The legendary American swimmer Michael Phelps has announced that he will give more time to the Special Olympics (SO) movement and to all people with mental disabilities. Phelps is the most decorated Olympian of all time with a total of 28 medals. In the recently concluded 2016 Rio Olympics, he won five gold medals and a silver. He has said Rio would be his last Summer Games. Phelps joined the athletes while they were competing in the swimming events in the 2015 Special Olympics World Summer Games in Los Angeles. He cheered them on before the races, deciding to give a hand to Special Olympics to inspire swimmers and attract more athletes to the movement. Phelps also sent his photo with a message of thanks to Special Olympics for inspiring him during the competition. Ayman Abdel-Wahab, head of the SO Middle East and North Africa region, has invited Phelps to the 2017 Regional Swimming Cup. Special Olympics is the world's largest sports organisation for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, providing year-round training and competitions to more than 5.3 million athletes and Unified Sports partners in nearly 170 countries.