Michael Phelps opened up about his legacy outside the pool. The swimming sensation recently attended an award ceremony for his work on mental health awareness.
Phelps has been working to raise awareness about mental health for over a decade. He was recently bestowed with the Muhammad Ali Legacy Award by the coveted Sports Illustrated magazine.
Michael Phelps Opens Up About Legacy Outside the Pool
Phelps was asked about his overall legacy during an interview with the magazine before the ceremony. The Olympic champion simply replied,
“I mean I think for me if I look at the term legacy, it’s not just what you’ve done, if it’s whether in the pool or the playing field, it’s what you’ve done throughout everything, and I’d say, the things I’m trying to do in mental health and in that space, I would say, would outweigh everything I did in the pool. Being able to save a life I think is way more important than ever winning a gold medal!”
READ MORE: Lindsey Vonn Commends Michael Phelps’ Mental Health Advocacy as He Receives Major Honor
Phelps has been supported in his campaign by his former coach, Bob Bowman, as well as other legends, including Simone Biles and Usain Bolt.
A Brief View Of Michael Phelps’ Decade-Long Campaign on Mental Health Awareness
In 2015, just a year after coming out of his temporary retirement, Michael Phelps opened up about an untold chapter from his life: his mental health. He revealed that after the success of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, he was unable to deal with his mental health, and he felt that he was gradually sinking into depression.
This was also the same time when Phelps had broken up with his then-girlfriend Nicole Johnson [in 2010], and he also struggled with his performance at the 2012 London Olympics, where he won only four gold medals overall. Phelps was also suspended in between for substance abuse by the USA Swimming for three months in 2009.
However, Phelps didn’t give up easily and continued to fight back. In 2014, he not only came out of retirement but also reconciled with Nicole.
The two were engaged by February 2015, and they married in a private ceremony in mid-2016, although neither of them announced this until the end of the 2016 Rio Olympics. Phelps nailed it in his final appearance at the Summer Olympics. He won a total of five gold medals and a silver medal in the men’s 100m butterfly event.