Michael Phelps

BALTIMORE — Michael Phelps entered the 100-meter butterfly final at the 2009 world championships in Rome in no real shape to contend. Less than an hour before the race, Phelps had collided head-first with another swimmer during a warmup, leaving him with blurred vision in one eye and cracked goggles. He had not trained full-bore since winning eight gold medals at the 2008 Olympics, and the night before, Serbian rival Milorad Cavic had broken his world record. On top of all that, Phelps wore an older, slower model speedsuit...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson announced to screaming throngs of Kings fans that the deal to sell the NBA franchise to a group led by software tycoon Vivek Ranadive has been signed. The announcement at a City Hall rally brings to an end nearly five months of maneuvering by Johnson to secure a new ownership group, convince the council to commit to building a new downtown arena, and to show the NBA that the capitol city of the most populous state in the nation has the fan base to make the venture successful.

The first day of the rest of Michael Phelps 's life broke Sunday morning after maybe four hours of sleep, even though there was no pool to go to, no practice to endure. He took a car from his hotel — a former athlete in every sense of the phrase, he has moved out of the Olympic Village — and saw, for the first time since he arrived here, Big Ben, Parliament, London's skyline. The blinders are off. Now what? "This is sort of my first day," Phelps said. "I don't know what to do. " At this, the end of his ...

Is Michael Phelps planning a comeback? A report Friday night from WBBH, an NBC television affiliate in Fort Myers, Fla., said Phelps will return to swimming with an eye toward competing at the 2016 Rio Olympics. The three-paragraph story on the station's Web site was posted by news anchor Peter Busch, who is the son of Frank Busch, director of the U.S. national swim team. "The greatest Olympian of all time isn't hanging up his swimsuit, after all," the report said, without citing any sources.

It was Jury Duty: Celebrity Edition in Baltimore Circuit Court on Tuesday. Both Michael Phelps and chef Duff Goldman had their numbers picked for the jury pool at the downtown courthouse. Phelps' presence created such a buzz that other prospective jurors and employees throughout the courthouse started streaming in to take his picture, according to Maj. Sam Cogen of the sheriff's office. "People were using their cell phones [to take pictures], bothering him — including police," Cogen said.

LONDON — Even Michael Phelps seemed to see the night for what it was: a good-bye party for him and a hello to a new generation. It was a rare night when Phelps swam, dominated and even made a little history yet was not the biggest story line. He might not have even been the second- biggest story line, for that matter. Two teenage girls — one from Bethesda — stole that distinction. More impressive than Phelps's victory in the 100-meter butterfly in 51.21 seconds...

SHANGHAI — Michael Phelps stared up the scoreboard Wednesday night, digested the result, then raised his index finger and shook it gently. He might not be as strong as he was in 2008. He might be a work in progress. But at least he is still No. 1 in something. That would be the 200-meter butterfly, the event he dominated for the last decade — until this year. He lost for the first time in nine years and some 60 races back in April. And then he lost again. And then again. Phelps ended...

What happened to Michael Phelps in Michigan a few weeks ago left him angrier than he'd been after a swim in a long time. It wasn't so much that he lost. That's happened plenty since the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. It wasn't even that he came in fourth place; he has been blown out on occasions when he has, just for fun, dabbled in unfamiliar events. The problem was, he got trounced in his signature race, an event in which he had been unbeatable in finals for nearly a decade. When Phelps finished fourth in the...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Michael Phelps is off playing golf and showing no signs of backtracking on his decision to retire from swimming. That leaves a big hole on the U.S. team as it prepares for the world championships this summer and begins looking ahead to the 2016 Rio Olympics. But don't think the Americans are suddenly going to be just another country at the pool. While there's certainly no replacing the winningest Olympian ever, the U.S. has plenty of top swimmers...

LONDON — There were times in the past four years when the water was still. For days at a time, Michael Phelps didn't bother to show up at the pool, never rippled the surface. He stayed missing so long that his coach, Bob Bowman, wondered whether they "were going to get this thing done. " But eventually — reluctantly but determinedly — Phelps towed that long torso back into the liquid, where the greatest swimmer of all time belonged. Phelps won The Great Race of the London Games ...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Michael Phelps is off playing golf and showing no signs of backtracking on his decision to retire from swimming. That leaves a big hole on the U.S. team as it prepares for the world championships this summer and begins looking ahead to the 2016 Rio Olympics. But don't think the Americans are suddenly going to be just another country at the pool. While there's certainly no replacing the winningest Olympian ever, the U.S. has plenty of top swimmers back from its...

BENTON HARBOR, Mich. — Eleven days after he was cut by the New York Jets, Tim Tebow's future plans remain up in the air. Since his release, Tebow has not spoken publicly about the dismissal or what his next move will be. Does he feel jilted by the Jets? Does he have any other NFL prospects? Would he consider the Canadian Football League? Tebow didn't offer any insight Thursday night during a roughly hour-long keynote address before a crowd of about 3,000 at Lake...

As Dan Marino campaigned for Miami to be chosen the site of the 50th Super Bowl, he made no pretense about being objective on the subject. "In my opinion," the former Dolphins quarterback said, "every Super Bowl should be here. " Instead, the NFL championship game might not return to Miami for a long time. Last week the Dolphins were denied public money for a stadium upgrade by the state legislature, which essentially removes South Florida from serious contention for the 50th Super Bowl and...

SARASOTA, Fla. — Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps took batting practice with the Orioles before Thursday's intrasquad game at Ed Smith Stadium. Phelps, born in nearby Towson, Md., was in town filming an episode of the Golf Channel show "The Haney Project," in which renowned golf guru Hank Haney tutors famous pupils. Phelps, who owns the Olympic record for gold medals (18) and total medals (22), took five rounds in the batting cage with varying degrees of success and said...

NEW ORLEANS — The last game of Baltimore's most beloved gridiron star since Johnny Unitas is hours away, the last time in 17 years the soul and grit of the Ravens will trudge from tunnel to stadium, gladiator-style. Torn triceps, the terrible team he played on just a month ago . . . they all conspired against his fabled ending. Still, he stands. Menacingly — in the middle of the field, in the middle of the controlled mayhem, in the middle of one of the great...

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Ray Lewis's cubicle, near a back doorway in the visitors' locker room at Gillette Stadium, was a hub of activity Sunday night. A couple stalls down, Terrell Suggs sang and whooped and hollered, and Lewis answered his every call, sing-songing right back. Men with celebratory cigars walked through in suits, and Lewis shouted after them as he packed his bag and pulled on his suit, the unmistakable scent of victory in the air. To the side, looking for...

Michael Phelps's unprecedented Olympic career ended Saturday night with one last medal: a gold in the 4x100-meter medley relay that brought fans at the Aquatics Center to their feet and left Phelps with 22 career medals, 18 of them gold. The United States foursome of Matt Grevers on backstroke, Brendan Hansen on breaststroke, Phelps in the butterfly and Nathan Adrian as the freestyle anchor won in 3 minutes, 29.35 seconds — nearly two full seconds ahead of silver medalists Japan...

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Ray Lewis's cubicle, near a back doorway in the visitors' locker room at Gillette Stadium, was a hub of activity Sunday night. A couple stalls down, Terrell Suggs sang and whooped and hollered, and Lewis answered his every call, sing-songing right back. Men with celebratory cigars walked through in suits, and Lewis shouted after them as he packed his bag and pulled on his suit, the unmistakable scent of victory in the air. To the side, looking...

It was Jury Duty: Celebrity Edition in Baltimore Circuit Court on Tuesday. Both Michael Phelps and chef Duff Goldman had their numbers picked for the jury pool at the downtown courthouse. Phelps' presence created such a buzz that other prospective jurors and employees throughout the courthouse started streaming in to take his picture, according to Maj. Sam Cogen of the sheriff's office. "People were using their cell phones [to take pictures], bothering him — including police," Cogen said.

BALTIMORE — "Where is he?" said Brian Loeffler, looking down the empty lane of a 50-meter pool at 7 o'clock in the morning. To his right, a masters' practice was finishing up. In front of him, early risers were doing laps. He didn't seem overly concerned that his star swimmer had disappeared. "There he is," the coach said, and called to a man at the far end of the pool. "Brad, you're two lanes over. " As the swimmer moved along the wall at the...