American swimmer Michael Phelps is right to quit the sport after breaking Larisa Latynina’s record of 18 Olympic medals, the former Soviet gymnast told R-Sport in a recent interview.
Phelps won his 19th medal Tuesday with gold in the 4x200 freestyle relay, and added his 20th by beating Ryan Lochte to gold in the 200 meters individual medley.
“When I spoke to him about sport, he said that he’d got so tired, that these Olympics will be his last and his legs won’t be in the pool any more,” Latynina said Thursday.
“I told him that’s the right decision because I think that, no matter how old someone is, if you’re getting pleasure from what you do, from competing, from your training, then obviously just compete. But if you’ve had enough and it’s not for joy, then you need to leave.”
Latynina, who was born in Ukraine and now lives in Russia, said that she had enjoyed Phelps’ career.
“All athletes should be pleased that a person like him exists who demonstrates the perfection of human ability,” she said.
“Although obviously I’d like it if he’d been born in our country,” she joked.
Phelps, 27, has two more chances to add to his medal tally when he competes in Friday’s final of the 100 meters butterfly and in the 4x100 medley relay, which starts Friday with the final Saturday.
