Phelps was now on his way to the 2004 Olympic Trials. He had trained so hard, and there were a lot of people that expected a lot from him, or hoped he would fail. For a rookie with this big stuff, he did great. After the Trials he went to a press conference, he was the first person ever to qualify for a U.S Olympic team in any sport in six individual events, although he was beaten twice and only did his best time in one race.
Now Michael and his coach had set the bars very high for the Olympics in Athens. They went straight to the pool and began working all the small things, like starts and turns. When he arrived in Athens, Phelps and his family were attacked by interviewers and producers. But he had to stay focused on swimming, his first race was a relay which he finished in 3rd, and he wasn't happy with that at all. His next race was the 200 free and he was racing two of his idols, and he came in third with his best time, he was pleased. His next 6 races were all his, leaving Athens with 2 bronze medals and 6 gold medals!! He had become only the second athlete in history to win eight total medals.
Quote
"Anything is possible, I said, I don't think you should ever talk about things you can't do"(Phelps 180).
Reaction
My reaction to when I read this was, Phelps always knew he capable of doing what he did. Although he had a lot of bumps in the road, he didn't let that stop him, he kept going. This just makes me want to try harder in everything I do, what ever I put my mind to I know I can do it.
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