The eight gold medals Michael Phelps earned during the 2008 Olympic Games make him one the best American athletes. He’ll be back in the water during this year’s event in London, but he doesn’t spend all of his time training. According to a recent interview, Phelps spends over 30 hours per week playing Call of Duty, the popular online multiplayer shooter.
“I’ve been playing a lot of Call of Duty lately,” said Phelps in an interview with The Post Game when asked what game he’s been playing. “I find myself playing like 30 hours a week.”
He was then asked if people knew who he was online. “Yeah, people don’t know it’s mine,” he answered. “I just get crushed. I always find myself getting heated, trash talking. And you know it’s a 10-year-old kid on the other line that just demolished me. It’s so frustrating. But it is fun, and I’m very competitive in everything I do.”
Liz Woolley, founder of Online Gamers Anonymous, uses Phelps’ love for competitive shooting to warn others about the dangers of gaming addiction in an article printed on Yahoo Sports.
“Any time you get up to more than a couple of hours per day regularly, it can start to interfere with your normal life, your job, your family, your friends and your social life,” said Woolley, according to Yahoo Sports. “But it can be even more dangerous for people like [Phelps] who are highly driven and competitive, which of course elite athletes and swimmers have to be. The games can be used as an escape from the pressures of training or competition, but it has to be moderated carefully or it can have terrible repercussions.”
Now, is 30 hours of gaming per week that much? Well, that’s just a little more than four hours each day. Sure, it seems like a lot, but if that’s how Michael Phelps wants to spend his time off from training (which I’m sure is very long and difficult), then why not? It’s better than smoking a bong, at least.