Michael and Debbie Phelps, Doubters and Bullies

Billions of people know Michael Phelps. Literally.

The world has watched what Michael Phelps can do.

He's an Olympic champion. Measured in gold medals, he's the greatest Olympian of all time.

Phelps is a role model and so is his mother, Debbie Phelps.

For them, the road to Olympic glory was rockier than fulfilling the requirements demanded of an athlete committed to being the best in a sport. There were challenges far greater than devoting time and effort to achieving that goal.

Phelps and his mother had to deal with the challenges of ADHD -- attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

He struggled in school but found the pool to be a safe haven.

Debbie, a single mom, gave her son the love and support that he needed. Phelps points to her as one of his greatest inspirations and role models.

In an interview with Bob Costas, aired on Sunday in prime time, Phelps and his mom talked about their journey.

WATCH THE INTERVIEW HERE.

Phelps relayed some stories of being bullied, how kids would take his baseball cap, how someone threw it out the window of the bus.

He said that his "ears were flicked" by kids.

He talked about people who wouldn't talk to him in high school but now wanted to be on his Facebook friends list.

Putting his past in perspective, Phelps said, "It made me stronger."

From ESPN:

Phelps can be coldly focused before a race, and his performances are so routinely excellent that he sometimes seems bereft of human qualities. But after races, we saw howls of jubilation and tears of joy straight from Phelps' core.

"This is all a dream come true," he said. "To really just imagine anything and work toward it, to have ups and have downs, and to really accomplish anything you've ever dreamed of -- it's fun."

It's overwhelming. On the podium Sunday, Phelps kept taking deep breaths.

His life's work has been built upon deep breaths. They are intrinsic to swimming. The longer and harder you swim, the more you develop your lung capacity.

But this was deep breathing of a different sort. This was an attempt to govern his emotions, to avoid sending the tears welling up in his brown eyes splashing down his cheeks before a world audience.

While "The Star-Spangled Banner" played, a lifetime of thoughts and memories flashed through his mind. A child with ADHD who struggled in school had become a man who brought a nation to its feet.

"My mom and I still joke that I had a middle school teacher who said I'd never be successful," he said.

Seems he's turned out OK. It would take more than a few doubting teachers to keep him down. And it would take more than a few hundred daunting practices to hold him back.

On the days he hated to get out of bed, knowing that several miles of murderous practice lay ahead, the goals he'd written and kept on his nightstand were there to spur him on.

...He came close to cracking Friday. After winning the 200 IM, he had to turn around and swim the semifinals of the 100 butterfly. As Phelps wobbled through the mixed zone in a panting daze, he thought to himself, "Oh my gosh, I'm exhausted."

He spent most of the next day in bed, watching movies or sleeping. He recharged himself just enough to chase down Cavic, tying Mark Spitz's record seven golds, then he came back again Sunday with his final swim.

It was another powerful butterfly leg, this time rocketing the American relay from third to first and setting up Lezak with a lead. And after celebrating with his teammates and leaving the world in awe, Phelps had a single, simple, endearing wish.

"I kind of just want to see my mom," he said.

I think it's important to remember that this wasn't easy for Michael Phelps. It's not as if he owes his success to Speedo.

He accomplished something superhuman, but he's human.

He gets tired. He's endured pain, physical and emotional.

Thanks to the support from his mom and sisters and coach and teammates, and his incredible passion for the sport and his determination to win, he proved all the doubters wrong.

To the bullies out there who tormented Michael Phelps and the next generation of bullies currently tormenting other kids--

You're cruel. You are such losers in every sense of the word.

And to the middle school teachers who are in the habit of telling students that they'll never be successful--

You may be showing just how clueless you are. You're failures.

If there's a lesson here, it's to believe in yourself and believe in your children.

It's to be like Michael Phelps and his mom.
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Debbie Phelps named "Official 'Mom of the Olympic Games.'"