Matt Biondi

Biondi announced his retirement from competitive swimming in 1988 and went to work on the "celebrity circuit," giving motivational speeches in as many as twenty cities a month, endorsing swimsuits and sunglasses, opening supermarkets, giving instructional clinics. He and Jager competed in a series of lucrative exhibition races. Biondi generated a six-figure income, but it was a difficult existence for someone who is shy and protective of his privacy.

At the same time, limitations were relaxed on payments amateur athletes could receive from endorsement and from their national federations, and U.S. Swimming increased its stipends to potential Olympians. This made it viable for Biondi and other veteran swimmers to compete in the 1992 Games in Barcelona, Spain. The United States fielded its oldest Olympic swim team in history. Biondi, 26, and Jager, 27, would become the first American swimmers to win gold medals in three Olympiads and Biondi would become one of the most decorated U.S. Olympic athletes in history. Biondi captured gold medals in the 4×100 meter freestyle relay and the 4×100 meter medley relay and a silver in the 50-meter freestyle. He did not swim in the 4×100 medley relay final, but alternates share in the award if they compete in qualifying heats. The event gave Biondi the 11th medal of his Olympic career, tying the U.S. record shared by Spitz and Osburn.