The greatest?

robinph

So who is it then now that Phelps has his large bundle of precious metals?

Michael Johnson was on the BBC highlights program tonight and it looked like he was about to give Gabby Logan a slap for asking him daft questions suggesting that Phelps was the greatest ever Olympian. I think she was expecting him to respond in the style of "Team America, F*** Yeah!!!" but he just looked pissed off with Phelps really. OK, so he'll have a bit of a bias towards athletics events over ones in the pool but he certainly didn't consider getting a larger number of wins in the pool to be that big a deal.

thirtyfoot

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/305/story/48260.html

Here is one angle on it.

lostexpectation

yeah the different swimming strokes and lengths should be turned into some sort of X-athlon

eagle eye

What Michael Phelps has done so far is incredible, but its no fair to call him the greatest Olympian ever.
Again the list given on the Washington Post is also not fair.
Track and field athletes can also win in more than one event but not to the same extent as swimmers. Boxers can only win one medal in any Olympics so you have to consider triple Olympic boxing champions near the top as well.
I think this sort of thing is best left in sporting categories and I would have no doubt that Phelps is the best swimmer Olympian in history.

metaoblivia

I think what Phelps has accomplished is amazing. The competitive swimmers I know think he's amazing because most swimmers specialize in one stroke at one or two lengths. He's won gold medals in the 400 and 200 IM, the 200 freestyle, and the 200 butterfly (with the 100 butterfly coming up). Yes, swimmers have more of chance to win medals at the Olympics, if they qualify for a large number of the races and then go on to win those races. Most swimmers aren't capable of this; Phelps is.
That said, I don't think there's such a thing as a one greatest Olympian. I think it needs to taken sport by sport, and even then medal count isn't the only factor. I do think that Phelps will and should be remembered as ONE of the great modern Olympians, and possibly the greatest Olympic swimmer.

Lirange

If it's so easy why hasn't someone done it before?

He also won 6 golds and two bronzes in Athens. That's two great back to back performances. He also made his first Olympics at the age of 15 in 2000. Unusually young for male athletes in swimming. Incredible.

eagle eye

Lirange wrote: »

If it's so easy why hasn't someone done it before?

He also won 6 golds and two bronzes in Athens. That's two great back to back performances. He also made his first Olympics at the age of 15 in 2000. Unusually young for male athletes in swimming. Incredible.

Who said it was easy???

Its just that to say that one particular athlete is the best ever Olympian because of his medal haul is totally unfair. You cannot do that in some sports like Boxing where you can only win one gold medal per Olympics. This sort of thing is best left in sporting categories.

Lirange

Well to his credit, he was asked if he considered himself the "greatest Olympian of all time," he said he couldn't say that, and that he preferred, "most decorated."

For once he had a very close race in the 100 fly, which was almost a bit short for him. He won by .01. He beat a swimmer who specialises in this one race and was waiting all week to face off with Phelps.

donegal11

lostexpectation wrote: »

yeah the different swimming strokes and lengths should be turned into some sort of X-athlon

same could be said about track events "running different lengths"

lostexpectation

donegal11 wrote: »

same could be said about track events "running different lengths"

yeah but as already said less athletes go in many different races

robinph

Very rare for anyone in athletics to be able to compete in more than one distance, and even more so three. Not sure if anyone other than Zatopek managed that.

robinph

Rebbeca Romero getting a silver in rowing in Athens and then a gold in cycling this time round has to be up there actually. A switch like that between two completely different event has only been done by one other person previously allegedly.

juvenal

robinph wrote: »

Rebbeca Romero getting a silver in rowing in Athens and then a gold in cycling this time round has to be up there actually. A switch like that between two completely different event has only been done by one other person previously allegedly.

I saw her individual pursuit this morning, when the commentator was talking about this I thought he had his facts wrong! That is just incredible to go from one sport to a completely different one.

robinph

Probably can't really coun't her until after the 10k, but if she happens to medal in that then Natalie du Toit is probably entitled to be mentioned in the same breath as the other "greatests".