It’s a Phelps photograph you always wanted to see – one of the world’s greatest Olympian with all his gold medals.
The Sports Illustrated’s year-end cover shoot featured Michael Phelps in all his post-Olympic glory wearing his 23 gold medals. He left out all the silver and the bronze medals.
In the accompanying interview Phelps told Sports Illustrated how he knew it was time for him to retire, “I’m coming into my last four or five strokes, and I remember thinking, Whatever happens, this is how it’s supposed to end,” Phelps said. “Maybe I’m going 6-for-6 and that’s perfect, or maybe Joe [Schooling] is going to hang on and I’m O.K. with that. That’s when I knew I was ready to retire. Any other time, I would have been livid about finishing second.”
Read the Sports Illustrated story in its entirety here.
Click next to see more pictures from the cover photo shoot.