Seriously … can you believe the Olympic rampage that is Michael Phelps? The 23-year-old swimming sensation from Maryland rocked Beijing and inspired a discouraged nation.
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(Photo: AP Images / Mark J. Terrill)United States Michael Phelps swims to the gold in the men's 4x100-meter medley relay final during the swimming competitions in the National Aquatics Center at the Beijing 2008 Olympics in Beijing, Sunday, Aug. 17, 2008.
Oh, and did you know he eats 12,000 calories a day?
To put his accomplishments in perspective, check out these facts:
• Michael Phelps - If Michael Phelps were a country (Phelpsland - maybe?), he'd be tied for third overall in gold medals won.
• In the total medal count, Phelps would be tied for 12th overall with the Netherlands.
• India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Nigeria, Egypt, Mexico and Bangladesh (combined population = 2.1 billion) have earned a total of four Olympic medals in Beijing. Phelps (population = 1) has EIGHT.
• Michael Phelps has a perfect build for swimming success, but so do thousands of others. The thing that I believe separates him from all other competitors is the most critical piece of success:
Focus
You know who else had focus? An Olympian from the past who you probably never heard of - but you should know about her story:
Picture a small girl hobbling across the yard with leg braces attached to her crooked leg, her left foot twisted inward. Neighborhood kids laughed and pointed.
This girl was Wilma Rudolph. Wilma was born prematurely, weighing only 4½ pounds at birth. She was sick most of her childhood, suffering from double pneumonia, scarlet fever, and polio. After losing the use of her left leg at six, she was fitted with metal leg braces.
But Wilma wasn’t one to let her disability hold her back.
Wilma was one of 22 children from her father’s two marriages. She got her brothers and sisters to serve as lookouts while she removed her braces, forcing herself to learn to walk without them.
Wilma’s disability affected her family. Her brothers and sisters took turns massaging her crippled leg every day. For years Wilma underwent weekly therapy, requiring her mother to drive 90 miles roundtrip to a Nashville hospital. She was determined not to allow her disability to get in the way of her vision.
By the time Wilma reached her 11th birthday, 5 years of work - she had shed those braces and was playing basketball with her brothers in the yard.
A few years later, Wilma made the high school basketball team, and before long- Wilma became an all-state player, setting a Tennessee state record of 49 points in one game.
When basketball season ended, she decided to try out for the track team. That decision turned out to be one of the most significant of Wilma’s life. It started when Wilma beat her girlfriend in a race. Then she beat every girl in her high school. Soon, she beat every girl in the state of Tennessee.
Wilma was only 14 years old, but she’d come a long way since her leg braces.
Two years later she was invited to try out for the Olympics. At 16, Wilma qualified and ran in the 1956 games in Melbourne, Australia. She won a bronze medal - her team placed third in the 400-meter relay.
The victory was bittersweet. Yes, she’d made the Olympics and won a medal, but in her own eyes Wilma had only won the bronze. She wanted the gold. The prize wasn’t the Olympics - the prize was the gold medal - so she decided to try again in four years.
Wilma knew that if she wanted to win the gold, she’d have to dedicate an enormous amount of time, commitment, and discipline. Wilma started daily training runs at 6 a.m., 10 a.m., and 3 p.m. She’d often sneak down the dormitory fire escape from 8 to 10 p.m. to get in some running on the track before bed. For more than three years - a total of more than 1,200 days - Wilma maintained this punishing schedule. Continue >>
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