It’s a never-ending debate which athlete had the best debut performance in sports. Is it Wilt Chamberlain scoring 43 points and grabbing 28 rebounds in his first NBA game? Eighteen-year-old Wayne Rooney scoring three goals and an assist weeks after signing with Manchester United? Baseball player Trevor Story? LeBron James? It’s an impossible question to answer for sure.
When it comes to Olympic debuts however, Ryan Murphy’s performance at Rio 2016 is definitely one for the record books.
Three gold medals, three Olympic records and one world record. Pretty solid debut by any measuring stick.
“I thought that was best case scenario,” Murphy recently told Around the Rings. “That was an incredible week. It was a dream. Just an incredible week.”
A dream a long time in the making for the 27-year-old American who said he knew he wanted to be an Olympian since the age of seven. When dream became reality in Brazil, Murphy wasn’t nervous. An eight-time individual national champion from the University of California at Berkeley, he was ready for the moment.
“Water has always had a calming impact on me,” he explained. “When I get in the race, that’s where I’m comfortable. Executing the race was kind of the easy part.”
He certainly made it look easy in Rio 2016. First in the 100m backstroke, 200m backstroke and the 4x100m medley relay. Three races, three golds.
One of this teammates in the 4x100m medley was Michael Phelps. Murphy told Around the Rings he learned a lot from having the swimming icon as a teammate.
“His strength is that he was never intimidated by the moment or by other competitors. He felt so confident in who he was and his abilities that he was able to just focus on what he needed to do and executing his race plan. That’s a gift and a challenge.”
Phelps didn’t win a medal in his Olympic debut in Sydney 2000, but that’s understandable since he was only 15-years-old at the time. Six gold medals in Athens 2004, followed by eight more in Beijing 2008 and the rest is Olympic history. Murphy knew he couldn’t be complacent after such a dazzling performance.
“When the Games ended, I’m excited to have done it, but now I have to set a new goal and there’s a little bit of fear in that.”
The Tokyo 2020 Games were a challenge in many ways as the pandemic pushed them back a whole year, and the atmosphere was subdued with no foreign fans allowed to attend. Murphy was also named as one of four captains of the U.S. Swim Team for Tokyo.
Despite all the added pressure and distractions, he was able to channel his inner peace and calm from being in the water. Another gold medal followed in the medley relay, thanks to a world record time of 3:26.78. Murphy took silver in the 200m backstroke and bronze in the 100m backstroke. Three more Olympic medals to add to his collection, and if you think he was disappointed they weren’t all gold, you would be wrong.
After the 100m event, Murphy told USA Today, “Winning an Olympic gold means you’re the best in the world. Being third in the world is no slouch.”
Today, Murphy along with surfing champion Coco Ho, is partnering with The Now Me: Beach Mode program to both educate and inspire those living with atopic dermatitis and other forms of eczema, something he’s had to deal with most of his life.
“At a young age I’ve learned to deal with my moderate to severe eczema. It was a challenge at first. I didn’t know what it was. It was a constant itch. It continued to progress and we talked to our doctor and figured out it was atopic dermatitis.
We came up with a treatment plan and I hope to inspire confidence to other people living with this to feel comfortable in their own skin. Swimming is a sport where we aren’t wearing much. Standing exposed on the pool deck I felt embarrassed at a young age, but I learned how to do things to mitigate the impact of it and minimize any flare-ups.”
Paris 2024 is less than two years out and Murphy says he’s “very, very motivated” to keep his Olympic winning streak going.
“I’m ready to get into training again and set a plan and compete for medals for Team USA.”
While Paris is the immediate goal, he’s well aware of a potential Olympic farewell in front of the home fans in LA28. He would be 33 then, two years older than Phelps was in Rio.
“Everyone dreams of competing in a home Olympics. My focus is Paris 2024 but that’s 100 percent something I’m thinking about.”
It would be a storybook finish to a great opening chapter.
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