“D-O-N-E. Done.”
That's what Michael Phelps told CNN’s Becky Anderson shortly after carting off his 22nd Olympic medal, shattering the 38-year-old record set by the Soviet Union’s Larisa Latynina. “I don't know if people really believe me, but I am actually finished. I'm retiring.”
While Phelps has been adamant that this Olympic games would be his last, the start to his 2012 games started off more turbulently than most expected. 

In his first final, the 400 individual medley, Phelps took fourth place, the first time he had failed to medal in an Olympic event since 2000.

In Phelps' next two races, the 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay and the 200m Butterfly, he took silver in both events, leaving many wondering if Team USA teammate Tyler Clary’s pre-Olympic comments about Phelp’s displaying “a real lack of preparation” was coming