Michael Phelps is the most decorated Olympian of all time, winning 23 gold medals in his time and becoming the irresistible force in the swimming events.

Dealing with the pressure of his reputation several times throughout his career, one can only imagine how painful it must have been to see Simone Biles drop out of the Gymnastic all-round finals. 

Being touted as the favorite to win Olympic gold this year in every event, a dream has turned into a nightmare for Biles as she pulled out, citing mental health reasons. The issue highlighted a bitter aspect of being an athlete and placed it on the podium like never before. 

“The Olympics is overwhelming. There are a lot of emotions that go into it. I can talk about this for an hour,” Michael Phelps said, speaking to NBC.

“The easiest way for me to say it is I think athletes, and Olympic athletes in general, we need someone who we can trust. Somebody who can let us be ourselves, listen and allow us to become vulnerable. Somebody who is not gonna come try to fix us.

“We carry a lot of things and a lot of weight on our shoulders. It’s challenging, especially when we have the lights on us and all the expectations that are being thrown on top of us,” he explained. 

Michael Phelps hopes Simone Biles’ case is an eye-opener

Phelps is an active advocate of mental health and admitted that it was painful to see yet another promising athlete buckle down because of it. 

“It broke my heart. But also, if you look at it, mental health over the last 18 months, is something that people are talking about,” he added.

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The Olympic legend hopes that Biles’ case is an ‘eye-opening’ experience for the public to recognize mental health as a serious issue. 

“We’re human beings, nobody is perfect,” he said. “It’s ok to not be ok. It’s ok to go through ups and downs and emotional roller coasters … I felt like I was carrying, as Simone (Biles) said, the weight of the world on my shoulders. It’s a tough situation.” 

While Phelps managed to hold on to his own and deliver on expectations time and again, Simone Biles certainly felt the weight of the world on her shoulders too overbearing.

The demand, the piercing legacy she was expected to leave behind may have just been the deciding factor in this upsetting turn of events in Tokyo. 

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