A little more than three months after he lit up the Summer Olympics, Michael Phelps is adding honors and wealth but losing muscle.
The swimmer, who won a record eight gold medals at the Olympics in China, was selected this week as Sports Illustrated’s Sportsman of the Year. He’s the first swimmer to receive this recognition.
And Phelps continues to make millions on endorsements, recently adding Subway to his portfolio.
Michael Phelps
But don’t look for Phelps in the pool just yet. He’s taking a break from training, and it’s having an effect on his physique.
“The strapping Olympian is changing into a spindly couch potato,” The Wall Street Journal wrote Wednesday. “His once-bulky chest now appears to sink in from his shoulders rather than puff out.”
In addition, Phelps, who is 23, is in a kind of hibernation mode, sleeping late, hanging out with friends and going to the movies.
“Doing nothing is actually pretty easy,” he told the Journal.
But while Phelps does nothing, his sponsors take advantage of his fame. Just dropping his name has helped some big players, among them Speedo and Visa Inc.
And the Phelps connection has been surprisingly golden for a Texas start-up company that most people had never heard of before this summer.
Before the Olympics, Phelps and three of his Olympic teammates, Aaron Peirsol, Brendan Hansen and Ian Crocker, endorsed PureSport, a product that didn’t exist three years ago.
Made by Human Performance Labs LLC of Austin, Texas, PureSport is a blend of carbohydrates, proteins and electrolytes taken to help the body recover from workouts.
Nastia Liukin of the U.S., a gold medalist in gymnastics, has also endorsed the product.
Phelps first tried PureSport while training in Texas in 2007. Placing the product, he made it a point to be seen drinking PureSport at the Olympics after he competed.
“About halfway through the meet, people started knocking on my door asking me what I was drinking and could they have some,” Phelps told an interviewer.
The Phelps name has helped put PureSport onto retail shelves, including those at Sports Authority, a chain with 400 outlets, the Journal reports.
When Phelps isn’t drinking PureSport, he could be having a sub from Subway.
The swimmer last month signed on with Subway, the second largest submarine sandwich franchise in the world.
The company’s ads featuring him are expected to begin airing next year. They’ll be in use throughout the build-up to the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.
Phelps also endorses Hilton Hotels, Kellogg cereals, PowerBar and other products.
He’s reportedly earning at least $5 million a year through endorsements, and his long-term goal is to gain $100 million pitching products.
Phelps is scheduled to begin working out in earnest this coming February. That may lead to a sharp increase in his caloric intake. At peak training, he is said to consume 12,000 calories a day.
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