A year ago, N.C. State’s Ryan Held was in Rio, swimming to an Olympic gold medal, shedding those famous tears on the victory stand.
The medal around his neck, the national anthem being played and the U.S. flag being raised, Held lost it. Michael Phelps, who has 28 Olympic medals and is everybody’s big brother on the U.S. swim team and its biggest swimming hero, rubbed the back of Held’s head as American hearts melted.
“I pretty much became a rock star overnight,” Held said.
After making all the media rounds in Rio, Held returned to Raleigh and N.