14 DAY TRIAL // For his latest CNN interview, Piers Morgan has managed to nab one of the hottest US athletes out there, Michael Phelps. Below is a preview of the full interview, which also sees the swimmer talk about his plans for the future.
The Olympic Games 2012 opened in London on Friday night, with Phelps' performance being one of the highlights.
Still, he says he'll be happy once this is over for good, so that he can take a breather.
The London Olympics is his fourth and final, he says. He won six gold medals in Athens in 2004 and eight at Beijing in 2008, but they were the results of intensive training.
At one point, Phelps trained every single day for five years in a row. It only makes sense that he's exhausted.
“I don't want to get in the water. I spent so much time in the water; I'm like 'No I'll sit here on the beach... I don't want to get in the water and play',” Michael tells Morgan in the interview.
On the same occasion, the athlete opened up on his personal idol and how he, Michael Jordan, embodies all the necessary qualities of a champion.
“On and off the court, the guy made basketball what it is. I think one of the coolest things that I loved about him was it didn't matter what he had going on off the court or if he was sick or this, that,” Michael says.
“He never used an excuse. He came out every single night on the court and did what he had to do to get his job done,” he adds.
He never met Jordan but he'd be thrilled if he had the chance to, because he's the athlete he'd looked up to his entire life.
“That's what champions do. It doesn't matter what else is going on when you walk in to your arena, whatever you excel at, you're there to take care of the job that you have to do,” Phelps explains.