Gold Medal Mom: Debbie Phelps

How did you balance having time for yourself and time for your three kids? Well, I'm a very energetic person, so I wasn't one to sit still. But me-time was when everybody was settled in their beds at night, and I was able to sit down in a comfy chair and look at a magazine or just exhale. I used to work in a school with a very young group of new teachers and I was the experienced one. So when Friday evening came, they all wanted to go to happy hour. But I had the responsibility of three children. I was always a firm believer that when you bring children into the world, you see it through and you don't let go of their hands until it's time. That's what I did in the household as a single mom. I kept on going, kept on supporting, nurturing, guiding, trying to figure out how to get what one of my kids wanted.

After winning his eighth medal in Beijing, Michael said there was so much emotion going through his head and so much excitement, adding, "I just want to see my mom." Tell us about your relationship with Michael. [Laughs] That's interesting—Michael is the baby of the family, so he's very attached to me. When I became a single mom [when Michael was nine], I realized I could go two directions: either stay focused on my family, or focus on just myself, and go the other direction. That's where the values from my home carried me through. My mother was a very strong mother: She was a mother of four and did not work outside the home until my father passed at a very early age, so her love and her passion was for her children. And I carry that kind of passion for my three kids. I mean, that's kind of what kept me going all the time. It's what I knew. It's the values I was raised with. My children and I are just very close. Michael and I will go to a [Baltimore] Ravens game and to sporting events, and the girls and I will go shopping. We just enjoy each other.