Published: August 18, 2008
BEIJING — A few dozen photographers lunged toward the stage where the swimmer
Michael Phelps sat Monday morning, their surge reminiscent of Phelps’s finishing charge two days earlier in the final of the 100-meter butterfly.
The four security officers who escorted Phelps to his seat were helpless to turn back the cresting wave. In the front row, Phelps’s mother, Debbie, switched seats to get out of the way.
Phelps, as unflappable as he was while winning eight gold medals, laughed at the commotion. The photographers, reacting to Phelps’s expressiveness, pressed even closer.
The first days of the rest of Phelps’s life as a sports icon have been a trip. It is not unlike a trans-Atlantic flight: tiring, thrilling and a little turbulent.
The question-and-answer session included journalists from The Harvard Lampoon, The Hollywood Reporter and a cheeky gentleman from New Zealand, a nonmedalist in swimming here, who, when called on, delivered a stand-up routine around the theme of Phelps’s greediness.
Phelps was asked to describe love and weigh in on whether light is a particle or a wave. His answer to both was, “I have no idea.”
Phelps, who won six gold medals and two bronzes at the 2004 Athens Olympics, had some idea how big Michael mania is in the United States. He said he had received a phone call from President Bush and more than 4,000 messages on his BlackBerry in the 24 hours after he won his eighth gold medal.
President Bush, he said, told him he made everyone in America proud. “The biggest thing he said was, ‘Give your mother a hug and say the president sent it,’ ” Phelps said.
He heard that Bruce Springsteen, before playing “Born in the U.S.A.” at a concert in Jacksonville, Fla., dedicated the song to him.
Never mind that Phelps’s tastes run more toward hip-hop than rock. “It’s amazing,” he said, adding, “Every time I read a text message I’m smiling.”
In the course of the media session that lasted 36 minutes, Phelps painted a vivid picture of the bunker from which he had just emerged. During the nine days of competition, his focus was so keen he did not notice until Sunday that the exterior of the aquatics site, the Water Cube, is illuminated in a kaleidoscope of colors at night. “I had no idea,” he said.
Phelps talked about not seeing his mother except at the pool, and eating pasta and pizza when what he really craved was a big, juicy cheeseburger. He said that now that he was done swimming, he was looking forward to being able to eat whatever he wanted.
He also has a stack of Baltimore Ravens press clippings to devour. Phelps, an ardent fan of the N.F.L., has not followed the news from the Ravens’ training camp this month.
“I’m excited for the football season to start,” he said, “and hopefully it’ll be a good season for the Ravens.”
The 23-year-old Phelps put on a cheerful face, but in an interview later, away from the cameras’ glare, his fatigue showed. His eyes were dull and he sat slumped in a chair, with his legs crossed underneath him.
He was operating on five hours of sleep. “I need a lot more than that,” he said. Phelps added: “I’m very tired right now. But it’s fun.”
From here, Phelps will travel to London, site of the 2012 Olympics, for an appearance connected to Sunday’s closing ceremony. After spending the last four years training at Michigan and the past two months sequestered with the rest of the United States Olympic swim team, Phelps said he was looking forward to returning to his hometown, Baltimore, and settling back into his old life.
“That’s what I want,” he said. “As close to that as possible.”
Phelps’s public profile has changed so dramatically in the past week, is it realistic for him to expect his life to remain the same? “I have no idea,” Phelps said. “I’ll be able to answer that question when I get back there and see it firsthand. I have no idea what it’s going to be like.”
He sounded determined not to lose himself in the celebrity scene. “I’m going to live my life the way I always have,” he said.
Phelps is willing to make a couple of exceptions. He said he would love to hang out with Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods, two people he has never met. Phelps is drawn to both because he wants to be like them. His long-term goal is to have the same impact on swimming that Jordan had on basketball and Woods had on golf.
An avid card player, Phelps said it would be cool to participate in the World Series of Poker. “My game is a little off right now,” he said, “so I’ll have to start improving it a little bit.”
After the 1972 Olympics, Spitz posed for a poster in his swimsuit, wearing his seven gold medals around his neck. If there is a similar photo shoot in Phelps’s future, he has not seen the schedule.
“I have no idea,” he said. “I just woke up this morning and did a bunch of interviews. I’m just trying to get everything situated, recover and all that stuff before everything starts taking off again.”
The way his popularity has skyrocketed, it may be awhile before Phelps returns to earth.
