Michael Phelps : Caeleb Dressel could win eight golds at Tokyo 2020
The most decorated Olympian of all time believes we could see an athlete win eight swimming gold medals at Tokyo 2020
Swimming
Michael Phelps knows what it takes.
The most decorated Olympian of all time has amassed 23 Olympic gold medals.
The swimming legend holds the record for winning the most number of golds at a Games when he swept victory in all eight of his events at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.
And after watching Caeleb Dressel's performance at the 2019 FINA World Championships in Gwangju, Phelps believes that we could see a similar success story at the next Olympic Games in Tokyo.
"If there's someone who doesn't care how hard it's going to be, how hard they're going to have to work, how much pain they're willing to put their body through, we might see it." Michael Phelps to The Associated Press
Let's just start off by saying that Phelps himself has no intention of repeating his feat.
The American has consistently put an end to the multi-million dollar question surrounding a potential comeback, despite watching his swimming records slowly tumble with time.
In Gwangju, two of his long-standing records were broken.
First Hungary's Kristof Milak smashed Phelps' 10-year-old 200-meter butterfly record then Dressel improved the legend's 10-year-old 100-meter butterfly record.
Dressel's victory in that event added to his tally of six gold and two silver medals.
The 22-year-old became the first swimmer in history to record eight medals at the Worlds and earned praise from the G.O.A.T on social media.
Dressel is no newcommer to the sport.
The American shared the top step of the podium with Phelps in Rio after clinching the 4x100m freestyle win, and picked up another gold in the 4x100m medley after taking part in the heats as USA went on to win the event.
At the 2017 FINA World Championships in Budapest, he tied Phelps' record for seven gold medals. He also made headlines by winning three titles in one night, a feat that he repeated in Korea.
It's no wonder the Florida-born swimmer is being billed as "The Next Phelps" after being named FINA Male Swimmer of the meet in 2017 and again in 2019.
The question now is, will Dressel aim for eight at Tokyo 2020?
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