Michael Phelps watched as the Team USA men’s swimming team registered just one individual gold medal in the Paris Olympics. Disappointed with the overall performance of the team, the greatest Olympian of all time did not shy away from voicing his discontent.
For the first time since the 1956 Olympics, the American Men’s swimming team failed to win more than one individual gold medal. And speaking to USA Today about the same, Phelps was not happy with the results.
“For me, as a whole, I was pretty disappointed to see the U.S. swimming results.”
Caeleb Dressel was the mantle bearer for the American men, as he was the favorite to win the gold in the 100m butterfly and the 50m freestyle.
However, it wasn’t meant to be, as no individual medal went his way. With the rest of the world catching up, Michael Phelps wants the team to now focus on building momentum for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
Michael Phelps is “pretty disappointed” in Team USA men’s swimming at the 2024 #ParisOlympics. pic.twitter.com/w32ER72lIU
— E! News (@enews) August 7, 2024
While the 39-year-old mostly had disappointment dripping from his words, praise followed for Bobby Finke. Calling his performance one of the best he had ever seen, Phelps said he still had chills talking about it the next day.
The 24-year-old was the only individual gold medalist in the American men’s team. Defending the 1500m freestyle title from the Tokyo Olympics was the only thing on Finke’s mind.
There was extra pressure on him as it was also the last chance for an American swimmer to secure an individual gold medal. Delivering on the biggest platform, he won the race with a time of 14.30:67, besting the previous world record set by China’s Sun Yang (14.31:02).
Finke’s stellar performance became the saving grace for his team, who have a lot of work to do. With the Olympics taking place in Los Angeles next, the Americans will be the home favorites and that will only add pressure.
