RIO DE JANEIRO — Michael Phelps insists his third retirement will stick, and given the cute little baby snoozing peaceful during most of his races here, it’s hard not to take him on his word this time.
Then again, why would he quit? If the top swimmers can’t touch him at the Olympics at 31, there’s no reason to think a healthy Phelps couldn’t show up in Tokyo four years from now and add another three or four gold medals to his collection.
(Unrelated, but do you ever wonder if Phelps has trouble keeping track of all his Olympic jewelry? Like, he reaches into the side of his recliner, pulls one out and says, “My 200IM gold from Beijing! I’ve been looking for that.”)
Phelps could keep swimming, keep racking up medals until the world is fixated on the 2020 presidential election, but everyone around him agrees: This is it. “He’s in such a good place personally,” his coach Bob Bowman said. “And it’s time – other people need to step up.”
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Here is another good reason: Phelps, after adding another silver medal in the 100-meter butterfly on Friday night, is making the best exit in sports history. Has anyone stepped off the stage better, with more success on a higher level, than Phelps at these Olympics?
John Elway won a second-straight Super Bowl on the way into retirement, but football is a team sport. Kobe Bryant scored 60 points in his finale, but in a meaningless game. Bobby Jones had just won what was then the Grand Slam when he retired from golf at 28, but that was a different era before sports became big business.
Bill Russell is a solid choice, winning his 11th NBA title with the Celtics in 13 seasons when he retired as a player. But again: Phelps is authoring his swan song all on his own, with a level of brilliance that, given his own attempts to lower expectations heading into Rio, is remarkable.
“The biggest thing for me through the meet so far (is that) I’ve been able to kind of finish how I wanted to. You know?” he said. “I’ve been able to come back and I’ve been able to accomplish things I’ve dreamt of. I felt like a kid again, and that’s the difference. I felt like I was 18.”
This trip was supposed to be about more than the medals. He had looked more like an old Phelps than the Phelps of old in some of his early comeback races, and even when he arrived here, it wasn’t a certain that he’d have a spot in relays that were once preordained.
He was in a better place, and that mattered the most. Everything that had happened since London — the decision to unretire, his second DUI arrest, his suspension from swimming, his rehab stint, getting engaged and becoming a father — had put the sport in a different perspective in his life.
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For that reason, had he won a couple races and left the sport on his terms, Rio would have been a victory. Instead, he is dominating like he did in his prime, with four gold medals and a silver and (maybe) one more to come in his final relay on Saturday night.
That moment should be every bit like Elway, after his second Super Bowl win, getting carried off on the shoulders of his teammates. Except, given what he’s accomplished here in his goodbye, it’ll be better.
Better, in fact, than any exit in sports history.
Steve Politi may be reached at spoliti@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @StevePoliti. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
