Swimmer Michael Phelps, the all-time leader in career Olympic medals with 22, will carry the United States flag for the Opening Ceremony in Rio de Janeiro, the USOC announced Wednesday.Phelps, who has won 18 gold medals, was chosen for the honor in a vote of Team USA athletes. It will be his fifth Olympics since making his debut at the 2000 Games in Sydney, Australia.Im honored to be chosen, proud to represent the U.S., and humbled by the significance of carrying the flag and all it stands for, Phelps said. For Sydney, I just wanted to make the team. For Athens, I wanted to win gold for my country. For Beijing, I wanted to do something nobody else had done. In London, I wanted to make history.And now, I want to walk in the Opening Ceremony, take it all in, represent America in the best possible way and make my family proud. This time around, its about so much more than medals.Phelps retired after the London Games and made a series of missteps in his personal life, including a second drunken-driving arrest in 2014. Since then, however, the 31-year-old went through six weeks of inpatient therapy, gave up alcohol, reconnected with his estranged father, got engaged and became a father for the first time with the birth of his son, Boomer.He reversed his decision to retire, but insists this will be his final Olympics. Phelps will compete in three individual events in Rio and could be a member of all three relay teams, giving him a good chance to take his already-staggering medal haul even higher.Phelps is just the second U.S. swimmer chosen to carry the flag in the Opening Ceremony, joining Gary Hall (1976, Montreal).?He skipped the Opening Ceremony at the last three Olympics to rest up for the grueling 400-meter individual medley, which is held the next day.The Opening Ceremony takes place Friday at Maracana Stadium in Rio.The Associated Press contributed to this report. Wholesale Jerseys Cheap .J. -- Marshawn Lynch said Thursday it will be good to get back to football after the Seattle quiet talking running back wrapped up his final mandatory media session of Super Bowl week. Authentic China Jerseys . 24 Baylor in a Big 12 clash between teams trending in opposite directions. 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Getting set to go their separate ways for a short Christmas break, the Raptors coach credited his team for their effort on a seemingly impossible three-game road trip, urging them to build on that success when they get back to work at the end of the week. The hunt for hockey history is on. With assistance from our friends in Toronto, we have started our own search for items on the Hockey Hall of Fames most wanted list.We want this to be interactive, so if you know where any of these artifacts are located, or if youve heard rumors of their whereabouts while standing around the skate sharpener, be sure to reach out to me on Twitter @ESPNJoeyMac.The first few items were investigating are a rare sweater, a record-breaking stick, a historic winning puck and an iconic goalie mask.Our main objective is that [artifacts], once we know about them or find them, are preserved and kept for heritage sake, said Izak Westgate, manager of outreach exhibits and assistant curator at the Hall of Fame in Toronto. Would it be great to have them in the Hall of Fame, where they can be displayed and shown to everyone? Absolutely. But as long as we know theyre out there and someone is keeping it and making sure itll be in good condition long term, then really thats the most important thing, whether its another museum or in someones special collection who really cares about it. Because you would hate to see -- especially the extremely rare items -- go missing because once theyre gone, theyre gone forever.Let the scavenger hunt begin.Wanted:The Miracle On Ice winning puckTeam USA captain Mike Eruziones third-period goal against the Soviet Union gave the Americans a 4-3 victory in the 1980 Olympic Winter Games in Lake Placid, which is better known as the Miracle on Ice. Team USA later defeated Finland for the gold medal, but it was the victory over the Russians that is considered one of the greatest upsets in sports history.Why:For me, it would be as significant as the Golden Goal that [Sidney] Crosby scored in 2010, Westgate said, referring to Team CCanadas gold-medal overtime win against Team USA at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games.dddddddddddd It would be as significant as any championship-winning goal. It wasnt the first gold medal for the U.S., but just for what it did for hockey in the United States, that whole generation of young kids who were watching around that time went on to form probably the core of the 96 World Cup team. From that type of perspective, as well as the significance hockey-wise, and beating the big, bad Russians, it would form a prominent piece in the Hall.A few years back, during their 100th anniversary, the International Hockey Federation voted [the Miracle On Ice] the No. 1 greatest moment, so to have the puck from the greatest moment in IIHF history would be hugely significant.Status:No one knows for sure exactly what happened to the puck after the goal. Its been widely reported that on the ensuing faceoff, the puck sailed into the stands six seconds later. According to reports, New York native Delmar Law caught the puck, and he and three friends later signed a letter of authenticity claiming as much. Law kept it on display at his home for the next 22 years until it went up for auction in 2003, according to reports, where Mark Friedland bought it. Friedland sold it in 2004 (he was asking $94,000; the purchase price is unknown). After that, the trail gets a little foggy: a Chicago-based auction company that is no longer in business sold what was claimed to be the winning puck to a mystery bidder for $37,045 in 2011.Eruzione does not know where it is today. No idea. I should have kept it, might be worth something lol, Eruzione responded in an email.?Case: Missing ' ' '