so what is the motivation at the end of the day for that kind of extreme dedication? if you want to be the best, you have to do things other people aren t willing to do. and that point, it s a couple more than anyone else gets every single year. and, also, in swimming, if you miss one day of swimming, it takes you twice as long to get that. so, you know, for example, for me, after 2008, i took six months off. it probably took me a year and a half to get back to where i really needed to be and should be. was the dream to be an a limpic champion? or do you have other olympic dreams? what were the young michael phelps dreams? o lirpic gold medallist. i mean, i grew up, my sister was first in the nation, third in the world. she was 14, so i was nine. i got to ten and i saw all the cool things she got to do, like travel the world and do this and do that. i said oh, that sounds cool, i ll do that. you have a younger brother. we were all very competitive vmt. when you
interview with michael phelps. this is piers morgan tonight. good everybodying, the games in london will be some of the most spectacular performances in history. a remarkable 22 medals. i sat down with michael phelps. as you see, he speaks from the heart and holds back very little. so michael, welcome. you told me if you re ever tired, you get a bit grouchy and you can be very short. so how are you feeling? i feel all right. grouchy? tired? you ve been answering questions all day. and if i just repeat the same old nonsense, then you re going to give me less time? i ll just be like a tape recorder. london is my hoechl town. what s extraordinary is every american athlete, when i asked e asked them to describe a role model, almost every one of them said you. with that comes responsibility. are you aware of the status you have amongst your peer group? and what do you feel with that responsibility? i mean, sometimes i feel it. i like to think of myself as a normal person