Michael Phelps returned to the Olympics on Sunday as a broadcaster instead of an athlete and debuted a new look while on the telecast.

A lean-looking Phelps donned a full beard for his Olympic broadcast debut and many on social media noted that the decorated gold medalist was looking quite swell with the new facial features.

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Phelps is considered one of the greatest Olympic athletes of all time and wrapped up his career in the pool at the 2016 Rio Olympics. He won gold in the 200-meter butterfly, 200-meter medley, 4x100-meter freestyle, 4x200-meter freestyle and 4x100-meter medley. He won silver in the 100-meter medley.

He had 23 Olympic gold medals, three silver medals and two bronze medals. He won 27 gold medals at Worlds and 16 gold medals at the Pan Pacific Championships.

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He set 39 world records in his career, six more than Mark Spitz.

Phelps joined the NBC broadcast team as a commentator, the company announced earlier this month. He is set to call events with Dan Hicks and Rowdy Gaines.

"I know he’s going to offer some incredible insight on especially those races that he has won so many gold medals in," Gaines said earlier this month.

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A look-back at Phelps’ career is also on NBC’s streaming service Peacock.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.