Given that we've had 2 consecutive ridiculous gold medal hauls by Mr. Phelps and 1 in the past by Mr. Spitz, when will we see a similar feat by a female swimmer? Why haven't we in the past? Is there somehow more parity in women's swimming?
I would submit that we might have seen 6 or more golds in one Olympics from Tracy Caulkins in 1980 if not for the boycott. And, we might have seen it from Shirley Babashoff in 1976 if not for the East German women.
The only current contender I could see is Libby Trickett. She won 5 golds at the 2007 Worlds. She had a great Olympics by most standards, but didn't approach her Worlds gold medal haul. There are other multi-talented women out there (Coughlin, Hoff, Coventry, Rice), but none have attacked that kind of schedule successfully so far.
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Kristin Otto won 6 gold medals at the 1988 Olympics, I think.
We are all just doing a lot of talking for the fun of it - but I strongly object to putting Kristin Otto in the same category than any of the swimmers mentioned in this post. What's next - Marion Jones as the greatest Olympian ?
One of the key requirements for a Phelps type of effort are the relays -- only the US or Australia would have any hope to sweep or medal in all the relays. Other than that - I think Phelps has made it more possible for swimmers to challenge in multiple events. In terms of indiv. events, Coventry took medals in 4 - and Hoff certainly has the ability to medal in 5 - Coughlin can't do the schedule, but could medal in at least 4 events. It will be interesting to see what events Stephanie Rice may add - 200 Free / 200 Back ?
Kristin Otto won 6 gold medals at the 1988 Olympics, I think.
We are all just doing a lot of talking for the fun of it - but I strongly object to putting Kristin Otto in the same category than any of the swimmers mentioned in this post. What's next - Marion Jones as the greatest Olympian ?
One of the key requirements for a Phelps type of effort are the relays -- only the US or Australia would have any hope to sweep or medal in all the relays. Other than that - I think Phelps has made it more possible for swimmers to challenge in multiple events. In terms of indiv. events, Coventry took medals in 4 - and Hoff certainly has the ability to medal in 5 - Coughlin can't do the schedule, but could medal in at least 4 events. It will be interesting to see what events Stephanie Rice may add - 200 Free / 200 Back ?
