Fitness Of A World Icon
Thursday, September 25th, 2008Michael Phelps has become an icon after dominating the Olympics. He has appeared on the cover of magazines and cereal boxes. He is sponsored by various companies including Rosetta Stone and American Express. He is essentially one of the world’s most famous athletes. A lot of people assume he is the most popular and dominating Olympic athlete (and celebrity) ever, and he may be, but this is not the first time an Olympic athlete has dominated his field and in turn became a world icon.
Eric Heiden won all five gold medals at the 1980 Lake Placid Olympic games for speed skating, dominating both sprint and endurance races. This had never been done before. He also set four Olympic records and one world record. He was praised as America’s golden boy for quite some time. He was on Wheaties boxes and magazines all over the world. Currently, he works as an orthopedic surgeon in Utah, but no one who lived during his Olympic dominance will ever forget him. He is a true celebrity. The same thing will happen with Phelps, younger generations will not know who he is, but anyone who was into the Olympics will never forget him.
