Michael Phelps Photobombs His Olympic Superfan in Rio
The superfan from Texas was photobombed by one athlete he hoped to meet.
— -- If selfie-snapping were an Olympic sport, Brent Folan would be swimming in gold medals.
The 25-year-old sports superfan from Fort Worth, Texas, took time off work and headed to Rio de Janeiro for the Olympics, determined to takes selfies with as many athletes and celebrities as possible.
He accomplished that and photobombed a few shots as well.
Even before he left the Lone Star State, Folan snapped a picture with U.S. sprinter Allyson Felix.
Luck was certainly on Folan's side as he scoured Rio and documented his encounters on Instagram using the hashtag #FindFolanRio2016.
He snagged photos with a slew of athletes — including the first gold medalist of the games, American shooter Virginia Thrasher; the entire U.S. women's gymnastics team; beach volleyball duo April Ross and Kerri Walsh Jennings; and gold-winning golfer Justin Rose.
Folan also landed selfies with swimmer Ryan Murphy and his U.S. swimming teammates. But not one: Michael Phelps.
Folan decided that he would not be gold-medal-worthy until he had a selfie with Phelps, the most decorated Olympian of all time. With his return flight from Rio de Janeiro looming, Folan called his boss and requested three extra days of vacation to extend his trip in hopes of a Phelps photo op.
"Phelps is like my white buffalo," Folan told ABC News' T.J. Holmes. "He's the reason why I skipped my flight home."
"Good Morning America" came to Folan's aid, arranging a chance for him to meet Phelps.
Phelps did one better, sneaking up behind Folan as the selfie king was explaining how to take a selfie and photobombing him.
"Oh, no way," Folan exclaimed at the sight of Phelps. "This is not real."
"I just photobombed you," Phelps said, and he revealed that he saw Folan at a swimming event where Folan wore an eye-catching American flag onesie.
"You can't forget the suit," Phelps said. "It's awesome getting support, and there's no better way to get a lot of attention than just going all out, and it's great to see, and we love it."
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