 Michael Phelps participates in a press conference during the 2016 Team USA Media Summit at UCLA's Pauley Pavilion on March 8, 2016 in Westwood, Calif. 
 
 
 
 
 
 RIO DE JANEIRO – Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian of all time, was selected as Team USA’s flag bearer for the Opening Ceremony of the 2016 Olympic Games, the United States Olympic Committee announced today. And should either win gold in a solo race in Brazil — Lochte will compete alongside Phelps in the 200-meter IM but did not qualify in the 400 IM — that swimmer will become the oldest to win individual Olympic gold, knocking Dutch swimmer Inge de Bruijn, who won the 50-meter freestyle three days before her 31st birthday at the 2004 Games in Athens, from the top spot. So with that in mind, let’s look back on Phelps’ four previous Olympic appearances as he prepares for a record-setting fifth: 
 
 2000, Sydney 
 
 Phelps made his Olympic debut at the age of 15, making him the youngest U.S. male to swim in the Games since 1932. Phelps made history at the Beijing Games in 2008 when he won gold medals in eight events and added to his legacy in 2012 when he became the most decorated Olympian of all time with 22 career medals, including 18 golds. It begged the question whether Phelps had enough left in him to make history, particularly considering that he barely qualified for the final in the first place, his 4:13.33 prelim time the slowest among the eight qualifiers.
– "King of the Olympic Rings" Michael Phelps already has more medals than any other athlete in history, Fox Sports notes. Now he's going to add a flag to the mix as Team USA's flag-bearer at the opening ceremony in Rio on Friday, the Olympic National Committee announced Wednesday. The swimmer, headed to his fifth Olympics, has 22 medals to his name, including 18 golds. "I'm honored to be chosen, proud to represent the US, and humbled by the significance of carrying the flag and all it stands for," he says in a Team USA release. "For Sydney, I just wanted to make the team. For Athens, I wanted to win gold for my country. For Beijing, I wanted to do something nobody else had done. In London, I wanted to make history. And now, I want to walk in the Opening Ceremony, take it all in, represent America in the best possible way, and make my family proud. This time around, it's about so much more than medals." In more fashionable opening ceremony news, per the Los Angeles Times: Polo Ralph Lauren and the US Olympic Committee revealed Team USA's parade attire Friday, with team members set to be adorned in white denim pants, navy blue blazers, and red-white-and-blue striped T-shirts. But it's Phelps' outfit that will stand out the most: His jacket will be fitted with a battery pack that powers light-up panels to make his Olympic patch on the front and "USA" letters on the back glow. (Phelps' most recent accomplishment: his first child.)