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

stop replying to yourself 430

- no capitals at the beginning of the sentences either time

- line breaks after each sentence (if you call it that)

stop complaining, just watch, if someone wants to call him the greatest. They can do so. Their criteria is medal count. Maybe that's not yours. Oh well. People can have their opinions. Just watch the freaking olympics and enjoy it.

I totally agree with you. what makes phelps better than Geb, Hicham, Viren, or Nurmi? i just dont think it is fair how now if you only win 1 gold and dont set world records every time you race that you are sort of looked with less esteem. Does track have a 4 by 800? No. Does track have different running styles for each distance? No.

Bottom line So many more chances in swimming than in swimming. and is it just me or is swimming really not that fun to watch!

swimming and beach vollyball, etc.. those sports aren't really all the popular in say.. Kenya or Ethiopia or any of the 3rd world countries.

swimming in a country club sport and things like beach vollyball are invented sports that give the TV stations an excuse to show women in bikinis for hours on end. Maybe next we can have beach frizzbee.

I would add that the pool is 3 meters instead of two and is designed to reduce waves. AND IT WORKS! watch the pool they swim back on. it is smooth is glass. That is huge! even moderate waves increase the distance you have to swim by a meter or two and chops up your stroke. I would say that is worth at least half a second, and then the suits maybe another half.

bobobobo wrote:

I would add that the pool is 3 meters instead of two and is designed to reduce waves. AND IT WORKS! watch the pool they swim back on. it is smooth as glass. That is huge! even moderate waves increase the distance you have to swim by a meter or two and chops up your stroke. I would say that is worth at least half a second, and then the suits maybe another half.

And the drugs are worth at least 1 second.

No way the swimmers are clean. Don't even get me started on Dara Torres.

It's official . . . he's the greatest, not most decorated (or whatever else). There isn't even an argument against this.

http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/summer08/columns/story?columnist=forde_pat&id=3532594

Phelps is 5 for 5 so far (200 fly, 200 free, 400IM, 800 free relay, 400 free relay), in which he has broken the world record in every single event. He has swam in dominating fashion so far, and is undoubtedly the greatest Olympic swimmer of all time. NBC has loved reporting on him and to be honest I have loved watching it as it is awesome to see an athlete completely dominate the rest of the field at the olympic level.

Phelps accomplishments right now are simply a very high profile event that the media has an obligation to cover. I feel that they are doing a great job of covering the rest of the events going on so far (Beach Vball, Gymnastics, Crew, etc..), but Phelps setting the all-time total Olympic gold medal count is something that deserves alot of attention. They haven't talked about track and field because, well, there hasn't yet been any track or field to report on.

Once swimming is done and T&F begins, the focus will be on T&F. Phelps will once again be mentioned at the end of the Olympic program as the Grand Pubah of the highlight reel, but the media will focus on such things as the 100m duel between Bolt, Powell and Gay, or Wariner going for the 400m world record, or the Oregon trio, etc.

Phelps is the most decorated Olympian and therefore he is the greatest Olympian ever.If garnering gold medals was so easy swimmers would dominate this gategory. But the list is full of XC skiers and T&F athletes.If you want to be the greatest Olympian you'd better not pick a sport that gives you one or two shots every 4 years.

Icecube88 wrote:

Phelps is the most decorated, not the greatest.

Are you saying that it's "easy" to win a swimming medal at the Olympics?

No, just easier then medaling in, lets say, the marathon. 5 gold medals in this Olympics alone - it's ridiculous. A world record every time he swims. To put it in perspective neither Paul Tergat or Lance Armstrong have won a gold medal. Swimming just isn't as competitive as other sports. If it were, other people would be winning and world records would be set on rare occasions. The resources just aren't as available to most kids out there, where as with running nearly anyone can do it. Micheal Phelps is as good as any major athlete out there, but does not deserve 8 gold medals.

TFG wrote:

Once swimming is done and T&F begins, the focus will be on T&F. Phelps will once again be mentioned at the end of the Olympic program as the Grand Pubah of the highlight reel, but the media will focus on such things as the 100m duel between Bolt, Powell and Gay, or Wariner going for the 400m world record, or the Oregon trio, etc.

Are they going to run the 400m four times? Once on the track in spikes, once on pavement in trainers, once on dirt in flats, and once on grass barefoot?

That could help a guy's medal count immensely.

blaargh wrote:

Are they going to run the 400m four times? Once on the track in spikes, once on pavement in trainers, once on dirt in flats, and once on grass barefoot?

That could help a guy's medal count immensely.

do you think the same guy would win all 4 times after heats?

bjorn daehlie

Why doesn't trakc add the 100m backwards run? And basically any kind of other imaginable run, I'm picture Monty Python Ministry of Funny Walks in my head now.

Wait no, Track Meets are long enough as it is.

Was it Mike Marsh? I remember he ran 19.73 (WR at the time was 19.72) in the semis while shutting it down at then end but I don't remember the final.

Daehlie won in both the classic and freestyle (skating) disciplines, and Phelps has four strokes to choose from.

Have any runners also had success in racewalking?

lrogers37 wrote:

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.

did you actually quote someone who competes in a sport participated in by only one country in the world as the greatest athlete of all time!!!!.... my god i don't think phelps is necessarily the greatest athlete of all time but he is certainly better than anyone who ever played in the NFL

He has to be considered one of the greatest. He is completely destroying the competition. Granted, more golds are awarded in swimming compared to say basketball but look at how good say Lebron and Wade are playing. They are playing great but they don't dominate like Phelps has been doing in his finals.

If he comes back in 2012 and wins another couple of golds, he will have to be top 5. I don't think you could come up with a list of top 10 where he shouldn't be considered top 10 now.

1. People calling the talent pool in swimming smaller due it's level of participation is pretty stupid. If you took the amount people in this country who are competitive runners and compared it to competitive swimming, you'd probably have much closer numbers than you think. Tom, Dick, and Jane running the local 5k in 28 minutes don't make our talent pool bigger, they just crowd it with junk...

2. Name another athlete who's as dominant in single sport. Take away phelps other medals and just stick him to his best event, he's still simply blowing the field away, more so than any other athlete in any other particular event since probably Michael Johnson's 200.

3. The WR's. Does him setting the world record take away from the fact he's still beating the competition... no. Is the technology improved...yes, but all that means is eventually, the gains technology can make in a suit will slow down and the world record balance will start to make way. think of rubber tracks, lighter shoes, automatic timing. Technology is in every single sport and it has improved each sport drastically, but over time, it starts to even out... i think we'll see the same with swimming. The records will eventually start to solidify. Again, the w.r. may not mean as much, but he's still beating the best guys in the world.

4. I you had to select the 10 best athletes of all time, i don't know how you don't have phelps in there... he's simply dominates every aspect of his sport. He's the jordan, tiger woods, michael johnson, Joe Montana, A-rod of swimming! No list is going to be accurate to have a consensus say who is number one... but simply put, you don't just kick the shit out of everyone at the olympics in every single event and be considered an average athlete, or even good, your considered the best.

5. "Some people create with words or with music or with a brush and paints. I like to make something beautiful when I run. I like to make people stop and say, 'I've never seen anyone run like that before.' It's more than just a race, it's a style. It's doing something better than anyone else. It's being creative"

When I watch phelps swim... thats how i feel about that sport... it's amazing...

greatest ever, there isn't such a thing... one of the greatest... absolutely.

Why is everyone getting all bent out of shape about Phelps being termed the "best olympian"? I know I haven't really thought twice about the commentary while watching the olympics. Just settle down and enjoy the broadcast. You wonder why girls are not into hyper-sensitive tools like you.