We’re counting down the top 10 moments of Michael Phelps’ career, so far. You, our readers, can participate, by voting for number one! Either Tweet or Comment on our Facebook with #phelpstop10lezaked if your number one is the improbable 400 free relay come-from-behind victory in Beijing is your top Phelps moment. Tweet or Facebook #phelpstop10cavic if your favorite is the almost unseeable 100 fly win over Milorad Cavic in Beijing, or Tweet/Comment #phelpstop108golds if your pick is the 400 medley relay, which ran Phelps into the history books as his 8th gold medal.
#5- Phelps Keeps the 8 for 8 Dream Alive by Winning 200 Fly Blind in Beijing
There’s nothing like a little adversity to help add to the drama of sports. Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan have faced it (Woods winning a major on a broken leg and Jordan scoring 38 points in the ’97 Finals while having the flu), so of course we all knew something alike was to happen to Michael Phelps. As soon as he hit the water for his 200 fly in Beijing, his goggles immediately started to fill with water. It got worse as the race went on and at the 150 mark he couldn’t see a thing. He relied solely on his stroke count to keep track of where he was on the last lap. Despite the goggle malfunction, Phelps was still able to keep his 8 for 8 dream alive, winning the race in world record fashion in a 1:52.03. It may have not been the time he wanted, but it did score him the title of Greatest Olympian of All-Time, as this gold medal helped him surpass Mark Spit, Carl Lewis, Paavo Nurmi, and Larissa Latynina.
See Also
#6 – Phelps takes down Ian Crocker at the 2004 Olympics.
#7 – Phelps becomes the youngest male in 68 years to make the Olympic Team.
#8 – Phelps proves he doesn’t need the Super Suit to win-2009 World Championships 100 Fly.
#9 – Phelps Becomes First Male to Three-Peat in Same Event.
#10 – Phelps Becomes the Youngest Male Swimmer to Break a World Record.
ya, this deserves to be up there. i’m not sure #6 should be top 10 but ya this one was phenomenal. the length he wins by was jaw dropping.
And he was only sixteen years when he won that 100 fly ! pretty amazing
sorry , 200 fly !!!
try from here: http://www.archeologiadellosport.com/Table_Filmati.php
search for the word “phelps” on the page, you should find a video called “MONDIALI FUKUOKA 200 FARFALLA (IL PRIMO PHELPS)”
Thanks for the link ; i easely found it ! great race indeed from M Phelps .
Thank you!
Let me try embed it here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_xNmwYfANM
Why I couldn’t embed it will remain forever a mistery for me 🙂 But thank God you managed it!
I think that’s because you were trying to embed a playlist instead of the actual video.
Thanks for the video, finally!
Bobo, for some reason I am not able to post the video of Phelps’ 200 fly gold in Fukuoka 2001. Let me know your email address and I will send the link to you; or, look in youtube for a video called “Mondiali 2001 200 farfalla” by user Archeolux59
I couldn’t find that video by the user Archeolux59. Maybe it’s only made available for those in Italy?
200 fly final in 2008.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Fez4am5j4g
I’m sure it’ll be included in this list but, to my mind, that 200 free in Beijing was astounding. A man against boys. He started pulling away from the field after the first stroke and the gap kept getting bigger.
OLSSWIM05: You just beat me to it, I agree with at least part of your post. His 1:52.09 textile in Melbourne 2007 was 1.7 faster than his previous world record a few months earlier; I remember my jaw dropping. In fact to date, I believe the only other 2 men in history even under 1:54 yet in textile are LeClos and Matsuda in London 5 yrs later. 1:52.9 and 1:53.1. I remember some saying on here that despite the 8 golds in London, Phelps actually peaked in 2007, and the 200 fly and the 200 free you mentioned in Melbourne lend credence to that opinion.
That said, I do think a 1:52.0 with full goggles is still extremely impressive… Read more »
I’m a bit flummoxed with the absence of Melbourne ’07 on this list. His 1:52.09 from that meet is far more impressive a swim than this one in Beijing, IMO. Bettering Thorpe’s 1:44.06 and a slew of other WRs where he was swimming a body length ahead of the previous mark made Melbourne his first show of being head and shoulders above the world. If the Beijing 400 FR, 100 fly, and the London 400 medley relay are going to take the top 3 the this list needs to be extended to fit in his entire meet schedule from ’07 worlds, where he truly arrived at the pinnacle of his fitness and domination which was then carried into the Beijing… Read more »
I totally agree with you.
IMO, Melbourne 2007 is the pinnacle of Phelps. If not for the medley relay DQ, he would also have won 8 golds.
His Melbourne’s 200 fly is his best swim ever in my opinion, he almost totally skipped 1:52 altogether and pulverized the previous WR by almost 2 seconds.
Totally agree.
His 200 fly in Melbourne was amazing!
And that 200 fly final deserves to be in the top 10!
2007 was his best year. I always repeat that.
Every time MP destroyed a WR, it was huge!
Personally, his 200 IM final in Barcelona in 2003 will also always stay in my mind. He crushed the world record in 1.56.04. It was like he swam against junior swimmers. Silver and bronze medalists were Thorpe and Rosolino and finished 3 seconds behind! MP changed IM swimming forever that day
I think the Melbourne 200 free is his most memorable race. I don’t think he ever was as good a freestyler as he was a butterflier and IMer, so this is the race where his will and thirst for victory were into play more than anywhere alse. He literally made himself into one of the greatest 200 freestylers ever. I only wish Thorpe had not retired by then. What a battle we would have had!
I love how Thorpe conveniently left that 2003 IM race out of his biography. Thorpe said he faced Phelps only once in major competition: the 200 free in 2004.:P