Michael Phelps is in denial. Perhaps.
A news anchor in Fort Myers, Fla., reported Friday evening that the former Olympian, winner of 18 gold medals and 22 medals overall, was plotting a comeback during the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro.
''The greatest Olympian of all time isn't hanging up his swimsuit, after all,'' said anchor Peter Busch of station WBBH, an NBC affiliate in the brief report on the station's website, without citing any sources.
Phelps responded on Twitter, downplaying the report. Though he sounds as if he's trying to deny the report, he never actually says the report isn't true. He never states that he intends to remain retired from competitive swimming.
"Why do I keep getting texts about coming back? Do ppl really believe everything they hear or read? There are many ppl in the world that think they have a 'story' ..." USA Today reported, adding that the tweet went longer than Twitter's 140 character limit.
Phelps then retweeted a retweet from his former coach, Bob Bowman, which said, "RT @GreatestQuotes: "Those who have knowledge, don't predict. Those who predict, don't have knowledge." - Lao-tzu @MichaelPhelps."
In its account, Yahoo.com reported that Busch responded to Phelps' first tweet, saying that he felt "very confident with my info. Guess we'll see."
Phelps immediately retired after the 2012 Summer Games in London at age 27 and has repeatedly said his swimming career is finished.
According to Yahoo.com, neither Phelps nor his representatives had further comment. Yahoo.com left with one of his longtime agents, Drew Johnson.
Officials at USA Swimming did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Yahoo.com also reported that Ryan Lochte, Phelps' longtime rival, doubted that Phelps could stay retired. Lochte cited Phelps' dominance during the past decade and said that swimmers were still competing past the age of 30.
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