What world records does Michael Phelps still hold? All you need to know about the American's achievements
Michael Phelps led an extraordinary career and is considered by many as the greatest swimmer of all time. In his prime, Phelps set over 29 individual world records, and at one point in time, held the records for the 200 freestyle, 100 butterfly, 200 butterfly, 200m individual medley, and 400m individual medley simultaneously.
After his retirement from competitive swimming in 2016, a lot of Michael Phelps' records have been surpassed. Most recently, French swimmer Leon Marchand breached Phelps' 400m IM world record, rubbing the books clean of any individual world record that the American held.
However, two of Michael Phelps' records on the international stage still stand — the 4x100m freestyle relay, and the 4x200m freestyle relay.
Phelps set the record for the 4x100m freestyle relay with a time of 3:08.24 at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, alongside teammates Garrett Weber-Gale, Cullen Jones, and Jason Lezak. Meanwhile, his record in the 4 x 200m freestyle relay came a year later in Rome.
Other than these two world records, the 38-year-old is still the holder of five Olympic records, all of which he created in Beijing.
The five records include the 200m freestyle (1:42.96), the 200m individual medley (1:54.23), the 400m individual medley (4:03.84), the 4 x 100 m freestyle relay (3:08.24), and the 4 x 200m freestyle relay (6:58.56).
Apart from his stunning international performances, Michael Phelps is still the holder of four Pan Pacific Championships records. On the national level also, he holds five American records, and six US Open records.
Michael Phelps' medal records
Apart from all the fastest times he set in his glorious career, Michael Phelps also holds the record for most Olympic medals ever won, across any sport.
The American has cliched 28 medals at the marquee event, 23 of which are gold. This means that Phelps alone has more Olympic gold medals than 174 countries and more overall medals than 161 countries.
In 2008, Phelps won a whopping eight gold medals in Beijing, making him the athlete with the most first-place finishes at the Olympics, a record that stands to this day.
With his remarkable performances in Athens, Beijing, London, and Rio, Phelps was the most successful Olympian for four Games in a row.
Despite the ever-evolving world of swimming, Phelps' historic records will always ensure that he is remembered as one of the greatest athletes to ever grace the sport.