--- title: Rio 2016 Olympics: History of Michael Phelps' Retiring description: The Greatest Olympian of All Time has said he's leaving the pool plenty of times before — but that hasn't stopped him from jumping back in. canonical: https://time.com/4452285/rio-2016-olympics-michael-phelps-retirement/ author: Raisa Bruner article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-08-15T15:23:20.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:35:30.004Z og:title: All the Times Michael Phelps Has Insisted He's Retiring og:description: The record-breaking Olympian has said he's done with swimming many times before. og:url: https://time.com/4452285/rio-2016-olympics-michael-phelps-retirement/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2f2100d97fd357b1/6988a261bc6cfc5d763de3f9/michael-phelps-waving.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: SWIMMING-OLY-2016-RIO-PODIUM og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: All the Times Michael Phelps Has Insisted He's Retiring twitter:description: The record-breaking Olympian has said he's done with swimming many times before. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2f2100d97fd357b1/6988a261bc6cfc5d763de3f9/michael-phelps-waving.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # All the Times Michael Phelps Has Totally Insisted He's Going to Retire  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Aug 15, 2016 3:23 PM UTC  USA's gold medallist Michael Phelps waves after the podium ceremony of the Men's swimming 4 x 100m Medley Relay Final at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium in Rio de Janeiro on August 13, 2016\. / AFP / Martin BUREAU (Photo credit should read MARTIN BUREAU/AFP/Getty Images) USA's gold medallist Michael Phelps waves after the podium ceremony of the Men's swimming 4 x 100m Medley Relay Final at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium in Rio de Janeiro on August 13, 2016\. / AFP / Martin BUREAU (Photo credit should read MARTIN BUREAU/AFP/Getty Images)Martin Bureau—Getty Images  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Aug 15, 2016 3:23 PM UTC After winning 28 Olympic medals, [Michael Phelps](http://time.com/4444374/michael-phelps-rio-olympics-game-face/?iid=sr-link2) has just said he is ready to retire, again. “Done, done, done — and this time I mean it,” he [told TODAY’s Matt Lauer](http://www.today.com/news/michael-phelps-announces-retirement-today-show-time-i-mean-it-t101844) on Monday. He reiterated it during [a Facebook Live session](https://www.facebook.com/michaelphelps/?fref=ts). But this isn’t the first time we’ve heard Phelps say he’s leaving his sport, after spending [24 years as its poster child.](http://time.com/4451492/phelps-gold-medals-rio-2016-olympics-swimming-ledecky-simone-manuelgolden-finale-for-phelps-final-farewell/?iid=sr-link4) After the 2012 London Olympics, the heavily-decorated swimmer made the same statement — also to Matt Lauer. “I’m done. I’m finished. I’m retired. I’m done. No more,” he told TODAY four years ago. He has said that he was [“ready to move on”](http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/rio-2016/2016/08/05/michael-phelps-fifth-olympic-games/88285558/) at that point, having already broken plenty of records and racked up plenty of medals at that point, thanks to swimming in three consecutive Olympics — already an impressive feat. “I just wanted to be done with swimming and didn’t want anything to do with the sport anymore,” he said of his mindset at the time. Following [a DUI arrest and his time in rehab](http://time.com/4106212/michael-phelps-dui-interview/) in 2014, as well as the rekindling of his relationship with Nicole Johnson and the birth of their son Boomer, however, Phelps came back stronger and more focused than ever. [Even back in 2008](http://www.people.com/people/package/article/0,,20996464%5F21023394,00.html) after Beijing, Phelps drifted away from the pool, [discontinuing his training;](http://www.npr.org/sections/thetorch/2012/08/08/158422864/michael-phelps-exits-the-olympics-and-enters-retirement-at-27) he said he was in “La-La Land” and had lost focus. But once he found goals to apply his energy toward, he jumped right back in. Not even his teammates are taking him at his word this time around. [Katie Ledecky](http://time.com/4445981/rio-2016-swimming-ledecky-phelps-hosszu-gold/), the women’s swimming phenomenon, suggested you just never know when he’ll really stick to his retirement plans. “Last time was his last, this time was his last, and I get to say I was on the same team twice when he retired,” Ledecky told [_The Washington Post_](https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/olympics/michael-phelps-says-hes-retiring-but-its-tantalizing-to-believe-otherwise/2016/08/13/5473bafc-6155-11e6-9d2f-b1a3564181a1%5Fstory.html) over the weekend. “Maybe there will be a third time. All records are made to be broken.” Meanwhile, [his other teammate](http://time.com/4448892/ryan-lochte-michael-phelps-rio-olympics/), competitor, roommate, [and friend Ryan Lochte](http://time.com/4450036/rio-2016-olympics-michael-phelps-ryan-lochte-friendship/?iid=sr-link1) has challenged Phelps to a re-match of their rivalry in Tokyo in 2020; Lochte’s own sights are already set on that new goal, and [he said he could “guarantee”](http://time.com/4450025/rio-2016-olympics-ryan-lochte-michael-phelps/?iid=sr-link2) Phelps would be there, too. And just before arriving in Rio, Phelps [told reporters that](http://www.espn.com/olympics/swimming/story/%5F/id/17211467/swimmer-michael-phelps-opens-door-compete-tokyo-olympics) this would be his “potential” final Olympic appearance. “Just so you guys don’t beat me to death if I come back,” he said. As we’ve seen with Phelps over and over again, only time will tell what the [Greatest Olympian of All Time](http://time.com/4447065/rio-2016-olympics-michael-phelps-face/?iid=sr-link5) will ultimately choose to do. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4452285/rio-2016-olympics-michael-phelps-retirement/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4452285/rio-2016-olympics-michael-phelps-retirement/"},"headline":"All the Times Michael Phelps Has Totally Insisted He's Going to Retire","datePublished":"2016-08-15T15:23:20.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:35:30.004Z","description":"\"This time I mean it.\"","url":"https://time.com/4452285/rio-2016-olympics-michael-phelps-retirement/","keywords":["Newsfeed","olympics","celebrities","Summer Olympics","2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2f2100d97fd357b1/6988a261bc6cfc5d763de3f9/michael-phelps-waving.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Raisa Bruner","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2f2100d97fd357b1/6988a261bc6cfc5d763de3f9/michael-phelps-waving.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"SWIMMING-OLY-2016-RIO-PODIUM","caption":"SWIMMING-OLY-2016-RIO-PODIUM","creditText":"Martin Bureau—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":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4452285/rio-2016-olympics-michael-phelps-retirement/","name":"All the Times Michael Phelps Has Totally Insisted He's Going to Retire"}}]}] ```