______________ : The most extraordinary
Olympic legend in history

One of the hardest things to agree is who the best athlete of all time is. Opinions
can be subjective and tending to be bias depending on the sport you like best.
However, the task becomes easier if you narrow it down into categories, competitions
and titles. When we think of the Olympic gods and goddesses who have been on the
top of the Olympus more than any other mortal to claim victories in the shape of
gold medals, then we have the name and last name of the most successful Olympian
ever: ______________

_________ started swimming when he was only seven in his hometown, Baltimore, USA. When he was nine, doctors diagnosed him with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). His mom used his passion for sports to help
him overcome his limitations and the bullying. Since he loved sports, she gave articles on sports to motivate him to read more. She hired a private math tutor to teach him using word problems that met his interests: "How long would it take to swim 500 meters if you swim three meters per second?"

_____________ grew up to become the greatest swimmer ever. He was only
15 years old when he qualified for his first Olympic Games in 2000 Sydney, becoming
the second youngest male to make it into the US swim team in history. He didn't win
any medal, but he gained invaluable experience. This experience paid off in the following
two games. In Athens 2004, still a teenager, ____________ took the games by storm snatching six gold and two bronze medals. Four years later, in Beijing, the "Baltimore bullet" outdid his previous performance when he competed in eight events, and simply won all of them. All possible records an athlete could break were then broken. The world watched in awe the reign of the best swimmer ever, a superhuman Aquaman.

Over time, however, his body and mind started to suffer. Could the now mature
man perform as highly as before? The 2012 London Games watched an unhappy
winner at his worst days. He was not as motivated as he used to be; he was tired of
all the intense training and the sacrifices the high-level competition imposed him.
Despite all the problems, he was able to win four gold medals and two bronze. After
those games, however, he decided to retire and try to enjoy a regular life.

His passion for swimming was too strong to stop yet. ______________ felt motivated again to compete in his last games. This time not for the fans, but for himself. He just wanted to have fun. In the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics, he was
given the biggest honour of carrying his country's flag at the opening ceremony.
That was the first Olympic opening ceremony that he attended, since the others he
didn't want to have any kind of distraction from his goals. Those were the first games
he felt relaxed to socialize with the other athletes. His pleasant behavior was an
incredible contrast to his isolation in previous games. He brought his wife Nicole and
son Boomer to share with them his happiest moment. _______________'s performance in the Rio Olympics was unique in winning five gold and one silver medals at 31 years old, an incredible feat well beyond the typical peak for male swimmers. For all his unparalleled accomplishments, if ___________ is not the greatest Olympians of all time, he
certainly is the most decorated one. In 23 occasions, he was the fastest, the strongest, and the best athlete. People have asked him if he would go back in the next Olympics to become the oldest swimmer to win a gold medal. He laughs and thanks, responding that the the medal count will do for him. And this honour is likely will never be taken away from him.
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