Preview

Michael Phelps Research Paper Final Draft

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1077 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Michael Phelps Research Paper Final Draft
Lukas Vessels
Miss Hoy
English 11
14 November 2012
Michael Phelps loses his Image
Michael Phelps is one of the most decorated Olympic athletes. He is very well appreciated by people all around the world for his swimming abilities. Everybody always looked up to the superstar Michael Phelps for being one of the best Olympians. When Michael was caught online in the picture smoking, his image went downhill even though he was the same superstar swimmer. Phelps didn’t let this scandal bring him down even though he was losing some major sponsors. After the scandal concerning Michael Phelps smoking marijuana, his life changed drastically, he lost his image, his followers, and some endorsements.
As a child, Michael Phelps grew up around athletics with his family, his father was an all-around athlete and was a state trooper (Michael Phelps biography). Phelps got into swimming from his older sisters and joined the local swim team. He was inspired by Tom Malchow and Tom Dolan when he saw them compete in the 1996 summer Olympics (Michael Phelps biography). Phelps made the U.S. National B Team in 1999. “At the age of fifth teen, Phelps had become the youngest male swimmer in the U.S. for 68 years” (Michael Phelps biography). At the 2008 Olympics, Phelps had won his 14th career gold medal, he set the world record for gold medals (Michael Phelps biography). Phelps was on a roll now, he was debating on retiring or not for the 2012 games. He decided against retiring and stayed with swimming, he would be back to set more world records and shock many more people. “Phelps won his 22nd medal, (18 gold) setting the world record for most wins by any Olympic athlete” (Michael Phelps biography). Nobody ever thought Michael would ever be getting any sort of trouble since he is such an immense role model to many. This is why it was such a shock to most people when they found out about Michael’s partying.
This situation blew up when the picture of Michael Phelps smoking



Cited: “Michael Phelps Marijuana Scandal.” Lawyers.com. Feb 3, 2012. Web. 4 Nov , 2012. “Michael Phelps biography.” Bio.com. 20 Oct , 2012. Web. 4 Nov, 2012. York, Bryson. Phelps Brand Takes a Hit. Inspire.9 Feb , 2009. Print. 4 Nov, 2012. Mullman, Jeremy. Advertising Age. “Superendorser Michael Phelps Caught Smoking Marijuana.” 1 Feb, 2009. Web. 4 Nov, 2012.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    First of all, athletes should be judge for their actions off the playing field because they are the role models of millions of young fans. Great athletes are always in the eye of the public and media, and their actions are seen both on and off the field, sometimes even when they think nobody is watching such as Olympic Gold Medalist and swimming phenomenon, Michael Phelps. Phelps is looked at as a national…

    • 1150 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Marijuana and Sports

    • 2552 Words
    • 11 Pages

    Citations: Papa, Anthony. "Michael Phelps: Greatest Olympian Ever (Who Also Happened to Smoke Pot)." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 03 Aug. 2012. Web.…

    • 2552 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Even though Jesse James was a good leader, he did end up killing hundreds of Union Soldiers in and after the Civil War, and took money that wasn't his. Jesse James was the most feared outlaw of his time because of his control and ability to influence the members of his gang. This gang followed his every call and so he could just have people killed if he wanted. Jesse James was also a great family man, which shows his great leadership skills. He fought as a Missouri Guerrilla and robbed banks and trains all in the central states of America. Even after the Civil War had come to an end, his war was never over.…

    • 1186 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Leadership can be defined as encouraging other people to succeed, and also to leave a strong influence on them when everything is said and done. There have been many leaders in history whether in sports or in world history. One person who was an excellent leader is Michael Jordan. Jordan is a professional basketball player who played for the Chicago Bulls during the 80’s and 90’s and is referred to as one of the greatest athletes of all time. Michael Jordan’s competitive nature and strong leadership qualities like courage and loyalty enabled him to make everyone on the court a better player and a better person, and also helped him win 6 NBA championships.…

    • 1387 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Kobe Bryant Research Paper

    • 1169 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Recruiting coaches are coming at him all of the time and his ability to play the game the way that he could allowed him to by pass college and go straight to the NBA and live his dream. He was drafted in the 1996 NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Lakers where he has been playing at ever since (Drake Oz). He and Michael played against each other a few times as Michael was on his back side of playing the game, leaving to pursue a professional baseball career (Drake Oz). Why leave a sport you are having such a great amount of success in to play a sport you are clearly not as good in? Obviously it was a personal decision and did it affect him as a basketball player? Yes. He decided to come back and was not the same player as before, then soon retiring from the Washington…

    • 1169 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In 1955 Fred Phelps, started the Westboro Baptist Church. He thought that he needed to warn people that “America is doomed” so his church started protesting. Phelps states that natural disasters are signs from God to show his disapproval of homosexuality. The church community protest to save mankind. Some people called Phelps “harsh and unloving” (Chapman) however, he counteracts this statement by saying that he is just teaching what the bible says about homosexuality. He believes that he is just offering warnings out of pure worry for the human race. Fred Phelps helped bring about the Protests by the Westboro Church to show Americans that we are all sinners and fall short of being let into heaven because of our sinful ways.…

    • 320 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Benjamin Sinclair "Ben" Johnson is a former Canadian sprinter who won three Olympic medals during his career, one of which was a gold. However, that medal was later recinded when he tested positive for drugs at the Olympics. Looking back, it becomes apparent that Johnson fits the criteria for a tragic hero that Aristotle set about.…

    • 967 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Best Essays

    Apa Style Works Cited

    • 659 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Carroll, W. (2005). The Juice: The Real Story of Baseball's Drug Problems. Chicago IL: Ivan R Dee.…

    • 659 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Good Essays

    The term “professional athlete” can and is often applied to anyone and everyone who holds a job as an athlete or sports competitor. Often, these “professional athletes” are glorified and held to a standard above what an everyday citizen is held at. They are given the best equipment to compete against the best of the best. However, a common factor of criticism is the salary that these professional athletes receive to compete in their various sports. While athletes are often given a large sum of money as a salary, they are extremely far from being overpaid. The hours of practice and the levels at which they must constantly play are nothing short of colossal.…

    • 946 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    One of the remarkable characteristics of Jordan was his hard work and effort. He played numerous sports as a kid, and baseball was his favorite sport. Even though baseball was his primary sport, he did play basketball and football, too. Both of his parents influenced him in a positive manner. His father brought out the rough side of Michael by teaching him to work hard and not to be tempted by the street life, while his mother brought out the loving side by teaching him how to sew, clean, do the laundry, and other chores at home…

    • 907 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Jesse Owens born and raised (where) less fortunate than many. He was a son of a sharecropper and a grandson of slaves. Growing up in a small community, he didn’t have a lot of advantages due to the lack of opportunities provided for African Americans. As a result, his motivation stemmed from prior athletes in his community. Many of these athletes, accomplish greatness through these determination and strides through adversity. Jesse Owens himself was very well respected. Owens gym teacher asked Jesse if would like to be on the track team, because he noticed his hard work ethics but because Jesse had to work after school, he was not able to join the team. Jesses coach told him as long as he continued to work hard he would be willing to offer to train Jesse in the morning before school, and Owens took him up on the offer. Buy the coach believing in Jesse he believed in himself, even though he knew that he was an even sick child, also his coach brought him breakfast every morning so he would keep up his strength and not get sick so often. Jesse trained so hard and motivated his team to the point that not he was noticed but his whole team was recognized by the whole town. (found the article,…

    • 653 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Marion Jones

    • 718 Words
    • 3 Pages

    A lot of athletes become almost famous by getting caught abusing performance enhancement drugs. Marion Jones a phenomenal young athlete starting from high school, to college, to the Olympics! Unfortunately she fell under the influence in steroids which altered her whole life from losing her awards, her homes (including her own mothers house), and others. Jones participated in two high schools, Rio mesa for her first two years, and Thousand Oaks for her last two years of high school. She won the CIF California State Meet in the 100 M every year in high school. After all her she had accomplished, Jones' lawyer had defended her and had charges dropped for supposedly doping during her young athletic years.…

    • 718 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The 2002 Ride for the Roses raised $2.7 million and drew 20,000 people out of their homes to come and support this foundation.…

    • 1365 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Scholar athletes deserve to be given special treatment because we have to go above and beyond more than the average student. There are times that as a student athlete that you will have to miss class due to road trips. When I was a freshman, I was assigned two papers in one day and they were both due the very next day, because I had to leave for a basketball road trip and we would have been gone the entire week and I would be missing the due date that was assigned for each one of the assignments. My teachers did not accept emailed assignments and only accepted hard copies. Now on that particular day I did not get out of class until twelve, had practice from…

    • 1026 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    "There's Michael, then there is the rest of us," Magic Johnson famously quoted. Even the brilliant stars of his era praise Michael's greatness. This shows how great he really is on the court. Michael has the unique combination of grace, power, speed, quickness, and an unquenchable competitive desire. But, who knew that Michael was cut from the varsity team when he was a sophomore at Laney High School? Are you out of your mind! I know that if I were the coach, I would definitely keep a guy of Michael's caliber. During this time, Michael was just a slim guy with average skills. His failure to make the varsity team motivated him to strive to be the best by practicing as often as the sun rises. He attended North Carolina in college and in his freshman year he knocked down the game winning shot at the National Championship game. After that shot, his life was never the same.…

    • 971 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays