Back before Michael Phelps began his conquest of 28 Olympic medals, one Australian swimmer in the name of Ian Thorpe created ripples inside the swimming pool. Just like Phelps, Thorpe won tons of medals in his career. The duo met at the 2004 Athens Olympics. It gave birth to the Race of the Century. Known as ‘Thorpedo’, he won the race convincingly as Phelps finished third.

Heading to the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Thorpe stated how Phelps will not win eight gold medals at those Games. That was all the motivation he needed.

Michael Phelps locked in at Beijing 2008

In a fascinating interview with NBA point guard Chris Paul, Phelps opened up on Thorpe’s stance, which motivated him to become better. Doubting his abilities ahead of those penultimate Olympic Games, he answered his critics grandly by winning eight gold medals. Nonetheless, he created seven world records too.

Thorpe’s statement motivated Phelps to shut down all the detractors and dominate the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

“I mean, I have. My whole career was filled with people who doubted me. You know, going into 2008, Thorpe said I’d never win right gold medals. But, Thank you, Ian! And he knows, he knows that was; I think he said afterwards, he goes, ‘I know how you work and I know how to motivate you.'”

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Even when he finished third in the 200-meters freestyle competition, he won six gold medals and two bronze medals in those games. After that disappointing loss, he stepped onto the plate and won the gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

One of his favorite performances

In his interview with Chris Paul, Phelps even put forward his best performance being the 200-meters freestyle at the Olympics. He set a time of 1:42..96 and created the world record. Breaking Mark Spitz’s world record of seven gold medals from the 1972 Munich Olympics, Thorpe’s motivation was all he needed as he swam a near-perfect 200-meters freestyle event.

“Honestly from a textbook, like best performance, I would say it’s probably the 200m free from Beijing,” said Phelps.

To sum up, Thorpe’s queries allowed him to push for greatness. It is just one factor for Phelps’ victories in Beijing. Retiring with an incredible 23 Olympic gold medals, Phelps dominated the swimming competitions for a long time.

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