Olympic medalists are among the extraordinary human beings on the planet. Unsurprisingly, these outstanding individuals often continue to excel later in life. Check out some of the greatest Olympians and how they’re doing nowadays.
Michael Phelps
Michael Phelps, youngest of three children, was raised and came from a family of swimmers and joined the North Baltimore Aquatic Club when he was seven years old because of his mother and sisters’ belief that swimming is an outlet for his energy. At 15, he became part of the U.S. men’s swim team. Phelps became the youngest world-record holder in men’s swimming when posted 1 minute and 54.92 seconds in the 200-meter butterfly in the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, finished fifth, making him the youngest in the nearly seven decades to represent the U.S. at the biggest multi-sport extravaganza. After that, he broke his record at the World Championship in Fukuoka, Japan, and won his first medal. In 2004 Olympics in Athens, Phelps won six gold and two bronze medals, which was the second-best performance during a single Olympics, behind his fellow American Mark Spitz’s records with a total of seven gold medals achieved in the 1972 Olympics. Phelps took his already exceptional performance in a higher degree in the 2007 World Championship in Melbourne, where he joined in seven events and won gold medals in each of them with five world records. The highlight of his career was the very first time he joined the Olympics in Beijing last 2008. He became the first athlete to win eight gold medals at a single Olympic surpassing Spitz’s previous record. Phelps continued to lead during the 2009 World Championship in Rome, where he got five gold and one silver medals. During the 2011 World Championship in Beijing, he won four golds. It was in the 2012 London Olympics where Phelps won four gold medals and two silvers making his Olympic medal to 22. The same year, the international swimming federation, FINA, awarded him with the Swimmer of the Year, acknowledging his status as the most decorated Olympian. After 2012, regarded that he was already retired, until it was 2016 when he joined the Olympic Games in Rio again, he bagged five golds and a silver. He is remarkably winning 23 Olympic gold medals that brings him a total of 28 Olympic medals. Other than winning medals, he committed a $1 million bonus from Speedo as he started the Michael Phelps Foundation in 2008, which encouraged swimming as a sport to promote health ever since. When he leaves the competitive swimming after the 2016 Olympics, Phelps has been enjoying retirement in Arizona with his wife, Nicole, and his sons, Boomer, and Beckett. He also became an advocate for water conservation and mental health awareness.
Michael Phelps
Kaetlyn Osmond
At the 2014 and 2018 Olympic Winter Olympics, Kaetlyn Osmond won three medals for Canada with a complete set of Olympic medals. During her career, the skater won gold, silver, and bronze medals. Osmond had an ice skate rink named after her in 2014 following her Olympic success. After winning first place at the 2018 World Championship, the skater ended her career with a high note. Osmond decided to take the bold move in 2019 at the age of 23 and announced her withdrawal from competitive skating.
Kaetlyn Osmond