Phelps is NOT the greatest olympian ever...

LETS MF RUN wrote:

Not only is Phelps the greatest olympian of all time, HE IS THE GREATEST ATHLETE OF ALL TIME!!!

Then let's see him win a decathlon.

Bolt was asked to compare himself to Phelps 4 years ago under similar circumstances, and he said:

"I'm an athlete and he's a swimmer."

I think I'll leave it at that.

If you're measuring Olympic excellence simply by the number of medals won, which is admittedly a flawed metric, then there is no dispute about who the "best" is. Just take it for what it is--a somewhat contrived story-line cooked up by marketing people at NBC to drive viewer interest. Pretty harmless.

Swimming might not be as universal an activity as running, but it's still a fundamental mode of human locomotion. And like running, it's pure movement, unencumbered by technology. To discount it's validity based on the view that people in land-locked developing countries can't swim is ridiculous. If that's your view, why aren't you raging about beach volleyball and badminton?

Can't believe I'm feeding this troll.

La shawn merritt didn't use a track for training right through highschool. Rudisha runs on dirt and grass for the majority of the year as do virtually every kenyan runners. Bolt barely used a track as a junior, coe preferred to avoid training on the track due to wear and tear on the joints, herb Elliott didn't use the track, snell didn't use the track, kip keino didn't use the track, el g didn't use the track.

Great talents not near a track are recognized, not to mention tracks are a hell of a lot more common. So if you're fast, you'll easily be able to use a track. If you're the best swimmer in random African lake, very small chance you'll be encouraged to swim in a pool and compete internationally.

Coach D wrote:

LETS MF RUN wrote:

Not only is Phelps the greatest olympian of all time, HE IS THE GREATEST ATHLETE OF ALL TIME!!!

Then let's see him win a decathlon.

Bolt was asked to compare himself to Phelps 4 years ago under similar circumstances, and he said:

"I'm an athlete and he's a swimmer."

I think I'll leave it at that.

Are you sure Bold didn't mean it in the sense of track=athletics? Also, I'm sure neither Bolt nor you have done a swimming workout. It's tough.

I have no problem with all the strokes of swimming, but to compare it to other sports is absurd.

Because I don't see badmintor player x touted as the greatest olympian of all time repeatedly splashed across the tv and news ad nauseum...

Fittest on Earth wrote:

I'd love to see that list. LMAO

Here are a few world class athletes who don't have any track marks in the IAAF database. Of course it is impossible for me to prove whether they have tracks to train on wherever they live. But my point was that you could become world class even while doing cross country type training, thus not needing a track until it's time to actually compete on it. Anywhere you can find an open field, a dirt path, or a road is your training venue.

Yemane Tsegay - Ethiopia - winner of Rotterdam marathon this year, ran 2:04:48

Feleke Getu - Ethiopia - 2nd at Rotterdam this year, ran 2:04:50

Biwott Stanley Kipleting - Kenya - winner of Paris marathon this year, ran 2:05:12

Cue Fittest on Earth's obvious response - Haha, gotcha! You admit you need a track in order to compete on a track! I'm so smart!!!!!!!

Or maybe - How do you know these 2:04 marathoners are world class track athletes if they've never competed on a track??? I'm so smart!!!!!

Please, save yourself the trouble.

And in regards to the viewpoint that it is has a lower global participation level, whether that upsets you or not it doesn't make it any less of a fact. Badminton, beach volleyball etc are all competing in a lower global talent pool. This is fact. It doesn't mean I think the sport is easy or the athletes don't work hard or deserve accolades. They are all at the top of their game. What I don't appreciate is exaggeration and gross overstatements.

Your actually quite possibly the biggest moron on the forum. Ironically you don't seem to have the intelligence to comprehend what aspect of your posts are inept.

Your ridiculous. Phelps is at the very least one of the top 3 contenders for greatest Olympians ever. It's not the fact that he has won 19 medals in a sport that majority of the world does not participate in. It's how dominating he was in that sport from the rest of the world. He has completely dominated swimming the last 8 years in a way the Prefontaine never dominated running. His 2008 Olympic performance would be akin to some runner winning gold in the 400,800, 1500, and 5k.

The fact is you cannot judge an Olympic sport based on popularity. It is stronger, faster, higher; competition at instinctual levels. Swimming is just as much a sport as track and his Phelps domination of swimming is something completely unheard of. Greatest Olympian? I think so.

Australian athletics is very competitive and in some cases dominant at commonwealth games, they get smashed at the olympics. It's a lot easier to dominate a sport when half the world is excluded ie swimming...

I would suggest Clara Hughes as an incredible athlete.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clara_Hughes

Summer Medals:

1996

Winter Medals:

2002

2006

2010

"Hughes is one of only five people to have podium finishes in the Winter and Summer versions of the games, and is the only person ever to have won multiple medals in both."

well now wrote:

Cue Fittest on Earth's obvious response - Haha, gotcha! You admit you need a track in order to compete on a track! I'm so smart!!!!!!!

Or maybe - How do you know these 2:04 marathoners are world class track athletes if they've never competed on a track??? I'm so smart!!!!!

Please, save yourself the trouble.

I'd have to agree that there are probably not any world class track athletes that did not have lots of access to tracks during their formative years. These days you can't just jump off cross or the roads and expect to be world class in track events. Back in the day when there were not a lot of tracks around, maybe. But now - no way.

It would be easier to go from training on the roads and cross and be competitive on the track then it would be to go from training in a lake and being competitive in the pool though.

A large proportion of sprinters and distance runners spend close to half the year on grass. Track work in season can be on measured dirt or grass like rudisha. A track is not neccesary. Swimmers must use a pool year round 4plus hours per day. Virtually every able body kid world wide has run a 100m. The majority of kids worldwide haven't swam 100m.

Now gtf outta here boy

beamon wrote:

And in regards to the viewpoint that it is has a lower global participation level, whether that upsets you or not it doesn't make it any less of a fact. Badminton, beach volleyball etc are all competing in a lower global talent pool. This is fact. It doesn't mean I think the sport is easy or the athletes don't work hard or deserve accolades. They are all at the top of their game. What I don't appreciate is exaggeration and gross overstatements.

Higher global participation?

Any moron can run. Not all morons can swim.

I guess I'll be the first one to say it...

I believe Kennenisa Bekele is the greatest Olympian of all time, to date. It's already been mentioned on this thread that distance running has a massive worldwide participation level. Bekele holds both Olympic records (by a large margin) and has three golds and a silver. I'm certain he would have two more of different colors if he gave the steeplechase any mind. This man has smashed anyone that Kenya has been able to throw at him, even using their team tactics against him. The 2008 Olympic 5,000 meters is likely the greatest track distance race ever run. Bekele did it from the front, letting everyone draft, and doing all the pacemaking. He closed the last 2k in 4 minutes, 55 MF seconds. Yet somehow, with two Kenyans on his shoulder to the bell, he dropped a 53 and won by FIVE seconds, in one lap alone, against the greatest distance runners the world could offer. And in this era, where East Africans seem to come out of the woodwork, he stayed atop the world with ease! And his silver came to El G, when the race came down to just the last lap, and of course with his 3:26 El G had the wheels (I think he doped anyway).

But if Bolt comes away with 3 or 4 golds here, and Bekele doesn't win the 10,000 I will have to rank him ahead of Bekele. I don't see either happening.

nopeandnope wrote:

A large proportion of sprinters and distance runners spend close to half the year on grass. Track work in season can be on measured dirt or grass like rudisha. A track is not neccesary. Swimmers must use a pool year round 4plus hours per day. Virtually every able body kid world wide has run a 100m. The majority of kids worldwide haven't swam 100m.

Now gtf outta here boy

I agree with you that swimming and swim training is much harder than running which leads to lower global participation.

Good point.

Really... what event did he do that lasted 13minutes. He won 1 individual event that was fastest from point a to point b, the 200m freestyle. If he was in track he would have won 1 event and it would be the equivalent of the 800. Of course track has a far bigger talent pool so if he was a runner he likely wouldn't have even won that solitary 800.

Schooled.