--- title: Rio 2016 Olympics: Michael Phelps Laughing National Anthem description: After winning Tuesday night’s 200-meter fly final of the Rio Olympics, Michael Phelps burst into laughter as the national anthem played. canonical: https://time.com/4446337/rio-2016-olympics-michael-phelps-laughing-national-anthem/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-08-10T14:56:24.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:35:18.463Z article:section: Sports og:title: The Reason Michael Phelps Was Laughing During the National Anthem Will Make You Smile og:description: The swimmer couldn't keep a straight face og:url: https://time.com/4446337/rio-2016-olympics-michael-phelps-laughing-national-anthem/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb0695c4bba0be890/6988a1cdab6d7774a76aada7/michael-phelps-laughing.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Rio 2016 swimming og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Reason Michael Phelps Was Laughing During the National Anthem Will Make You Smile twitter:description: The swimmer couldn't keep a straight face twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb0695c4bba0be890/6988a1cdab6d7774a76aada7/michael-phelps-laughing.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Reason Michael Phelps Was Laughing During the National Anthem Will Make You Smile > Sponsored content. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account.  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Aug 10, 2016 2:56 PM UTC  Michael Phelps laughs after being presented with his 20th Olympic gold medal after winning the men's 200-meter butterfly at Rio 2016 on Tuesday, August 9, 2016. Michael Phelps laughs after being presented with his 20th Olympic gold medal after winning the men's 200-meter butterfly at Rio 2016 on Tuesday, August 9, 2016.AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post via Getty Images  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Aug 10, 2016 2:56 PM UTC After winning Tuesday night’s [200-meter fly final](http://time.com/4446040/michael-phelps-swimming-olympics-rio/) of the Rio 2016 Summer Games, [Michael Phelps](http://time.com/4444374/michael-phelps-rio-olympics-game-face/) stood atop the Olympic podium to be awarded his [20th gold medal](http://time.com/4444756/rio-2016-olympics-michael-phelps-gold-medal-celebrations/). But as the United States national anthem played, the 31-year-old swimmer suddenly burst into laughter, causing many to wonder what was so funny. Luckily, following his second gold of the night for the [4×200-meter freestyle relay](http://time.com/4445981/rio-2016-swimming-ledecky-phelps-hosszu-gold/), Phelps let everyone else in on the joke. [_Sports Illustrated_](http://www.si.com/olympics/2016/08/10/michael-phelps-laughing-national-anthem-baltimore-orioles)reported that during an interview with NBC, he explained that his hometown friends had been the reason he couldn’t keep a straight face. > [](https://twitter.com/jameson2111/status/763199586882039808) “My boys from Baltimore were down on the other end, and back in Maryland, we all say “O!” for the Orioles during that part of the national anthem,” Phelps said. “And all of the sudden I hear them roar “O!,” and I knew exactly where it came from, and I just lost it because those guys came down from Baltimore and New York City to be here, and it’s just special to see those guys in the stands.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4446337/rio-2016-olympics-michael-phelps-laughing-national-anthem/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4446337/rio-2016-olympics-michael-phelps-laughing-national-anthem/"},"headline":"The Reason Michael Phelps Was Laughing During the National Anthem Will Make You Smile","datePublished":"2016-08-10T14:56:24.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:35:18.463Z","description":"The swimmer couldn't keep a straight face","url":"https://time.com/4446337/rio-2016-olympics-michael-phelps-laughing-national-anthem/","keywords":["olympics","Newsfeed","Michael Phelps","Summer Olympics","Rio 2016","2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics","Rio 2016 Olympics"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb0695c4bba0be890/6988a1cdab6d7774a76aada7/michael-phelps-laughing.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"articleSection":"Sports","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb0695c4bba0be890/6988a1cdab6d7774a76aada7/michael-phelps-laughing.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Rio 2016 swimming","caption":"Michael Phelps laughs after being presented with his 20th Olympic gold medal after winning the men's 200-meter butterfly at Rio 2016 on Tuesday, August 9, 2016.","creditText":"AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/sports/","name":"Sports"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/olympics/","name":"olympics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4446337/rio-2016-olympics-michael-phelps-laughing-national-anthem/","name":"The Reason Michael Phelps Was Laughing During the National Anthem Will Make You Smile"}}]}] ```