Michael Phelps Comments on Retirement, Rio 2016 Summer Olympics

Joe Pantorno @@JoePantornoFeatured ColumnistDecember 2, 2015

Michael Phelps gestures as he speaks with media members after practicing for the U.S. Winter Nationals swimming event Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2015, in Federal Way, Wash. Phelps will put a cap on his 2015 season at the event this week. It's his final opportunity to show just where his comeback is at before the Olympic year arrives. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

Elaine Thompson/Associated Press

The most decorated Olympic athlete of all time, swimmer Michael Phelps, spoke with the media on Wednesday to make it crystal clear the 2016 Rio Games will be his last.

USA Swimming has his statement:

USA Swimming @USASwimming
Michael Phelps on retirement and Rio being his last Olympic Games #ATTNats https://t.co/hoWkZwFeKm

It can't be any more clear than "100 percent, this is my last one," even if his peers believe he still has plenty left in the tank for the 2020 Olympics.

This will be Phelps' second retirement. After the 2012 London Games, Phelps announced that he would retire but came back in April of 2014.

He debuted as a 15-year-old in 2000 and appeared in four separate Olympic Games. Phelps won a record 18 gold medals, including eight at the Beijing Games in 2008, a record for most gold medals won at a single Olympics.

During his competition on one of the world's biggest athletic stages, Phelps set four different Olympic records and eight world records.

Phelps mentioned that he has a child on the way and wants to focus on "building" his family. On Nov. 18, Phelps announced that his fiancee Nicole Johnson was pregnant and is over three months along.

At 30 years old, Phelps is in no way an old man, but in a career that has already reached the highest of peaks, his fans get one more opportunity to say goodbye in 2016.

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Stats courtesy of Sports-Reference.com.