--- title: April Fools' Day 2017: Michael Phelps Faux Olympics 2020 Bid description: For April Fools' Day, Michael Phelps tweeted that he was returning to swimming and competing at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo canonical: https://time.com/4722001/michael-phelps-olympics-joke/ author: Olivia B. Waxman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-04-01T18:29:06.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:42:27.833Z og:title: No, Michael Phelps Is Not Coming Out of Retirement (Yet) og:description: But he still could og:url: https://time.com/4722001/michael-phelps-olympics-joke/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt267619588c195073/6988c0de196cf441af03f796/gettyimages-589508260-11.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Around the Games - Olympics: Day 9 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: No, Michael Phelps Is Not Coming Out of Retirement (Yet) twitter:description: But he still could twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt267619588c195073/6988c0de196cf441af03f796/gettyimages-589508260-11.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # No, Michael Phelps Is Not Coming Out of Retirement (Yet)  by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer Apr 1, 2017 6:29 PM UTC  Michael Phelps of the United States speaks during a press conference at the Main Press Centre on August 14, 2016, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Michael Phelps of the United States speaks during a press conference at the Main Press Centre on August 14, 2016, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.Jamie Squire—Getty Images  by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer Apr 1, 2017 6:29 PM UTC Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian of all time, made waves Saturday after he[ tweeted](https://twitter.com/MichaelPhelps/status/848146735612526592) that he is going to return to professional swimming and start training for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. But the hype around Phelps returning to the pool was short-lived. [Team USA](https://www.instagram.com/p/BSWEjpsF37k/?taken-by=teamusa) posted on Instagram that the announcement was part of an April Fools’ Day joke. The prank tricked some people — especially after [his teammate](http://time.com/4448892/ryan-lochte-michael-phelps-rio-olympics/) and former roommate at the 2016 Olympics [Ryan Lochte](http://time.com/4450036/rio-2016-olympics-michael-phelps-ryan-lochte-friendship/?iid=sr-link1) challenged Phelps to a re-match at the 2020 games. Even teammate Katie Ledecky has said she doesn’t believe he’ll sit out the 2020 Summer Games. TIME [reported](http://time.com/4452285/rio-2016-olympics-michael-phelps-retirement/) last summer that “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.'” Phelps came out of “retirement” in April 2014, despite [vowing](http://www.espn.com/olympics/swimming/story/%5F/id/10780808/olympic-great-michael-phelps-ends-retirement-swim-april-meet) that he would not continue swimming professionally in his 30s. At the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio, the 31-year-old ended up winning five more gold medals and a silver, bringing his medal count up to to [23 Olympic titles ](https://www.olympic.org/michael-phelps)and 28 medals. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4722001/michael-phelps-olympics-joke/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4722001/michael-phelps-olympics-joke/"},"headline":"No, Michael Phelps Is Not Coming Out of Retirement (Yet)","datePublished":"2017-04-01T18:29:06.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:42:27.833Z","description":"But he still could","url":"https://time.com/4722001/michael-phelps-olympics-joke/","keywords":["Newsfeed","viral","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt267619588c195073/6988c0de196cf441af03f796/gettyimages-589508260-11.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Olivia B. 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