Michael Phelps Expresses Disappointment Over U.S. Men's Swimming Performance at Paris 2024 Olympics
The legendary swimmer, Michael Phelps, shared his thoughts on the performance of the U.S. men's swimming team at the 2024 Paris Olympics in a recent interview with USA Today. The team secured only nine total medals and just one individual gold, which Phelps believes is not up to par.
Phelps, the most decorated Olympian with 23 gold medals, expressed his disappointment: "As a whole, I was pretty disappointed to see the U.S. swimming results," he said. "Obviously, there were a few standout swims. And those you have to recognize."
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Phelps himself achieved a historic eight gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and Caeleb Dressel followed with five golds at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. However, this year's results fell short of expectations.
The last time U.S. men won only one individual gold in swimming was in 1956 at the Melbourne Olympics. This year, it came down to the final men’s race when Bobby Finke clinched the 1,500-meter freestyle gold with a world record time on August 4.
"Bobby Finke's performance was unbelievable," Phelps remarked. "I have chills right now talking about it. That was one of the greatest swims in the Olympics, in my opinion. Being able to break that world record in the manner that he did it was truly remarkable."
Finke’s victory ensured the U.S. men avoided an individual gold shutout for the first time since the 1900 Olympics. The only other gold for the men in Paris was in the 4x100 freestyle relay. Notably, the U.S. men lost the 4x100 medley relay for the first time ever, finishing second behind China.
Despite the challenges, Team USA led the world with 28 total swimming medals and edged out Australia in gold medals, 8-7. However, the majority of these medals were won by the women’s team, led by stars like Katie Ledecky, Kate Douglass, and Torri Huske. The eight total swimming golds are the fewest since the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
Phelps emphasized the global competition: "One of the things I’ve always said over the last couple of years is the rest of the world is catching up," he noted. "A lot of the things that we’ve done as a country for so long, other people are now catching up and doing the same."
Many top swimmers from other countries now train in the U.S. under American coaches. For example, France's Léon Marchand, who won four individual golds in Paris, trained at Arizona State University under Bob Bowman, Phelps' former coach.
Looking ahead to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, Phelps is hopeful: "Hopefully, the other athletes are more prepared going into '28," he said. He wants to inspire a new generation of swimmers to surpass his records. "Records are made to be broken," he said. "The records that I was chasing throughout my career motivated me. So hopefully I can motivate somebody to do the same thing."
Phelps aims to be part of the effort to cultivate another swimming superstar who can achieve even greater feats.