Michael Fred Phelps II, the greatest Olympian of all time. A phrase that is making more and more sense as time goes by. Yesterday the American swimmer from Towson, Maryland won his 19th Olympic Medal (15th gold) and surpassed former Ukrainian gymnast Larisa Latynina with 18 medals. Michael Phelps won a silver medal in the 200 meter butterfly, which might have been one of the best Olympic events of the 2012 London Games. After being ahead on every 50m checkpoint, the American phenom lost the gold medal to Chad le Clos, a South African swimmer who outswam Phelps with a time of 1m 52s 96 against Phelps' 1m 53s 01. This was South Africa's second medal in the 2012 games and both have been gold medals coming from mens swimming. Phelps' second medal of the day, and the one that made him the all-time leader in medals was the gold he won in the 4x200 meter freestyle relay.
Phelps holds the all-time records for gold medals (15) and gold medals in individual events (9). He is also the current individual long course world record holder in the 100 meters butterfly, 200 meters butterfly, and 400 meters individual medley. Phelps is now 27 years old and is competing in his third Summer Olympic Games, which means he could still be able to qualify for the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Games since he would be 31 by then.
If appointing the title of greatest Olympic athlete of all time, it is hard not to say Michael Phelps without even blinking, but there is a strong case to be made for Ukrainian gymnast Larisa Latynina. Larisa was born in Kherson, a part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic on December 27, 1934 and is 77 years old. She has 18 Olympic medals (9 golds) and is the female athlete with the most gold medals ever and who at one point held that record for both men and women.
