Olympics 2012: The special ones

The London Olympics 2012, in the words of International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge, was the ‘Athletes Games’. At the London Summer Games, there were some athletes who ensured their performances and names were etched in the history of the Olympics.

Maleeva Rebello takes a look at the special ones at the London Games.

Michael Phelps
Regarded as the Greatest Olympian of all time, the man nicknamed the ‘Flying Fish’ won a record 22 Olympic medals at the London Games. What makes this feat even greater is that Phelps has 18 gold medals in his kitty, winning eight of them at the Beijing Olympics in 2008 to create a world record for the most first-place finishes at any single Olympics.

After winning four gold and two silver medals at the London Games, Phelps decided to retire at 27, calling it quits rather than choosing to further his record at the Rio Games in 2016. Ryan Lochte, Phelps’ team-mate and long time nemesis was the favourite to win all the medals in the categories that they were competing in together, but Phelps had other plans.

Michael Phelps proved his critics wrong by winning the 200m individual medley to become became the first male swimmer to win an event three-consecutive times at the Olympics. Phelps then went on to win the 100m butterfly and repeat his feat of winning an event three-times.

The record Michael Phelps has created has left all athletes in awe of the ‘The Baltimore Bullet’. Fans will surely miss seeing him in the pool in Rio but Phelps has promised to be in the stands and cheer Team USA at the Games.
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