Michael Phelps ready to wrap up Olympic career after extending his prime

Rio de Janeiro – Michael Phelps won a silver in the last individual race of his career, but he didn't really need another medal. "I'll add it to the collection," he said like a kid who had just found a trading card under the couch.

What Phelps really needs is a good chiropractor and a large safe deposit box.

If Phelps ever wore all 27 of his Olympic medals around his neck, he would become the envy of Swiss banks and smelters, Kanye's jeweler and any remaining living prospectors. He would look like a star from space, which is fitting, because this week he made himself perhaps — it's always "perhaps" when assessing eras — the biggest star in Olympic history.

Is he the best Olympian ever? It's difficult to compare modes of transportation as well as centuries. Sprinters, gymnasts and decathletes can achieve the inexplicable as well as swimmers. What is certain is that after Phelps maxed out his prime, he extended it, returning from an 18-month retirement to train for the Rio Olympics.

He won four golds and a silver in his first five races in Rio and will have a chance at a fifth gold in these Games and a 23rd overall in the 4x100-meter medley relay final on Saturday night. "It'll be fun, no matter what," he said, and he seemed to mean it.

Enjoying second place is not how Phelps became the most decorated Olympian ever, but he decided to view it as a victory lap more than a disappointment. "I'm me, so I'm going to be hard on myself a little bit because I don't like to lose," he said. "But I'm accepting it. I'm accepting the race I had tonight. I have two laps left in my career. I am happy and I'm excited and I'm looking forward to tomorrow."

Those words weren't empty. As he walked through the interview zone, he spotted U.S. teammate Maya DiRado, who had just won the 200-meter backstroke. DiRado had just finished with interviews. She left smiling, turned and saw Phelps, who engulfed her in a hug, and then she began sobbing.

Phelps shed no tears. "It'll be fun, no matter what," he said of his last race on Saturday.

He also offered a pointed clarification. After his gold medal performance on Thursday, longtime teammate and competitor Ryan Lochte — and Phelps' mother — doubted that Phelps would follow through on his retirement plans.

"I'll just clarify — Ryan doesn't know what he's talking about when he says I'm coming back in 2020," Phelps said, while smiling. "We're going to go over there. I'm not competing in four years. I saw that today and I was like, oh, thanks, Ryan, just throwing me right out there for another four years.

"If he wants to come back, I think that would be great and it would be a lot of fun to watch."

In Beijing, Phelps wore the stone face of a competitor with long-term goals only he could imagine. In London, Phelps believed he was about to retire and began loosening up in news conferences, as if it was time for him to smell the chlorine.

In Rio, Phelps has acted the part of older brother to his teammates. Instead of spending this Olympics looking back at his career, he spent his first four races touching the wall and looking back at younger swimmers who trailed and revere him.

"I'm enjoying the sport like I did when I was 18," Phelps said late Thursday night. "I enjoyed the training leading up to this point. Before, I was always looking for shortcuts."

He doth protest too much. Phelps possesses immense natural talent, but swimmers can't win Olympic golds without training until their lungs and muscles burn.

Phelps said what changed was his willingness to give his coach, Bob Bowman, unconditional control. "I went through obstacles maybe I didn't want to go through before," Phelps said. "But I was open to it because I wanted to be able to be back to where I am now.

"Getting out of the pool now might take a little more energy. It might be a little bit harder. But it's just as sweet standing on top of the podium listening to your national anthem play."

Phelps cried during the anthem on Thursday, and for years his tear ducts have worked as hard as his shoulders. He has won 22 golds. No other Olympian has won more than nine. No other athlete has won more than 18 overall medals, and no swimmer has won more than 12. Phelps has 27.

Even among Olympians, Phelps is chased only by his own wake.

"I think this should give them some experience and let them learn some things from the older dudes who are leaving," Phelps said of his teammates. "And hopefully continue this legacy that USA swimming has been able to build already."

Then Phelps threw a towel over his shoulder and walked away, looking like something carved out of limestone. His silver was part of a three-way tie, so he held hands and laughed on the podium, his competitive angst almost gone, his career ready for one last closeup.

Jim Souhan's podcast can be heard at MalePatternPodcasts.com. On Twitter: @SouhanStrib. • jsouhan@startribune.com