. In advance of the seven-year anniversary of his groundbreaking cover story , Phelps is yet again reflecting—on that cover, on himself and his mental health, and on advocating for industry-wide change.Sports Illustrated: We’re about two and a half years into a pandemic. How’s your mental health?: I look at the pandemic almost as a blessing, because my mental health was severely challenged during it. I had to be aware and make sure that I was taking care of it—and taking care of it daily.
SI: What is the significance of the 2015 SI cover for you, that you wanted that in particular on an NFT?That’s one of my favorite covers of all time. But also the article itself is one of the most rawest articles I think I’ve ever done. I got to do it with a pretty close friend. I’ve spent a lot of time with Tim Layden the last two decades.
For me, the more I share my stories, the lower my shoulders drop, the more comfortable I am about my story and about who I am.
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