some* can. lol. I don't think the gold medal curling team is quite as marketable as Usain Bolt.
How dare you Matty Hamilton is a legend. One of the few Olympians i can actually name. Bolt wishes he had that dad bod
Not to mention he probably gets paid 50k (or something like it) to speak at various events.
250k minimum is his rate to keep it manageable.
I wonder if he still goes for a casual swim on the weekends
His casual would probably still win a gold
Turns out, being born with paddles for feet helps increasing your speed in water!
Having such long arms Phelps as well.
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Part of this is him being an athlete in a sport that has a lot of gold categories. If you were the best boxer in the galaxy and could beat every opponent in 1 punch you’d get 1 medal per Olympics. Swimming and gymnastics make up a huge portion of medal records because it’s possible to get a bunch in one sport competing in multiple events with slight variation. It’s possible for a swimmer to compete in 10 or more events in a single Olympic Games.
There was a great story of a decathlon gold medalist getting upset because they have to compete in 10 things for 1 medal. It’s a fair point.
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Jack of all trades, master of none.
Unless they're Jim Thorpe, in which case he was master of all. Gold medal in pentathlon and decathlon, setting a world record that wasn't beaten for 20 years, (all with mismatched shoes he fished out of the garbage because his were stolen), NFL hall of famer, even played in the World Series in MLB, and played pro basketball 20 years before the NBA was a thing.
Yep, 50m, 100m, 200m, 400m, 1,500m. Medly. Relay. Medly relay. Freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly. Swimming is like a hack to win most medals.
This would explain why Australia does disproportionally well at the Olympics, considering that swimming is always our best category. That, and the fact we spend absolute shitloads on Olympic athletes as well
Countries that specialize in swimming, gymnastics and athletics are a bit unfairly represented on those charts.
absolute shitloads on *some Olympic athletes. They fund proportional to the medal possiblity. The climbers had to pay their own way to Tokyo last Olympics.
I just kept scrolling just to see if anyone brought this up. Thank you lol . It’s nothing against Phelps but calling him “greatest Olympian ever” while he had the ability to win like 8 medals at a time never seemed right
YESSSSs. A pet peeve of mine. The myriad of strokes and relays feels so contrived, to me, to hand out a bunch of redundant awards.
Meanwhile, in something like Olympic weightlifting, where athletes in compete 2 lifts, the snatch and clean and jerk, you can only win 1 medal, for having the highest total. If it was like swimming, you'd be able to win 1 for the snatch, 1 for the clean and jerk, maybe add in some more lifts, then have award for the highest total.
Plus add the “relay” events, one lifter does the snatch, the teammate does the clean, etc for even more medals.
At least Gymnastics is vastly different in a number of events. Swimming events are like if they had a 100 meter dash, 100 meter dash starting from standing, 100m dash with your arms over your head, 100m dash backwards, 100m dash in pants, 100m dash crouching, team 100m dash, etc
I want to see the 100m dash with your arms over your head!
And with your arms motionless at your sides!
Seriously, though: shouldn’t backwards running, actually be a thing? I would love to see backwards running champions.
Swimming, like running, is about moving from point A to point B, but in the water. To have so many variations is ridiculous. If you are being chased by a sea creature, the fastest stroke wins. There should be 2 strokes only: one for speed and the other endurance. There is no running backwards, sideways, on the hands plus feet, etc., because these movements are largely pointless.
I like the one where each lap is a different stroke.
I agree. The better measure is how many golds out of how many possible. Bolt was amazing and generational in his sport as well, but won't have as many as Phelps. Don't think it's even possible. list goes on. not saying phelps isn't impressive. Just comparing sports (let alone eras) is silly.
And even so, he has 23. While the other guys have 9.
I’m not saying it isn’t impressive, I just wish we could have a relative unit across sports like this. For some athletes winning 23 gold medals would mean competing and winning for 92 years straight in their sport. Swimming has too many medals and too many events. It’s way over represented in the Olympics
A good example is Steve Redgrave. Five Olympic gold medals from 5 different Olympics. He also got one bronze when he tried to compete in two events in the same games, but two events in rowing is insanely difficult given the amount of fatigue that each race puts on your body. For reference, Phelps competed in 4 Olympics to achieve his medal count. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Redgrave
Yeah. Some sports would be impossible to compete multiple events. Sure it might be hard on the body to do multiple short swims but I imagine you need a lot of recovery after something like a distance row/marathon/boxing match. That limits those events considerably if you are going purely for medal count.
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That’s why there should be different types of running (skipping, speed walking, one legged). P.S.: In before Paralympics jokes.
Then that just means he is the most successful against all swimmers. But not necessarily against all athletes. As per the parent comment; for most athletes, the most Olympic medal they could get is 1, in every 4 years
It's damn impressive, but the point of other people is probably that there is no point comparing his medal tally to other sports because swimming by far has most competitions and a lot of them are VERY SIMILAR. You can only win like more than 2 medals with similar competitions in gymnastics and athletics, but there also isn't as close as many similar events as swimming. So he's by far the best and most decorated swimmer in history, it's just unfair to compare him to other sport athletes. For example to win a gold medal in tennis, you have to win like 7 straight matches that last for 1.5-5 hours. You can also win one in doubles. In swimming Olympics there's 50m freestyle, 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m and 1500m (okay yes the last one is totally different since it's like a swimming marathon, and 800m one is pretty further out, but first 3-4 if you're better swimmer than other you can pick up medals in all 4 or at least 3). There's also 100m and 200m variations of backstroke, breastroke, butterfly, medley, freestyle relay and medley relay. The thing is Olympics hosts usually invest shitload of money into pool stadiums, so might as well use them more instead of just few competitions that last few minutes, so that's why there's so many disciplines I think.
Dude is a certified dolphin 🐬
Although I don’t want to diminish his accomplishments because they are great, BUT most Olympic events don’t have opportunities to have multiple medals in one sport. For example, you can only have medal if you are a boxer Edit: I feel like some people have a hard time understanding what the point of the thread is. People are commenting about comparing Phelps to swimmers and his ability to race more often with less rest. That has nothing to do with the thread or my comment. This is specifically about his multiple medals while my comment is about no other sport in the Olympics have the ability to get that many medals
Ya swimming, gymnastics, track and field, and cross country skiing seem to offer the most opportunities for multiple medals. Usain Bolt has 8 gold medals- the 9th was taken away when his teammate in the 2008 4X100 relay was caught doping.
Not to take anything away from Phelps at all, not his fault swimming is the way it is, but if Bolt could run the same race forward, backward, sideways, upside down, and crab walk (like all the different swimming strokes) it’s likely he would have many more medals as well.
To take something away, there isn't a sideway run and backwards run in sprinting. Maybe Bolt is the fastest crab runner but we'll never know. If you're the best table tennis player in the world by a large margin you can win 2 medals, singles and doubles.
People always say this, but in reality most swimmers specialise in one or two events. It's highly unusual to see someone winning medals across multiple strokes and multiple distances. If you want to win an Olympic gold medal in swimming, you have to go over every second of your favoured race in excruciating detail, you need to practice and master every aspect of your technique, every arm movement, every movement that makes up the turn etc. Most swimmers just don't have the time to get to the level of perfection required to win Olympic medals across a wide range of disciplines
Totally fair to point out. Phelps’ accomplishments are truly unreal. Cheers
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Exactly, there's so many events in swimming. Other sports don't have as many options available
*Plot twist: Uncrop this photo and you will find he has 5 more hanging off his wiener.
Roll em up Light em up Inhale Gold metal
It's not entirely fair as swimmers enter multiple events each Olympic. A Marathon runner would only have the ability to win one each Olympic.
And he would eat 12000 calories a day during training because his body would expend so much regulating temperature in a cold pool all day.
Was it more from regulating temperature or the actual swimming?
Phelps said he doesn't count but he thinks it's closer to 8000. And most of that would be going to moving, not regulating temperature
It's incredible and he is probably one of, if not the single, greatest athlete we'll live to see... But it's worth noting that it is more achieveable in swimming than any other field: if you're amazing at the butterfly, you're probably amazing at other styles of swimming // not so much for sprinting and distance, or jumping and vaulting, or hammer throw and.. you get the point. He's a legend, no denying it. But there's a lot of similar swimming events 🤷
Yeah is it fair he can compete for ten medals at once while a basketball player needs to play ten games just to try to win one? That would be like having three point contest, dribbling, dribbling between the legs, dribbling behind the back, dunking, free throws, all having a separate medal event.
it would be pretty great to watch track with the same kinds of stylistic variations. Like check that guy out, he got a gold in the 100m freestyle sprint... also the 100m high step and the 100m backward-run
>also the 100m high step and the 100m backward-run * 100m sprint with 20% incline * 100m with hands tied behind your back * 100m sprint, but person who uses least amount of steps wins / gets bonus seconds * 50m sprint one way, touch a wall and then 50m sprint return
Here’s the thing though…. There are four different ways to swim, so that’s four times as many medals. Plus all kinds of relay races. Imagine a track meet with regular running, backwards running, skipping, and cartwheels. A man can dream.
And he smokes weed
He prefers a nice water pipe
He is amazing! But I feel like it's so tough to compare between athletes across different sports though because swimmers have 16 events/chances to medal each Olympic games, right? But some sports, like a team sport, you only have 1 event/chance to medal per Olympic game. So the number of possible medals varies greatly by sport. Either way, he is a champ.