Michael Phelps has announced that his father, Fred Phelps, has died. Sharing throwback photos of his dad along with himself, Michael captioned an Instagram post with, “You’ll always be my dad. And I’ll always be your son. Love you, dad, and I will miss you. RIP, dad.” TalkSpace, which Michael first teamed up with in 2018 for a national campaign, commented on his Instagram post, “Thinking of you and your family, Michael. Nothing can prepare us for the loss of a parent. We send you our deepest condolences during this time.” Some of Phelps’ celebrity friends and fellow professional athletes like Lindsey Vonn commented, “I’m so sorry for your loss. He will always be there.”
In an interview with Sports Illustrated back in 2015, Michael said that growing up without his father around was one of the most challenging aspects of his childhood. He said, “For me, not having a father always there was hard. I had Bob [Bowman], and I had Peter [Carlisle], these guys who acted as father figures. But deep down, inside, it was hard.” However, Michael did tell Sports Illustrated in 2016 that he and his father, Fred, were rebuilding their bond. After the Olympian was arrested for a drunk driving incident, he had invited Fred to spend time with him at his rehab facility in Arizona, where they made up for lost time.
Our condolences go out to Michael and the entire Phelps family during this difficult time.
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