At 31 years old, Michael Phelps is the proud owner of 22 Olympic gold medals. Unfortunately, the commentators at the Rio Olympics seem to be more concerned about Phelps’ “old” age.
Apparently, the commentators think Phelps should exit the pool faster than he does. Yep, that’s why his “old age” keeps coming up. Because he doesn’t pop out of the pool as fast as some of the other competitors. We think they’re forgetting the fact that he’s been swimming his way to gold medals…but whatever.
On Tuesday, this talking point came up when Phelps’ teammates helped him out of the pool after winning the 4×200-meter relay. Then again, the topic was discussed on air Thursday, when Phelps lifted himself out of the warm-up pool slower than his younger competitors.
Michael Phelps. Still fly at the old age of 31. pic.twitter.com/TvkEaCPHwQ
— Erica Schlaikjer (@eschlaik) August 10, 2016
But who are these commentators to criticize Phelps? As the most decorated Olympian in the world (let’s not forget he even beat an ancient Greek record for the amount of individual wins he’s racked up), we’d say Phelps’ “old man body” is the stuff of legends.