Will he come out of retirement for a third time?
Swimming greats Grant Hackett (L) and Michael Phelps (R) (Photo: Instagram)
The most decorated Olympian of all time, Michael Phelps on Friday sparked hopes of a dramatic comeback for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in an Instagram post.
Phelps, 31, retired from competitive swimming for the second and what was supposed to be the final time after the 2016 Rio Olympics, having won an unprecedented 28 medals (23 gold, 3 silver, 2 bronze).
Posing with Australian swimming great Grant Hackett, with both men in swim gear, Phelp’s Instagram post was captioned “Just two old dudes getting back at it in the pool…. @grant__hackett. 2020?”
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Grant Hackett is considered to be one of the greatest long-distance swimmers of all time, having won the 1500m freestyle gold in the 2000 Sydney Games , 2004 Athens Games and silver in the 2008 Beijing Games.
The 37-year-old Australian was in the news for ‘disappearing’ from his house recently, with his family appealing to all that the former swimmer was not in the best of mental health, sparking a furore about his whereabouts.
He has had alcohol and drug issues in the past, but looks to be putting them behind him after a turbulent few months.
While Hackett would be close to 40, which is considered ancient in swimming, Phelps would ‘only’ be 35 and should he wish, could make the relay teams at the very least.
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