Michael Phelps may be retired from swimming, but his competitive spirit still shines through. The United States swimmer who owns the most Olympic medals in history, recently shared his thoughts after hearing an Australian swimmer complain about Team USA leading up to the Paris Olympics. In a video shared to NBC Olympics and Team USA, Phelps was shown a video of Cate Campbell, a 32-year-old Australian swimmer who expressed her candid thoughts on Team USA after the 2023 World Championships in Japan. Campbell is shown bragging about beating Team USA in the pool. She noted that Australia had 15 gold medals as compared to USA’s seven, although at the end of the competition, the USA left with 40 medals total while Australia left with 30 medals total. “Such, such, sore losers,” Campbell said in the clip of Team USA. “Australia coming out on top is one thing, but it is just so much sweeter beating America. There were a couple of nights, particularly the first night of competition, where we did not have to hear the ‘Star-Spangled Banner’ ring out through the stadium and I cannot tell you how happy that made me. If I never hear that song again, it will be too soon. Bring on Paris, that’s all I have to say. U.S., stop being sore losers.” She also commented on Team USA’s chanting of “USA! USA!” in their warmup area. “I’ve never wanted to punch someone more,” Campbell added.

“I would make them eat every word they said about me.”

Michael Phelps got FIRED UP about the USA vs. Australia swimming rivalry ahead of the #ParisOlympics. pic.twitter.com/57cKaLvgtE

— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) June 21, 2024

After watching the clip, Phelps’s competitive nature shone through his response. “If somebody said that to me, I would lose it,” Phelps said candidly. “I would make them eat every word they just said about me.” While Phelps may not be competing anymore, he has had his fair share of trash talk. He even named names, such as Australian swimmer Ian Thorpe, where Phelps had the last laugh. “You guys all talked s— about me,” Phelps said. “And I had the last laugh. So, for the Americans, if you see what I just saw, I would watch that thing every day to give me that little extra bit of just oomph.” He added, “The good news is the Olympics will be here shortly and we’ll be able to see what the results are.”

Cate Campbell did not make Team Australia’s 2024 Olympic roster.