Reuters
Omaha (USA), June 30: Some may well feel satisfied after a record Olympic medal haul of 22 medals including 18 golds. But that doesn’t work for legendary swimmer Michael Phelps. Determined to exit swimming on his own terms, Phelps cleared a major hurdle on the road to Rio here Wednesday, qualifying for a fifth Olympics with a victory that has paved the way to more Games glory.
Inspired, motivated and sober, Phelps heads to Rio thanks to his 200 metres butterfly win at the US Olympic trials with the goal of adding to his staggering record total of medals, and pen a happy ending to a brilliant career that he feels he denied himself at the 2012 London Olympics.
“Coming back and being able to have the opportunity to finish how I want,” said Phelps, of his motivation. “I’m doing this because I wanted to. Thinking about the ups and downs we’ve gone through in and out of the pool to get to this point and not feeling an absolute 100 per cent but still being able to get the job done.
“I think things are probably going to hit me a lot more emotionally now than what they would have in the past, because I’m enjoying the moment and I’m embracing it,” added the man who has been named ‘Flying Fish’ for his exploits in the pool.
For Phelps, this Olympic journey is more important than the destination, a trip into retirement that he is determined to share with his fiancee Nicole and infant son Boomer, who were among the sellout crowd of 14,000 at the Century Link Centre here.
At London, Phelps won four gold and overall six medals but walked away with the regret that he simply went through the motions.
