The very first Olympics that saw Michael Phelps was the 2000 games held in Sydney Australia.  At the time Phelps was only 15 years old! Being this age made him the youngest American male swimmer to be at the Olympics in almost 68 years.  Fresh out of his training with the  North Baltimore Aquatic Club, Phelps had one race to swim at the games, the 200 meter butterfly.  Finishing with a time of 1:56.50 landed him in 5^th place.  Though he may not have won a medal, placing 5^th in the world at such a young age shows a lot of strength and accomplishment.  Did he say that was it and that he reached all his goals and threw in the towel? No. This was not the last time Phelps was seen at the Olympic Games but was only the beginning to this young stars run for the gold’s.  He has since competed in many world championships and returned to the Olympic stage in the 2004 Athens Olympics and the 2008 Beijing Olympics.  He is also planning to compete one more time at the 2012 London Olympics.