MICHAEL Phelps has cemented his place in the history books this Games, notching up three golds so far and taking his overall Olympic title tally to a whopping 21.
He looked like the happiest man alive as he cuddled his son Boomer and kissed emotional fiancée Nicole Johnson following his latest win in the men’s 200m butterfly on Tuesday.
Former Miss California Johnson couldn’t have looked more proud of her other half, whom she has been dating on-and-off since 2007.
But it hasn’t always been plain sailing for the couple, mainly due to Phelps’ wild ways and party-loving reputation.
Prior to their getting together, Phelps – who is the most decorated Olympian of all time – was arrested for drink-driving in 2004.
He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 18 months’ probation, fined around £200 and ordered to educate school kids about the dangers of driving under the influence.
Phelps was the centre of more controversy in 2009 after a photo of him smoking a marijuana pipe emerged shortly after he won eight golds at the Beijing Olympics.
The swimmer was dropped by his sponsor, Kellogg, and USA Swimming withdrew their funding of Phelps following the incident.
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Johnson stood by her man, but according to People the couple broke up in late 2011, before getting back together in 2014.
They remained friends in the interim years – with Phelps continuing to carry a torch for his model ex.
He told USA Today last year: “I said to a couple of my friends if I ever had the chance to get her back, that would be it.
“She was the one I loved the most.”
He added: “Her and I have been on and off for eight years. It’s been a long time. We’ve been through a lot.
“But I love her to death. We’ve been able to grow as a couple through everything we’ve been through, the positive changes I’ve made in my life.”
Presumably he’s referring to his battle with depression and his stint in rehab following another drunk driving conviction in 2014.
This culminated two years of a downward spiral which almost ended his career for good.
After London 2012 Phelps announced his retirement from swimming, having managed four gold medals and two silvers in the Games.
Following the competition he told how he went six straight months without working out once.
As a result his weight ballooned from 187 pounds to nearly 230 – the largest he had ever been.
To make matters worse, his substance abuse became more frequent during this dark period.
He said: “I still remember the days, not wanting to see anybody, not wanting to talk to anybody, really not wanting to live.
“I was on an express elevator to the bottom floor, wherever that might be.”
It is during this time he reportedly started dating transgender model Taylor Lianne Chandler, now 41.
The pair allegedly shared a year-long fling – after she underwent gender reassignment in her 20s – and she claimed the swimmer left her ’emotionally crippled’.
According to the Baltimore Sun, when Phelps left rehab he patched things up with his father, who split from his mother when he was just nine-years-old, and with Johnson.
Now he’s rarely seen without the beauty by his side.
He describes her as “the true love of his life” and proposed in 2015.
Having become parents to Boomer Robert Phelps on May 5, the couple plan to get married after Rio.
His mum Debbie credits Johnson and little Boomer for keeping her son on the right track, even when he’s busy training.
She told WBAL-TV: “They’ve adjusted themselves so well, but they talk together every night, and I just think they have a very special, loving bond between the three of them.”
While her fiance is busy in the pool, Johnson does marketing for the Michael Phelps’s Foundation, which provides swimming lessons to kids from underprivileged backgrounds, and also helps promote his MP swim products.
She too sounds like a real winner.
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