Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Michael Phelps – Record Breaker

by Andrew: a fourth grader

Born on June 30, 1985, Baltimore, Maryland, Michael Phelps has won 14 gold and 2 bronze medals in the Olympics. He has also won 17 gold and 3 silver metals in the World Championship.

When Michael was growing up and only 9, his parents divorced. He has 2 older sisters, Whitney and Hilary, both are swimmers too. Whitney was chosen to make the U.S. National and 1996 Summer Olympics, but she was injured and lost her chance.

One of Michael’s latest achievements was beating Mark Spitz in the record of the most gold metals in 1 Olympic game. I remember watching it on TV. I was sitting on my cozy warm couch watching channel 4 News covering the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Michael was with his team trying to beat Mark Spitz’s record. In the end, he did it!

Mark Spitz summarized it “It goes to show you that not only is this guy the greatest swimmer of all time and the greatest Olympian of all time, he’s may be the greatest athlete of all time. He’s the greatest racer who ever walked the planet’.

Michael said ‘Dream as big as you can, and anything is possible… I am sort of in a dream world. Sometimes I have to pinch myself to make sure it’s real.”

Michael Phelps is one of the most recognized people in the world and he is many people’s hero, including mine. He works so hard that his schedule is “eat, swim and sleep”. His hard work paid off and is now an Olympic Champion and a World record holder.

Michael Phelps has inspired me in swimming, but he has also inspired me to work hard on other things as well. He has taught me to continue to follow my dream and anything is possible.

3 comments:

  1. Hi Andrew,
    Thank you for providing so many facts in your entry! You've specified many intriguing facts of Phelps' life, which helped me recognize his greatness as an athelete. I definitely agree with you that he is a true inspirational figure to anyone, even if you don't swim. His hard work and perseverance sparked hope and motivation in many people, including myself.

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  2. Andrew,
    This entry is really good! Michael Phelps did teach us alot of things like to work hard. I was inspired by him. I remember when his team went way past the world record line. All because Michael Phelps gave his team a boost.

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  3. Andrew,
    I think this is a good article. I really like Micheal Phelps too. Remember that race when he won by .01 seconds? That was amazing.

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