Michael phelps is NOT greatest olympian ever b/c....
Former Member
This is not my opinion, but have heard this argued multiple times the past few days
He is swimming in a upper class white dominated sport. If swimming were more accessible to inner city black kids then he would have more competition and a deeper talent pool To compete against and he would not come close to his medal count.
Everyone can run, so usain bolt or carl Lewis are the best Olympians ever bc they accomplished what they did against the unquestionable best the world could possible throw at them
What say you?
It is impossible to compare the merits of one sport to another.Phelps showed an ability to focus and will to win that is right up there with the best of the best.
what's The rebuttal?Who needs a rebuttal? It’s all just sports talk hyperbole. Unless there is some sort of subjective criteria for the crowning of the greatest Olympian ever (such as medal count), then it’s all junk science.
As to the point “Everyone can run”, in the same regard “Everyone can swim.” However, not everyone has access to world class facilities and coaches and very few people in any sport are willing to make the sacrifices to become the greatest.
My vote for greatest ever is Edoardo Mangiarotti of Italy in his 24 year Olympic career he earned 6 Gold, 5 Silver and 2 Bronze in Fencing. Anyone with a sharp pointy blade that can run me through, gets my vote:duel:
The fact that everyone can run seems like a pretty weak argument. The best athlete has to necessarily be in a sport that everyone can do? Gee, that narrows things down a little. That's like saying Einstein wasn't really that great a thinker because not everyone understands physics!
so usain bolt or carl Lewis are the best Olympians everBy many measures they are not even the best Track and Field athletes. Paavo Nurmi (The Flying Finn) has more Olympic medals than either Bolt or Lewis. And Ray Ewry has more individual gold (8) than all 3.
By medal count, Phelps has 22 to Thompson’s and Torres’s 12 in swimming, almost twice as many.
Lewis needs 2 more medals to just catch Nurmi, not likely.
Bolt needs 8 more, possibly 2 more this week, which leaves 2016 and 2020 just to catch Nurmi, and 2024, 2028 and 2032 to pass him by a margin equal to Phelps'.
It is impossible to compare the merits of one sport to another.Phelps showed an ability to focus and will to win that is right up there with the best of the best.
it's true that life is unfair and does not provide equal opportunities for all. However, the world has changed and is changing. I would venture to guess that in the early 20th century olympics there were few if any blacks at all. Remember Jesse Owens in '36 and the horror his victories created for the so-called "master (white blue eyed blond) race." For Owens just to get there, he must have overcome incredible prejudice at home and abroad. He is certainly among the top olympians. There's also Native American Jim Thorpe who won gold twice in both the pentathlon and decathlon and Bob Beamon's long jump that stood as a record for over 20 years. And *** Fosbury who revolutionized the high jump, but won only one gold medal.
In olympic competition, how many medals an athlete wins is at least somewhat a funciton of the sport and events - basketball players and marathoners are not likely to win more than one medal per olympics. Nonethless, LeBron is an incredible athlete and you can't rate his skills and performace based on medal count. And, because some of medals are from relays and/or team events, some athletes need three or more others that are very good to win these medals.
One could argue that Usain Bolt and Carl Lewis are (or were) very good at a comparativley few events - 100m and 200m sprints (and in Lewis's case the long jump), while the body of Phelp's work cuts across many different types of swimming events. Could Phelps win gold in a sprint or could Lewis win in the 1500 or hurdles ?
You have to step back from the medal count BS and look at the athlete and their body of work; then make your own judgement (even though i'm a swimmer) about the best ever olympic athlete. It's a totally subjective, and in my opinion the number of medals doesn't have much meaning.
If he was a mexican he would have missed the relay medals.....
If you take relays out he has 11 Gold, 1 Silver, and 1 Bronze, plus 1 fourth and 1 fifth. That is still better than anyone.
espn.go.com/.../143923
I'll be willing to bet that Michael can run a more respectable 100 or 200 meters than Usain can swim a 200 free, 200 fly or 400 IM. :banana:
I think it's funny when people say it's relatively easy to amass lots of medals in swimming due to the four strokes plus multiples distances and relays. You even hear track people say this which is particularly funny considering they have multiple running distances, hurdles, steeplechase, throwing events, jumping events plus relays!
