Michael Phelps

I wrote this on Facebook about Michael Phelps, with regards to his wins in the current 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro:

"Michael Phelps is truly an impressive athlete; unlike those who are talked up as great and then go on to lose, he is dismissed and goes on to win (such as when he wasn't believed about being able to pull off eight golds in 2008) - not to mention his leaving retirement to compete once again. My family have been fans of his since the 2004 Games, so we're glad he's now the most-decorated Olympian - certainly a worthy and decent person for the title."

Phelps has always come across as genuine whenever we've seen or heard him be interviewed. He's definitely deserving of all his success; that he's competed in so many Olympics and performed strongly in all of them is a testament to him.

Parting thoughts on the Olympics

With everything that has happened recently, the one topic I barely covered during its progress was the 2012 London Summer Olympics. I wrote about it a year in advance and mentioned it briefly when it began, but beyond those instances I have not said anything about them even though they have been the largest event in the United Kingdom this year! I suppose it can be excused because I was busy during the Olympics; I didn't get to see much of the Olympics, and the parts I did watch were when I was in Nottingham.

As for my opinions on the Olympics, I am glad that they went by smoothly, with the worst part I'm aware of being a few athletes failing drug tests (unfortunate and disappointing, but at least not destructive to the Games themselves). Despite comments from certain individuals doubting the readiness of this country for the Olympics, it pleases me to say that they were proved wrong: the United Kingdom was not overwhelmed during the two weeks, and nothing tragic such as a terrorist attack, a deadly accident, or a shooting occurred. No major disruptions took place anywhere in the nation, so the preparations and security worked.

It was also good that the United Kingdom came third in the gold medal count (29, behind the United States and China) and fourth in overall medals (65, behind the United States, China and Russia). In the first few days of the Olympics I was worried that this country would have the dubious "honour" of being a host nation that was obliterated in the medal counts, but I'm glad those concerns were alleviated once British athletes started winning!

I think the Olympics were a success, and judging by the positive international response to them I'm not the only one with this view. Now that the 2012 London Summer Olympics are over we can look forward to the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics in Russia and the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Summer Olympics in Brazil.

As an aside, while this is a small thing, it does feel good knowing that this was the third time I've been resident in a country while it hosted the Olympics (the other two times were in the United States with the Atlanta and Salt Lake City games).