Michael Phelps opens door _ slightly _ to another comeback

“That’s all we want”, the 18-time gold medallist said Wednesday in Rio, where he’s preparing for a fifth Olympic campaign. I probably shed a little bit of tears, just in joy, just the honor and the opportunity to do that is incredible. For Beijing, I wanted to do something nobody else had done (breaking Mark Spitz’s record with eight gold medals).

Phelps will certainly be hard to miss at the Maracana.

As the Russian doping scandal roils Rio, Olympic swimming star Michael Phelps says he can’t be sure he has ever competed in a completely clean sport.

Brazilian brothers and Olympic medal-winning sailors Torben and Lars Grael carried the torch from Niteroi by boat across Guanabara Bay on Wednesday morning, passing the flame to Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Paes in the host city, where – you guessed it – the procession was met with protests. He has become a true leader of the US swimming team, mentoring younger athletes and eagerly embracing the chance to be a role model.

NBC’s growing comprehensive coverage over the years is what Bob Costas, who once again is hosting the prime-time Olympics show, credits with bringing in new viewers and fans.

Now, he’s received an even bigger accolade.

Teammate and longtime rival Ryan Lochte, who is rooming with Phelps in the Olympic village, predicts the 31-year-old Phelps will be back in the pool for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Phelps conceded he wasn’t at his best for the London Games and didn’t really want to be there.

Then there’s his personal life, which has included a series of missteps including a second drunken-driving arrest in 2014.

Phelps kept saying this would definitely be his final Olympics.

“To have him (Boomer) watch the potential last races of my career is something I look forward to being able to share with him and also now being able to share the experience of carrying the American flag and leading Team USA out”, he added.

“There’s not really a lot that I can control but me”, he said. “I’m not. But I’m going to say that”.