Michael Phelps: More Than Just the Hype

Every Olympic year, it seems, America's sports media picks one athlete that it's going to scrutinize beyond measure. This year it's Swimmer Michael Phelps, a 19-year old kid that, according to the media, was on track to win eight gold medals in swimming. Well, that's obviously not going to happen now, as he's gotten two bronze medals in his first three events (after setting another world record in the 400 IM).

But who cares? First of all, to get multiple medals in the Olympics at ALL is a fantastic feat, and especially when he's doing it in different event types. I can see doing it in just the breaststroke, or just the fly, but he's doing it in the fly, the IM, freestyle, the whole nine yards. The guy is a phenomenon.

And this is in a day and age where American dominance in swimming is no where NEAR what it was back in Mark Spitz's day. This is not to put any damper on what Spitz attained - it was a fantastic feat. But the competition for Phelps is so much more deadly now than back in 1972 because EVERYONE who's anyone is training in the U.S.'s NCAA system. They're all getting the top notch training that only Americans got a few years ago.

So my hat is off to Michael Phelps, a true sports prodigy. And lay off the criticism that he was just a bunch of hype - he's a genuine Olympic hero.