Michael Phelps will be United States flag bearer at Rio

The most decorated Summer Olympic athlete of all-time American swimmer Michael Phelps will be the flag bearer for the United States at the 2016 Rio Games.

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With the Opening Ceremonies for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil coming on Friday, August 5th, the United States Olympic Team has announced that star male swimmer Michael Phelps will be the flag bearer for America.

This comes as absolutely no surprise, as Phelps is the most decorated Summer Olympic athlete all-time. Phelps has won 18 Olympic gold medals and 22 Olympic medals overall in his three previous trips to the Summer Olympic Games: 2004 in Athens, Greece, 2008 in Beijing, China, and 2012 in London, United Kingdom.

Phelps won eight gold medals, breaking American swimming legend Mark Spitz’s 1972 Munich Games record of seven medals, during his outstanding two-week stint at the 2008 Beijing Games. Along with Jamaican track star Usain Bolt and members of the United States Men’s Basketball Team, Phelps will be by far and away the most recognizable Olympic athlete entering the 2016 Rio Games.

Given that Phelps is 31 years old and probably won’t participate in the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, this is easily the last opportunity Phelps will have to carry the United States flag at an Opening Ceremonies at a Summer Olympic Games. For so many reasons, Phelps has to be the obvious choice to be the United States flag bearer at the 2016 Opening Ceremonies.

The Baltimore native has been the biggest Summer Olympic athlete in the United States for the better part of this millennium. The United States seemingly has always been one of the better teams in the swimming events. Phelps’ Olympic career has to be on the decline in his early 30s, but he still should be able to expand on his medal records in the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio.

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