Michael Phelps on post-Olympics retirement: ‘Ready to be done’
LONDON -- Michael Phelps insists he will not pull a Brett Favre. He is retiring after the Olympics, he says, and he means it.
Brendan Hansen said he had retired after the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Anthony Ervin said he had retired after the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Both swimmers are U.S. teammates with Phelps here in London.
Yet Phelps, 27, says there is no way he would compete in Rio de Janiero in 2016.
“The biggest thing I will always stand by is that I won’t swim past the age of 30,” Phelps said. “That is something I don’t want.”
Phelps already has more gold medals than any athlete in Olympic history. By the time he finishes here, he should have more total medals than any athlete in Olympic history.
He says he looks forward to working with children, strengthening his foundation, snowboarding, skiing -- and living a normal life.
“Just to relax,” he said. “Not to answer to anybody. Not have somebody tell me where to go, when to go there, what to do, just kind of be on my own time.”
Phelps insists there is nothing that could persuade him to swim in Rio.
“I knew that I wanted to swim for another four years after 2008. I don’t have that feeling now,” he said. “Sure, I am excited I’m at the Olympics and representing my country. I don’t see myself going on. I just don’t want to.
“I can’t put my finger on exactly what it is. I’m just ready to be done.”
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