Is Michael Phelps the greatest Olympian ever?
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Yes! People can argue the intangibles, but there is no disputing the fact Phelps has dominated his sports (and the games) like no other Olympian in history. His list of accomplishments is simply incredible; second to none!!
I don't see him to be any different than Mark Spitz, they were both great Olympians.
Swimmers and sprinters get more opportunities to win multiple medals for doing nearly the same thing several times. I'd be more inclined to give that title to someone who won medals at the most olympic games, or who medaled in unrelated events, or to a top decathlete. Edwin Moses and Jim Thorpe would be candidates.
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Spitz for great in the '72 games (I was too young to appreciate the '68 games) whereas was a Medal Monster in '04, '08 and now 2012. He is the winningest athlete and at least 3X the champion Spit' was.
The star of the best selling gay poster of all times wasn't even gay.
versus
- Mark Spitz
- Mark Spitz
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Without a doubt yes. Not just his accomplishments, he has transformed the sport.
The NYT has a piece that makes the case quite well- interviewing other swimmers about how for folks like Franklin and even the guy who beat Phelps on Monday, he was their model.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/05/s...ian-michael-phelps-changed-swimming.html?_r=1
The NYT has a piece that makes the case quite well- interviewing other swimmers about how for folks like Franklin and even the guy who beat Phelps on Monday, he was their model.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/05/s...ian-michael-phelps-changed-swimming.html?_r=1
I didn't think the NYT article made the case. It is likely that there has been a dropoff in intercollegiate swimming participation since Phelps made his first big "splash" at the 2008 Olympics. There was a boon in municipal swimming pool construction after Mark Spitz won his medals, though that probably reflected the economic trends of the times, because there was an indoor tennis court construction boon in that era as well. Unfortunately, the golfers who joined the tennis clubs quickly discovered that playing tennis was too much work, and so most of those facilities became rental discount outlets.
Bobby Orr inspired New Englanders to build hockey rinks. Before Bobby Orr, there were only six high school hockey teams in all of New Hampshire, but by the early 1970s, there were a whole slew. The National Hockey League only had one or two American born players in it in the late 1960s, but then Massachusetts became such a schoolboy hotbed that by the mid 1970s, they were producing first round draft picks. I think the ensuing success of the 1980 United States Olympic hockey team was partly responsible for more moderate climate cities becoming viable NHL markets.
Tiger Woods does not seem to have inspired many black youths to become the next Tiger Woods, and for that matter, Michael Jordan has only inspired youth to buy overpriced sneakers. I have to think that Kip Keino and some other Kenyan Olympians whose names I never learned have inspired a whole lot more Kenyans to run distance races than Americans have been or will ever be inspired by the successes of Spitz and Phelps to take up competitive swimming, and Franz Klammer's final downhill run in 1976 to clinch his solitary Gold medal has surely inspired more skiers.
What Phelps has done is incremental. He won one more gold medal in his big year than Spitz did, and has nerfed out some female gymnast(?), who I had never heard of, for total medals. Such is not the stuff that legends are made of.
Bobby Orr inspired New Englanders to build hockey rinks. Before Bobby Orr, there were only six high school hockey teams in all of New Hampshire, but by the early 1970s, there were a whole slew. The National Hockey League only had one or two American born players in it in the late 1960s, but then Massachusetts became such a schoolboy hotbed that by the mid 1970s, they were producing first round draft picks. I think the ensuing success of the 1980 United States Olympic hockey team was partly responsible for more moderate climate cities becoming viable NHL markets.
Tiger Woods does not seem to have inspired many black youths to become the next Tiger Woods, and for that matter, Michael Jordan has only inspired youth to buy overpriced sneakers. I have to think that Kip Keino and some other Kenyan Olympians whose names I never learned have inspired a whole lot more Kenyans to run distance races than Americans have been or will ever be inspired by the successes of Spitz and Phelps to take up competitive swimming, and Franz Klammer's final downhill run in 1976 to clinch his solitary Gold medal has surely inspired more skiers.
What Phelps has done is incremental. He won one more gold medal in his big year than Spitz did, and has nerfed out some female gymnast(?), who I had never heard of, for total medals. Such is not the stuff that legends are made of.
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The woman - Larisa Latynina - who had 17 medals, was surpassed by 5 by Phelps. She had 9 Gold. He has 18. Spitz has 11 total medals, Carl Lewis, has 10.
While I have no idea what "nerfed out" means -- he did not squeak past that record, he blew it out of the water, quite literally. And she was there to witness it and congratulate him.
People will always disagree about who is the greatest, but this accomplishment is not insignificant. He competed in almost 10,000 meters of Olympic swimming. There have been 48 men's swimming events contested in the three Olympics since Phelps started winning golds. He's medaled in 22. That's 46 percent. Keep in mind he's only competed in 24.
While I have no idea what "nerfed out" means -- he did not squeak past that record, he blew it out of the water, quite literally. And she was there to witness it and congratulate him.
People will always disagree about who is the greatest, but this accomplishment is not insignificant. He competed in almost 10,000 meters of Olympic swimming. There have been 48 men's swimming events contested in the three Olympics since Phelps started winning golds. He's medaled in 22. That's 46 percent. Keep in mind he's only competed in 24.
In swimming, yes without a doubt. However, put him in something else like basketball and he would be destroyed. Then again, you put the b-ball player up against Phelps in swimming, the b-ball player wouldn't have a chance of winning.
To be considered the best Olympic athlete, he would have to compete in several sports and win.
To be considered the best Olympic athlete, he would have to compete in several sports and win.
Exactly how many athletes compete in different Olympic sporting events?
It doesn't really matter, as the whole question is quite subjective, but at a minimum, Phelps is the most decorated Olympian of all time.
It doesn't really matter, as the whole question is quite subjective, but at a minimum, Phelps is the most decorated Olympian of all time.
Only a very few over the years have competed in different events. Even fewer have won any medals in the events that they competed.
There are so few that do this and even fewer that win medals in multiple sports that you can't put them in the discussions. You also have to remember that he has won his medals in different events. It is very difficult to be that good for so long in so many different disciplines.
How many athletes can say that they have averaged 7 1/3 medals in each of their Olympics? There aren't more than a select few that can even say that they have won 7 medals over their entire Olympic career.
Phelps' achevements are mind-blowing. But, sports fans being sports fans, we sometimes need to throw some wood on the fire for the sake of argumentation. Yes, Phelps has 22 medals, but he got a lot of help with nine of them coming in relays. Latynina's medals, with the exception of three team medals were all individual accomplishments. Then again, Phelps probably faced a higher quality of competition. So I could go back and forth with just those two great athletes.
Without a doubt he is the best. Every athlete gets the chance to compete in a many events as they can. He not only was the best in his sport but the best in several different stroke types. How many runners of the 100M dash also run in the 110 Hurdles? Not many if any.
Let's put it to you them this way Ramy, the other night, he swam in a medal relay and it was the 1st time he did not medal in 25 events for the Olympics.
