Just as a fair warning the below is just a quick post about Michael Phelps’ individual events in the Olympics thus far, there will be another post that would focus on the relays that he has participated in the past as well as which he is expected to participate in the upcoming Olympics.
With Michael Phelps choosing to drop the 200m freestyle from his swimming card for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, I thought it would be interesting to go back in time and watch his progression from the first Olympic Trials that he participated in: the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia:
During the 2000 US Olympic Trials in Indianapolis, Michael competed in three events and how he fared:
| EVENT | PRELIM | SEMIS | FINALS |
| 200 Meter Butterfly | 1:58.61 (Q) | 1:58.24 (Q) | 1:57.48 (Q) |
| 200 Meter Individual Medley | 2:06.91 | ||
| 400 Meter Individual Medley | 4:25.97 |
So way back when, Michael only qualified for one events in the Olympics, but considering he was only 15 at the time… well what would you expect? He was making his mark on the scene and the world wasn’t going to forget Michael in the years to come.
Since then Michael has expanded his swimming dance card to the point that he was able to compete up to eight events per Olympics. Below is a table of all the events (individual only) he has competed in during the past three Olympic Trials (2000, 2004 and 2008) broken down by event.
| YEAR | PRELIM | SEMIS | FINALS |
| 100 METER FREESTYLE | |||
| 2008 | 47.92 (Q) | ||
| 200 METER FREESTYLE | |||
| 2004 | 1:48.40 (Q) | 1:47.42 (Q) | 1:46.27 (Q) |
| 2008 | 1:46.63 (Q) | 1:45.64 (Q) | 1:44.10 (Q) |
| 2012 | 1:48.31 (Q) | 1:46.27 (Q) | 1:45.70 (Q) |
| 200 METER BACKSTROKE | |||
| 2004 | 1:59.94 (Q) | 1:57.30 (Q) | 1:55.86 (Q) |
| 100 METER BUTTERFLY | |||
| 2004 | 53.27 (Q) | 51.89 (Q) | 51.15 (Q) |
| 2008 | 52.21 (Q) | 51.10 (Q) | 50.89 (Q) |
| 2012 | 51.80 (Q) | 51.35 (Q) | 51.14 (Q) |
| 200 METER BUTTERFLY | |||
| 2004 | 1:58.07 (Q) | 1:56.66 (Q) | 1:54.31 (Q) |
| 2008 | 1:55.85 (Q) | 1:54.02 (Q) | 1:52.20 (Q) |
| 2012 | 1:57.75 (Q) | 1:56.42 (Q) | 1:53.65 (Q) |
| 200 INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY | |||
| 2004 | 2:00.71 (Q) | 1:57.64 (Q) | 1:56.71 (Q) |
| 2008 | 1:59.70 (Q) | 1:58.05 (Q) | 1:54.80 (Q) |
| 2012 | 1:59.27 (Q) | 1:56.66 (Q) | 1:54.84 (Q) |
| 400 INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY | |||
| 2004 | 4:16.11 (Q) | 4:08.41 (Q) | |
| 2008 | 4:13.43 (Q) | 4:05.25 (Q) | |
| 2012 | 4:14.72 (Q) | 4:07.89 (Q) | |
In general Michael has been pretty consistent with the events that he participates in. It is also via these individual events that determine if Michael would also participate in the team relay events. Below are all the events that Michael has participated in (individual only) during the three Olympics thus far as well as blanks for the events he is officially entered in for the 2012 Olympics in London.
| YEAR | PRELIM | SEMIS | FINALS | PLACING |
| MENS 200 METER FREESTYLE | ||||
| 2004 Athens | 1:48.43 (Q) | 1:47.08 (Q) | 1:45.32 | Bronze |
| 2008 Beijing | 1:46.48 (Q) | 1:46.28 (Q) | 1:42.96 | Gold |
| MENS 100 METER BUTTERFLY | ||||
| 2004 Athens | 52.35 (Q) | 51.61 (Q) | 51.25 | Gold |
| 2008 Beijing | 50.87 (Q) | 50.97 (Q) | 50.58 | Gold |
| 2012 London | ||||
| MENS 200 METER BUTTERFLY | ||||
| 2000 Sydney | 1:57.30 (Q) | 1:57.00 (Q) | 1:56.50 | 5th |
| 2004 Athens | 1:57.36 (Q) | 1:55.65 (Q) | 1:54.04 | Gold |
| 2008 Beijing | 1:53.70 (Q) | 1:53.70 (Q) | 1:52.03 | Gold |
| 2012 London | ||||
| MENS 200 METER INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY | ||||
| 2004 Athens | 1:57.14 (Q) | 1:58.52 (Q) | 2:00.01 | Gold |
| 2008 Beijing | 1:58.65 (Q) | 1:57.70 (Q) | 1:54.23 | Gold |
| 2012 London | ||||
| MENS 400 METER INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY | ||||
| 2004 Athens | 4:13.29 (Q) | 4:08.26 | Gold | |
| 2008 Beijing | 4:07.82 (Q) | 4:03.84 | Gold | |
| 2012 London | ||||
Originally Michael Phelps had qualified for the 200 Meter Freestyle as well based on his performance in the Olympic Trials in Omaha, Nebraska. However based on the following series of tweets, it would appear that Michael Phelps has opted to drop out of that particular race in favor of focusing on his two butterfly and individual medley events.
https://twitter.com/RickyBerens/status/219819276960411650
https://twitter.com/RickyBerens/status/219828001070776324
https://twitter.com/RickyBerens/status/219820766286458881
https://twitter.com/RickyBerens/status/219836349027598336
What a way to learn that you’re part of the Olympic Team.
Anyway, this is a post of the individual events that Michael Phelps will be partaking in unless he chooses to drop another event or not participate in the relays… which come to think of it, I’ll post about his participation on the Mens Freestyle and Medley Relays in the past and what could be expected in the future.