Well, I would most likely buy myself a new car, a nice big plasma tv, or talent that would allow me to win eight gold medals in an Olympic games. But not the 14 time Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps.
Ever since Phelps has dominated the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, he has been one of the most emerging figures in pop culture, touring places such as Portugal, London, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Las Vegas and Los Angeles, as well as appearing at the VMA's and hosting Saturday Night Live. And it's great to not see all of this publicity go to the 23 year old's head.
Phelps was awarded a million dollar bonus from Speedo for his record breaking accomplishment of winning 8 gold medals, which I cannot even describe how amazing and difficult that is. But I can tell you what he has done even bigger than that.
On his stop at the Boys and Girls Club of Burbank, which he talked to kids about not putting limits on their goals, he gave a one million dollar donation to the national organization as he begins his own foundation. There, a 7 year old, Javier Silva, approached Michael Phelps with a bracelet which had 8 gold rings on it to represent his 8 medals he won in Beijing, which he was spotted hours later still wearing.
This is absolutely fantastic to see, as a swimmer, I understand how underrated this sport is. But the way Phelps reaches out to the children and tries to promote swimming as much as possible, excites me to see that maybe in the future swimming may be able to grow into a much more popular sport.
No comments:
Post a Comment