Ethan Hammar: Olympic Athletes

Olympians all share an athletic quality that many people do not experience. Ethan Hammar from California enjoyed watching the Olympics, as did billions of people worldwide. Modern Olympics have been around since 1896 when Athens, Greece hosted the summer games. Before the International Olympic Committee was formed, the Olympic Games can be traced back to the eighth century AD. Any games prior to 393 AD were known as the Ancient Olympic Games; between 393 AD and 1896 there were no official games at all. Swimming is arguably the most competitive Olympic sport. Every year countries compete for the gold medal, but many go home disappointed. Fifteen year old Ethan Hammar watched race after race as Michael Phelps seemingly took home every gold medal. His last gold medal was won at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Summer
His impact on the swimming culture was enormous. All the kids watching were inspired by this champion, and when his medals are observed all together, you can see what an amazing swimmer he really is. According to the Michael Phelps page on Olympic.org, Phelps ended his career with a total of 18 gold medals in 2012.
Michael Phelps’ swimming career was ended in 2012, but after the London Olympics of 2012, he announced that retirement rumors were false, and he would be competing again in the 2016 Rio Olympic Games (Biography.com). Mr. Phelps’ age shows a trend in the Olpympics where the average age of the participant is significantly increasing. At the 2016 Rio Olympics, Phelps was already 31 years old compared to the average Olympic swimmers age of 23.3 years. In the last 30 years the average Olympic swimming age, as stated by Roya Sabri on the Christian Science Monitor website, has ”increased by 4.6 years for men” showing a trend of more disciplined athletes coming to the Games and staying active through the off