Phelps said he had always had a bigger-than-average appetite since he was a kid and would love to taste Chinese cuisine, as he likes to try new things.

Phelps competed at the 2000 Sydney Olympics at the age of 15, becoming the youngest American male swimmer at Olympic Games in 68 years. When he returned to school, he noticed that few of his schoolmates realised he had been competing in the Olympics. Even close friends only asked him whether he had seen koala bears and kangaroos, and nobody asked about his results, which he said, made him upset.

Strong mother and musical coach

The road to glory was not easy for Phelps despite his talent and natural advantages. ‘'Michael worked really hard, every day,'' his mother, Deborah Phelps, said in an interview at the Athens Olympics. "Every day it was out of the house, get in the car, get him to the pool."

If Phelps' Olympic feat was a miracle, his mother had a hand in creating it. At the age of nine, Phelps was diagnosed with ADHD, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. His mother soon discovered that only the swimming pool could make her son calm down.

When Phelps reached 11, his mother stopped his medication against a doctor's suggestion. She said surprisingly Phelps could stay totally focused during a race, although once out of the swimming pool, he showed his energetic and naughty side.

In Beijing, Phelps often mentioned his longtime coach Bowman, who spotted the gifted swimmer when he was 10.

Phelps said he was very lucky to have Bowman as his coach. Bowman created tailor-made training plans for Phelps, who thought the relationship between his coach and him was more like friends or a father and a son.

Bowman was trained to be a pianist and composer when he was young. With a degree in psychology, Bowman combined his two hobbies, music and swimming, in coaching swimmers, especially in training them rhythm in strokes.