Michael Phelps "most decorated olympian"...not necessarily "greatest"

swimming today is like what distance running was in the 1960's: full of talented athletes but with, when compared with track today, a shallow talent pool. the main difference is that, since it is unlikely that developing countries will develop competitive swimming (due to its prohibitive cost, relative to things like running or soccer) it is unlikely that there will ever be a talent influx like the emergence of the East Africans in distance running.

with such a shallow talent pool, it is FAR more likely that a superior (due to talent and/or training) athlete can come along and dominate the rest of the world.

moreover, the sport of swimming allows for one athlete to compete in (and, therefore, have a chance to medal in) multiple events because of two factors:

1) there is a generalizability of swimming fitness from one stroke/distance to another. moreso than running, anyway.

2) there is the lack of physical damage incurred from a race. again, compared to running.

so, yes, Michael Phelps is the most dominant swimmer of this (and possibly any) generation, but you can't compare his accomplishments in swimming to another sport.

phelps is the greatest athlete because he has been the most dominant individual force across any sport for the past 6 years.

you guys are just upset it isn't a runner.

I totally agree with the OP. IMO Michael Phelps is a great athlete and in the top of his sport maybe even the best ever in swimming. But that does not make him the "greatest Olympian" of all time and I am also really sick and tired of hearing that from the dumb @ss NBC announcer's every 15 mins of the Olympics broadcast.

There is no comparison of how great someone is to how great someone is in another sport the problem is in the sport of swimming there are way too many events to win a medal whereas in many other sports there is only 1 chance to win a medal.

Example: Misty May and Kerri Walsh are at the top of their game in Womens Beach Volleyball, maybe even the best ever, but there is only one chance to win a medal.

They should add more events in other sports to win medals or at least the announcers should stfu about all his golds like he is the winner of the olympics, hes a very excellent swimmer with the option to compete for multiple medals... thats it, not the greatest olympian in history, there are 28 sports in the Olympics and he only competes in 1.

I am not knocking him for his achievements, he is actually one of my favorite people to watch because he is a great athlete I just wish the people over at NBC and in the media would stop hyping him as the greatest olympian when there are just as many people in the history of the games that work just as hard and are just as great only they compete in sports with single medal events.

What about the gymnist who had perfect 10's? Or the Russian wrestler who owned all? Jesse Owens who back in the day, they did not even have the gear we have now. Phelps is the most decorated, one of the greatest, but not the greatest athlete.

he is dominating the sport in running terms

spitz = herb elliot

phelps = Coe/ nurmi

Thorpe = ovette

i know there are other examples out there buts thats basically it if he was on the track he would have been something to behold

"there are 28 sports in the Olympics and he only competes in 1."

Then no runner can be considered either. They are just "running". no matter the speed distance or obstacles in the way, they are just competing in one sport.

in fact, by this sense of thinking, the decathlete gold medal winner should be the greatest athlete of this and every olympics as they excel (or as is often the case, are moderately good) in 10 different events.

Ok, I'm sorry to say this, but with regards to swimming and all these world records/extreme talent on the rise, everyone has to wake up!

I'll explain myself in pretty simple terms here: The number of swimmers haven't increased worldwide. Knowledge of the sport and more efficient strokes haven't increased. Better coaching? Nope. The sudden and rapid evoluation of the human race? Unlikely.

Two factors have contributed to quick times in the last 4 years. These are: 1) The suits: It doesn't take a rocket scientist to postulate that these new Speedos were allowed into the swim world this season, and suddenly the 50 and 100m records (the 50m record was 14 years old) keep getting smashed over and over. Alex Popov must be pissed. In any case, its no coincidence. These new compression suits are giving swimmers huge advantages.

2) The turns: if you look at the way Phelps swims all his races, his turns at the end of a 50m length give him a huge advantage on the field. More time underwater = less strokes taken, therefore less energy expended. This is why swimmers are finishing with sickly fast kicks, and breaking world records at a faster rate than I can finish my beers. This goes for any swimmer that gains an advantage at the turns. Its funny they just figured this out now, but for a lot of swimmers, the longer you're underwater, the faster your times are.

Nurmi was a far greater Olympian than was Herb Elliot. In fact, Nurmi was probably the greatest Olympian of all time.

In 1924 Nurmi won 5 gold medals in 5 events. He won the 1500m and 5000m races, both in WR time, with less than 30 minutes rest. He was scratched from a 6th event, the 10K, by Finnish officials because they feared for his safety in the extreme heat. He was the defending Olympic Champion in the event. He went back to Finland and set a WR in the 10k that lasted 13 years.

While Elliott never lost a 1500m race, he has one Olympic gold medal - clearly he is not the greatest Olympian.

two greatest MARYLAND ATHLETES in OLYMPICS-Phelps and Carmello Anthony-

Maryland is currently 4th in the medal table

It's not like he's winning medals at all strokes. That's hard to do. Look at past great swimmers like Ian Thorpe, who was just a freestyle swimmer. So it's actually HARDER to be dominant and win in the different strokes.

Take away the XC and team events and Nurmi would have won only 7 medals, 4 gold.

Carl Lewis won the 100m, 200m, 4x100m, and long jump in '84. He won the 100m, and long jump in '88, then took 2nd in the 200m. Can anyone guess who beat Carl in the 200m in '88? Carl then won gold in the 4x100m, and Long Jump in '92. Then gold in the long jump in '96.

In '96 Carl's winning jump was actually the shortest winning jump since the '76 games. He was also given a spot on the 4x100 team despite not even being on the 100m team, ie: he was 6th at the Olympic Trials that year. So...you could say he was more or less given two of those medals.

Carl "limped" to those last few medals. Nurmi took advantage of team and xc races.

In these games Michael Phelps has 5 medals and 5 world records, granted the new suits account for some of that, but he's won by large chunks against swimmers in the same suits.

Greatest Olympian Ever. Get off your distance running high horse and give respect to an actual athlete.

Alan

LOOK Mr SMARTY PANTS, I dont have to guess , joe deloach beat Carl in the 200- I have often wondered if Carl was just tired that day or let up to let his friend and training partner get a gold.When PHELPS makes 5 OLY. teams teams and wins gold in 4 straight, he will approach Carl - besides swimming is a minor sport compared to T&F.

Runningart2004 wrote:Greatest Olympian Ever. Get off your distance running high horse and give respect to an actual athlete.

Alan

I think Phelps' achievement is like Eric Heiden's or Bjorn Daehlie's. Totally dominant, but in a sport with very limited participation compared to running. Worldwide, how many people have access to the necessary infrastructure to pursue these sports? The talent pool (no pun intended) is much, much smaller.

Holy Cow! I have to vent. I can't believe that Hannah Storm asked, "is he(Phelps)the greatest athlete ever?" She said athlete not even olympian. This is madness! He is definitely the greatest olympic swimmer ever, but "athlete ever?" STOP the madness. The greatest athletes ever play in the NFL.. Bo Jackson, Deion Sanders, Jim Brown, Walter Payton. Pick ten sporting events and put any starting corner in the NFL against Mike Phelps. The corner wins.

I was going to say Heiden.

He won gold in every race from the 500 to 10000 (speedskating). That is about equal in track terms to winning everything from 200-5k (200,400,800,1500,5k).

Granted the talent pool is much shallower in speed skating.

pantsed wrote:

Swimming just makes it easy for a dominant genetic freak.

Phelps swims 5 hours a day. He's been at it since 7 years of age.

Easy?

This is a typical media move to pump something for viewers to get excited about.

No Phelps is not the greatest Olympian ever. He is certainly the most dominate swimmer. He will certainly be amongst the greats of all sports at the Olympics but to most that understand how things work, he will only be that.

Phelps dominates his competition and is able to compete in several events - good for him. There are many, many athletes that have dominated like him in their sports, unfortunately most of them only have a chance for one medal every Olympics.

Swimming, as previously mentioned by others, has a limited base of participants. Sure a lot of kids swim but not every country has countless number of pools or the funds to use the pools. In addition, it is less likely that a land sport coach is going to say "Timmy, your are fast, you should go out for swimming". This would lead to the opportunity for more outliers to stand out in swimming and other, less popular sports.

Again, Phelps is a true great, just not the greatest.

excuses excuses excuses

The guy is great, he may win 8 gold medals for the US. Let him have his time in the limelight. It's not like he's the one making these claims. This is what other people are saying about him. Have your own opinion, but why is everyone so caught up in him not being "the greatest"?

Relax, enjoy the show, and cheer the guy on. It is what it is.

NormaJean wrote:

I think we Can all agree that most of Phelp’s races are very similar, but give credit where credit is due. No other swimmer in history has done what he has, so that atleast says something. I know there’s no way a distance athlete could do that, but still….give a little.

i absolutely agree with posts like this. He is phenomenal. But it's not fair to automatically start calling him the greatest olympian ever based on medal counts.

and to those who are asking who called phelps the greatest, apparently you live in caves with no tv, and an internet connection that only allows you to see letsrun.com.