Michael Phelps Poses with 23 Olympic Gold Medals on 'Sports Illustrated' Cover

Good thing Michael Phelps has some pretty fierce traps, or else wearing all 23 of his Olympic gold medals for Sports Illustrated's cover photo might make his neck sore.

This marks Phelps' 12th appearance on an SI cover after first gracing the magazine's front page in 2004. The publication also shared a shot of him adorned with all 28 medals on Twitter:

The 31-year-old swimmer earned five of those first-place finishes (along with a silver medal) during the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. After adding to his record tally, he confirmed his intent to retire.

In Tim Layden's feature story posted online Tuesday, Phelps left the door slightly open for a comeback but said he's content away from the pool.

"If I do get the desire to come back, great," he said. "Right now, I just don't see it."

[Twitter]