He really gets his head in the game.
Michael Phelps may have won his 28th medal at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, but #PhelpsFace came close to breaking the Internet. Just before his second race, the 200-meter butterfly, Phelps threw a super unimpressed, yet terrifying demon face at South African competitor Chad Le Clos, who beat Phelps in that same event at the 2012 Olympics.
The 200-meter butterfly became one of Phelps' five gold medals, and #PhelpsFace flooded everyone's Twitter feeds. In the now-famous snippet from the ready room, Le Clos bounces through some sort of boxing routine, and Phelps broods in the corner. He wrinkles his nose, then continues his death stare. It wasn't that he was making that face at Le Clos – he was just making that face on his own and Le Clos jumped into his line of fire.
But the Internet's reaction was peak Internet. There are thousands of posts under #PhelpsFace with new memes being Tweeted even in December, and several news outlets reported on the trend. According to Time.com, someone edited Le Clos' Wikipedia page, adding that Le Clos "died by the hands of Michael Phelps, being literally blown out of the water by the greatest American since Abraham Lincoln." And you can even follow Michael Phelps' face on Twitter (but the account hasn't maintained adequate meme content). A follow-up meme featured Le Clos during the race, jumping up for air and watching Phelps beat him. It didn't reach #PhelpsFace fame, but the efforts (and the moment) were commendable.
Phelps was listening to “Stick Talk” by Future, according to CBS.
When you're the real Slim Shady but someone else stood up. pic.twitter.com/CtQTu7FXEa
— B®endan (@ChiBDM) August 9, 2016