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Today’s quote is from Michael Fred Phelps II, born today in 1985 in Baltimore, Maryland. Phelps is an American former competitive swimmer. He is the most successful and most decorated Olympian of all time with a total of 28 medals. Phelps also holds the all-time records for Olympic gold medals (23), Olympic gold medals in individual events (13), and Olympic medals in individual events (16). When Phelps won eight gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Games, he broke fellow American swimmer Mark Spitz’s 1972 record of seven first-place finishes at any single Olympic Games. At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Phelps already tied the record of eight medals of any color at a single Games by winning six gold and two bronze medals. At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Phelps won four gold and two silver medals, and at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, he won five gold medals and one silver. This made him the most successful athlete of the Games for the fourth Olympics in a row.
Phelps is the long course world record holder in the men’s 400-meter individual medley as well as the former long course world record holder in the 200-meter freestyle, 100-meter butterfly, 200-meter butterfly, and 200-meter individual medley. He has won 82 medals in major international long course competitions, of which 65 were gold, 14 silver, and three bronze, spanning the Olympics, the World Championships, and the Pan Pacific Championships. Phelps’s international titles and record-breaking performances have earned him the World Swimmer of the Year Award eight times and American Swimmer of the Year Award eleven times, as well as the FINA Swimmer of the Year Award in 2012 and 2016. Phelps earned Sports Illustrated magazine’s Sportsman of the Year award due to his unprecedented Olympic success in the 2008 Games.
“If you want to be the best, you have to do things that other people aren’t willing to do.”
Quick Take – This is the true secret of getting ahead…
Daily Focus – Friday – Mental – Play a word game… solve a puzzle… engage the brain today…
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Other Birthdays Today –
1470 Charles VIII, King of France (1483-98) who invaded Italy, born in Château d’Amboise, France (d. 1498)
1917 Susan Hayward, American actress (I Want to Live, Tulsa), born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 1975)
1956 David Alan Grier, American actor and comedian (In Living Color, Boomerang), born in Detroit, Michigan
1966 Mike Tyson, American boxer (youngest ever heavyweight champion 1986-90, 20 years, 4 months, 22 days), born in Brooklyn, New York
1984 Fantasia [Barrino], American singer (American Idol, “Back to Me”), born in High Point, North Carolina
1985 Michael Phelps, American swimmer (record 23 Olympic gold medals), born in Baltimore, Maryland