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Michael Phelps poses for Sports Illustrated cover with all of his gold – USA TODAY

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Michael Phelps is back on Sports Illustrated’s cover, but this time with his 23 Olympic gold medals.
Time_Sports

Michael Phelps appears on the cover of the latest edition of Sports Illustrated for a 12th time in his career, this time with all 23 of his record Olympic gold medals draped around his neck.

Phelps, again, said the 2016 Rio Games were his final Olympics, although he left a sliver of hope he’d be back for Tokyo in 2020.

“If I do get the desire to come back, great,” Phelps told SI. “Right now, I just don’t see it.”

His mother, Debbie, and sponsors have advocated for his return to Olympic competition.

“He said he was retiring after London, when he was 27, with the lung capacity of a Great White Shark,” Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank said. “You can bet I’m going to be nudging him as best I can for the next four years. I think he believes he is retired now. Three years is a long time to rest.”

Phelps’s wife, Nicole, even mentioned a scenario that would have him competing at the 2024 Olympics.

“I give it eight years, and then (their son) Boomer is like, ‘Come on, Dad, let’s see it one more time,’” Nicole said.

Michael Phelps shot that idea down quickly.

“Eight years down the road, I would be so far removed that it’s almost impossible to come back, physically,” he told the magazine. “Unless I trained for a full four years, and that’s not happening, so, to end this conversation, I’m done.”

PHOTOS: Phelps’ career