Michael Fred Phelps born June 30, 1985 is an American swimmer who has, overall, won 16 Olympic medals 6 gold and 2 bronze at Athens in 2004, and 8 gold at Beijing in 2008, becoming the most of a successful athlete at both of these Olympic Games editions. In doing so he has twice equaled the record 8 medals of any type at single Olympics achieved by Soviet gymnast Alexander Dityatin at the 1980 Moscow Summer Games. His 5 golds in individual events tied the single Games record set by the Eric Heiden in the 1980 Winter Olympics and equaled by Vitaly Scherbo at 1992 Summer Games.Phelps holds the record for the most gold medals won in a single Olympics, his 8 at the 2008 Beijing Games surpassed American swimmer Mark Spitz's seven-gold performance at Munich in 1972.Phelps' Olympic medal total is second only to the 18 Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina won over 3 Olympics, including 9 gold. Furthermore, he holds the all-time record for most individual gold Olympic medals, at a nine.
Phelps's international titles & record breaking performances have earned him the World Swimmer of the Year Award 6 times and American Swimmer of the Year Award 8 times. He has won a total of fifty-nine medals in major international competition, 5 gold, 7 silver, and 2 bronze spanning the Olympics, the World, and the Pan Pacific Championships. His unprecedented Olympic success in 2008 earned Phelps Sports Illustrated magazine's Sportsman of the Year award.
| Medal | Event | Timing |
| Gold | 100 m butterfly | 50.58 (OR) |
| Gold | 200 m butterfly | 1:52.03 (WR) |
| Gold | 200 m freestyle | 1:42.96 (WR) |
| Gold | 200 m individual medley | 1:54.23 (WR) |
| Gold | 400 m individual medley | 4:03.84 (WR) |
| Gold | 4×100 m freestyle relay | 3:08.24 (WR) |
| Gold | 4×200 m freestyle relay | 6:58.56 (WR) |
| Gold | 4×100 m medley relay | 3:29.34 (WR) |
