LONDON – When Michael Phelps left the swimming pool for the last time, he was carrying two things:
In his right hand was a statue from FINA, the international governing body of swimming. It had been presented to him earlier Sunday night, after winning his 22nd and final Olympic medal – 18 of them gold, including the last one as part of the
United States' 400-meter medley relay. The inscription on the trophy declared Phelps, "The Greatest Olympic Athlete of All Time."