American swimmer, the only 18-time Olympic and 26-time world champion in the history of sports

Michael Phelps, American swimmer, the only 18-time Olympic champion in the history of sports and 26-time world champion in the 50-meter pool. Phelps is the absolute record holder in the history of the Olympic Games, having surpassed athletes in all sports, won 22 awards, and set 37 world records. Phelps' achievements began with the Sydney Olympics in 2000, when he was the youngest Olympic swimmer from the United States in sixty-eight years. At that Olympics, he performed only in the 200-meter butterfly and took only fifth place in the final, but gained experience of performing at world competitions and already at the next Olympics in Athens in 2004, he won eight medals, 6 of which were gold and 2 bronze, and also established with three Olympic and 1 world record. 8 medals at one Olympics repeated the record of Soviet gymnast Alexander Dityatin; at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, Phelps improved this result and won gold medals in all eight disciplines in which he started, thus Phelps became the most titled athlete in the history of the modern Olympic Games.