Ethan Hammar: Olympic Athletes
Olympians all share an athletic quality that many people do not experience. Ethan Hammar from California enjoyed watching the Olympics, as did billions of people worldwide. Modern Olympics have been around since 1896 when Athens, Greece hosted the summer games. Before the International Olympic Committee was formed, the Olympic Games can be traced back to the eighth century AD. Any games prior to 393 AD were known as the Ancient Olympic Games; between 393 AD and 1896 there were no official games at all. Swimming is arguably the most competitive Olympic sport. Every year countries compete for the gold medal, but many go home disappointed. Fifteen year old Ethan Hammar watched race after race as Michael Phelps seemingly took home every gold medal. His last gold medal was won at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Summer
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Olympics. Everyone was watching expectantly as Michael Phelps prepared to swim his final race, the internet started making Phelps memes because of a weird face he made during the preparation pre-race. At the sound of the buzzer, the swimmers launched off their boards and raced to the other side of the pool, and on the way back, the crowd saw Michael Phelps gradually gaining a lead on the others. “He's done it again,” they would say, another gold medal for Michael Phelps of course this was no surprise to most people, Phelps was already the top name of the olympics. Ethan had heard about Michael Phelps many times throughout his life but has never seen him in action before. While observing the television at the gym, Ethan subconsciously watches all the boring events that nobody cares about (like men's volleyball). Tonight though, was the big race, and Phelps’ final race. Michael Phelps is the Man of the Year.
When Phelps swims, he is definitely the star of the show. He is one of the most profound people in Olympic history, breaking records and taking gold medals. Ever since Phelps michael was young, he dreamt of becoming an Olympic swimmer. Although Phelps is one of the best know swimmers, not many people know about his history. The Michael Phelps section of Biography.com states that at the age of 15, Phelps was the youngest swimmer to compete in the olympics for the last 68 years. Soon into his career, he was named the “Baltimore Bullet,” referencing to his unmatched speed and his Maryland hometown.
In 2001, Phelps set the world record in the 200-meter butterfly, becoming the youngest male swimmer in history (15 years old) to ever set a world swimming record. Then in Fukuoka, Japan, with a 200m butterfly time of 1:54:58, he destroyed his own record at the 2001 World Championships. Through this championship he got his first international medal and started picking up fame along the way (Biography.com). Michael Phelps has always had a successful career. From when he was just a boy, Phelps was always a success in his swimming career, but his personal life was not perfect. After the games in Athens, Phelps “was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol in Salisbury”(Biography.com). He may not be the best role model, but Phelps almost always makes up for his mistakes. After the driving incident, he admitted that he let his family down and he served an 18 month probation while attending a Mothers Against Drunk Driving meeting.
Phelps continued to dominate swimming competitions worldwide, setting gold-medal records and nobody competing with him even came close.
His impact on the swimming culture was enormous. All the kids watching were inspired by this champion, and when his medals are observed all together, you can see what an amazing swimmer he really is. According to the Michael Phelps page on Olympic.org, Phelps ended his career with a total of 18 gold medals in 2012.
Michael Phelps’ swimming career was ended in 2012, but after the London Olympics of 2012, he announced that retirement rumors were false, and he would be competing again in the 2016 Rio Olympic Games (Biography.com). Mr. Phelps’ age shows a trend in the Olpympics where the average age of the participant is significantly increasing. At the 2016 Rio Olympics, Phelps was already 31 years old compared to the average Olympic swimmers age of 23.3 years. In the last 30 years the average Olympic swimming age, as stated by Roya Sabri on the Christian Science Monitor website, has ”increased by 4.6 years for men” showing a trend of more disciplined athletes coming to the Games and staying active through the off
season.
Olympics. Everyone was watching expectantly as Michael Phelps prepared to swim his final race, the internet started making Phelps memes because of a weird face he made during the preparation pre-race. At the sound of the buzzer, the swimmers launched off their boards and raced to the other side of the pool, and on the way back, the crowd saw Michael Phelps gradually gaining a lead on the others. “He's done it again,” they would say, another gold medal for Michael Phelps of course this was no surprise to most people, Phelps was already the top name of the olympics. Ethan had heard about Michael Phelps many times throughout his life but has never seen him in action before. While observing the television at the gym, Ethan subconsciously watches all the boring events that nobody cares about (like men's volleyball). Tonight though, was the big race, and Phelps’ final race. Michael Phelps is the Man of the Year.
When Phelps swims, he is definitely the star of the show. He is one of the most profound people in Olympic history, breaking records and taking gold medals. Ever since Phelps michael was young, he dreamt of becoming an Olympic swimmer. Although Phelps is one of the best know swimmers, not many people know about his history. The Michael Phelps section of Biography.com states that at the age of 15, Phelps was the youngest swimmer to compete in the olympics for the last 68 years. Soon into his career, he was named the “Baltimore Bullet,” referencing to his unmatched speed and his Maryland hometown.
In 2001, Phelps set the world record in the 200-meter butterfly, becoming the youngest male swimmer in history (15 years old) to ever set a world swimming record. Then in Fukuoka, Japan, with a 200m butterfly time of 1:54:58, he destroyed his own record at the 2001 World Championships. Through this championship he got his first international medal and started picking up fame along the way (Biography.com). Michael Phelps has always had a successful career. From when he was just a boy, Phelps was always a success in his swimming career, but his personal life was not perfect. After the games in Athens, Phelps “was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol in Salisbury”(Biography.com). He may not be the best role model, but Phelps almost always makes up for his mistakes. After the driving incident, he admitted that he let his family down and he served an 18 month probation while attending a Mothers Against Drunk Driving meeting.
Phelps continued to dominate swimming competitions worldwide, setting gold-medal records and nobody competing with him even came close.
His impact on the swimming culture was enormous. All the kids watching were inspired by this champion, and when his medals are observed all together, you can see what an amazing swimmer he really is. According to the Michael Phelps page on Olympic.org, Phelps ended his career with a total of 18 gold medals in 2012.
Michael Phelps’ swimming career was ended in 2012, but after the London Olympics of 2012, he announced that retirement rumors were false, and he would be competing again in the 2016 Rio Olympic Games (Biography.com). Mr. Phelps’ age shows a trend in the Olpympics where the average age of the participant is significantly increasing. At the 2016 Rio Olympics, Phelps was already 31 years old compared to the average Olympic swimmers age of 23.3 years. In the last 30 years the average Olympic swimming age, as stated by Roya Sabri on the Christian Science Monitor website, has ”increased by 4.6 years for men” showing a trend of more disciplined athletes coming to the Games and staying active through the off
season.