The biography of Michael Phelps by Alice Park tells us about the amazing life of a competitive American swimmer who accomplished his goal with great determination and ambition. As a 19 years old boy, Phelps had a chance to participate in the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece. He had a goal of breaking the swimming record of seven gold medals. In his first race with two skilled competitors, Phelps won third place. He knew that he had no chance of beating the two swimmers, but he was never discouraged. Instead, Phelps claimed in front of the media that it was certainly a fun experience. After the race, he continued his journey reaching for his goal, where he practiced diligently with ambition. That doesn’t mean that Phelps’ selfish. Oppositely, Phelps gave his spot to a teammate in the medley race for letting him improve his abilities. Finally, Phelps won eight medals and broke the record. He became an all-around winner that earned everyone’s admiration.
People’s determination in themselves orders their potential and success. Determination allows us to persevere and continue working toward our goals at a steady pace. It’s incredibly important, especially for an athlete, to know themselves thoroughly. In the biography of Michael Phelps, he truly knows who he is and the purpose of being a swimmer. He knew that he wouldn't beat the other competitors in that swimming race, therefore, he happened to not be discouraged easily. Phelps had a clear mindset of his swimming career; it was just practicing over and over again in order to achieve his goal of breaking the record. Moreover, Phelps’ virtue of being ambitious led him to winning his targets. Ambition is not always a bad thing, in fact, it’s necessary for any athletes or workers. We all live in a competitive environment and sometimes we need to be aggressive in our careers. Phelps’ had goals and strategies in his swimming career. Unlike other people who are lazy but have visionary paths, Phelps strives to win with a realistic goal in mind. With his great determination and ambition, he built up his confidence and reputation. These two virtues are keys leading to success in life.
Phelps earned people’s appreciation and respect not only from his excellent swimming abilities, but also his warm care toward his teammates. We relate to the word “selfish” when we think of the word “ambitious”. Even though Phelps had a competitive heart, he also cared about the ambitions and feelings of his teammates, therefore, he’s definitely not selfish. He was willing to give his spot to one of his teammates in a very important international medley race. Normal swimmers won’t do that, but Phelps did this generous act with ease. Remember, Phelps was only 19 years old by then, but he still had this type of awareness and mature mind. The qualities of discernment and compassion in Phelps revealed to us that he's a special swimmer. After having so many fans, Phelps still remained humble, but with the right amount of confidence. The virtue of caring can be really scarce in the Olympics Games and the sports circle. It is quite rare to know an athlete like Phelps who’s both successful and great in manner.
Having a competitive spirit, taking care of teammates already made Phelps stand out. But the main thing that made Phelps famous was his outstanding number of achievements. In order for an athlete to be recognized, physical strengths and grades matter a lot. Normal athletes need to compete year after year just to have an entry ticket to the Olympics. Even after several rounds in the games, they might not win a single medal or gain enough experience. For Phelps, his starting point was already better than other athletes. When he was competing in the Olympic Games, he was only 19 years old. After the game, Phelps earned a total of eight medals ( six gold medals and two bronze), which broke the record. In the medley race, Phelps’ team scored number one and broke the world record. He successfully achieved his purpose in his swimming career at a young age. Phelps’ achievements also included people’s respect and love toward him and the U.S team’s own victory.
The swimming career of Michael Phelps is totally fulfilling. He’s one of the most decorated Olypician in the world. There were certainly many career highlights of Phelps. With his great determination and ambitious heart, he proved to us all that athlete’s can’t succeed without a competitive spirit and diligent effort behind them. With his great virtue of caring, he showed that he’s not at all selfish, but generous to his team. With his huge achievements, he showed everyone that he’s always capable of competing. That is why people call him the “all-around winner”, which he definitely is. Phelps seems like a gleaming star in Olympic history, who made people from different countries admire him.
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