10 Reasons Michael Phelps Should Have Retired After the 2008 Olympics

by Dave Shepard, OTSL Special Contributor

Michael Phelps has absolutely ruined his legacy, he should have retired after Bejing, when he was 23.  Here are 10 reasons why.

1) Phelps at the 2008 Olympics set a record winning eight gold medals in a single Olympics

2) In seven of those eight gold medals he set world records.

3) His coach Bob Bowman even said Phelps has struggled in the last four years with conditioning. That tells you in the prime of his life, from 23-27 he has lost the motivation to be the King of his sport. Something he was for over half a decade.

4) Keep in mind in 2004 when he was just 19 years old he won eight medals, including six gold medals, this was when he was just 19 years old.

5) In his first race in the 2012 Olympics he placed fourth in the 400 meter individual medley. It was the first time since he was 15 years old in Sydney where he failed to receive a medal in a an event.

6) For the last four years, Ryan Lochte had put in the greatest effort of his life. He flipped tires, pulled chains and had a very strict diet and did everything he could to help his body prepare to beat Michael Phelps. Phelps isn’t even the best American anymore.

7) Ryan Lochte not just beat Phelps, he destroyed him. He beat him by four total seconds in the 400 meter individual medley.

8) This also isn’t the first time that in recent years that Lochte has beaten Phelps. He beat him in the 2010 Pan Pacific Championships. He also did it in the 200 IM and 200 free at last year's World Championships

9) He is world swimmer of the year six times. Sports illustrated named him sportsman of the year in 2008. The same magazine also said he was the greatest swimmer of all time.

10) Why tarnish that legacy, retire at 23 and have the greatest legacy of any Olympic athlete and maybe go down as the greatest athlete to ever live.

Now, to be fair, I wrote this piece after Phelps got off to a slow start at these London games.  I have to give it to him, he closed his career with a flourish, proof that he will go down as one of the greatest Olympians ever.