Only one individual gold medal for U.S. men's swimming in the 2024 Paris Olympics is not cutting it for Michael Phelps.
The most decorated Olympian of all time shared his thoughts in an interview with USA Today about the performance of the men's team after it won just nine total medals and only one individual gold.
"For me, as a whole, I was pretty disappointed to see the U.S. swimming results," Phelps said. "Obviously, there were a few standout swims. And those you have to recognize."
Phelps won eight gold medals by himself at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and Caeleb Dressel took home five of his own as recently as the postponed 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
The last time the U.S. men only won one individual gold in men's swimming was at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne. In Paris, it came down to the last of the men's 14 individual races for Team USA to avoid a stunning shutout when Bobby Finke won the 1,500-meter freestyle gold medal with a world record time Aug. 4.
"Bobby Finke, last night, swimming that was unbelievable," Phelps said. "I have chills right now talking about it. That was one of the greatest swims in the Olympics, in my opinion. Being able to break that world record in the matter that he did it. Just taking it out, challenging the other guys just to make a move, he was prepared."
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Finke's heroics meant U.S. men's swimming would not be shut out of individual gold for the first time since the 1900 Olympics, when there were only seven events. The only other gold won by the men in Paris came in the 4x100 freestyle relay.
The men also lost the 4x100 medley relay for the first time in history, finishing second behind China after having previously won the race all 15 times they swam in it dating back to 1960.
Team USA still led the world with 28 total swimming medals and edged Australia 8-7 in gold medals, but the bulk of that was from a women's team led by Katie Ledecky, Kate Douglass and Torri Huske. The eight total swimming gold medals are the least Team USA has won since the 1988 Olympics in Seoul.
"For me, one of the things that I’ve always said over the last couple years is the rest of the world is catching up," Phelps said. "I think a lot of the things that we’ve done as a country for so long, the other people are catching up. They’re doing the same thing."
Several top swimmers from rival countries now train in the U.S. college system under American coaches. France's Léon Marchand, who won four individual gold medals in Paris, starred at Arizona State University and trained under Bob Bowman, the legendary coach who trained Phelps.
Phelps, whose 23 gold medals are an Olympic record for any sport, is hoping the Team USA men can turn it around heading into the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
"Hopefully the other athletes are more prepared going into '28," he said. "Everyone thought what I was trying to do was impossible. And if somebody is trying to do it now, you guys will all say it's impossible.
"For me, if somebody wants to do it, and they want it bad enough, and they're willing to take the little baby steps that it takes to get there, then I want to see it."
He wants to be part of an effort to create another swimming superstar who can surpass his own feats.
"Records are made to be broken," he said. "The records that I was chasing throughout my career motivated me. So hopefully I can motivate somebody to do the same thing."
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