Michael Phelps, greatest Olympian ever?

[TheGlyde]

^ Wow, thats pretty much exactly what Ive been saying on this board for the past 2 days, about Phelps being the greatest Olympics Swimmer of all time, Swimming and the number of medals you can accrue, and Carl Lewis being the greatest Olympian of all time.

I feel like Tim Dahlberg has channeled my thoughts here lol.

[eyeatoma]

^^Yeah I noticed you two had similar views on the subject.

[vwc228]

I remember that when donovan bailey won the 100 meter for Canada. As many have said, the winner of that event has always been labeled as the "fastest man in the word." But I remember MANY Americans kept referring to Michael Johnson as the fastest man in the world. It got so bad that Donovan and Johnson actually set up a race (150 meters I think) to settle this. And bailey completely annhilated MJ before MJ pulled up half way through the race with a "pulled hamstring." prett pathetic!!!!

here's a clip of it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfAeCluBBF8

[vwc228]

I think its kinda ironic that some American media members are complaining about the way the chinese gymnastics team are treated. This is from the same country that has as their coaches the Karolyis. If you don't know, Bela and his wife are notorious for their treament of their gymnasts. They have even been accused by former gymnasts of physical abuse. I can only imagine how the Karolyis were like back in Romania and the way they treated their girls. I'm willing to guarantee you that they were no different than the Chinese. its a bit funny hearing Bela himself complain about the chinese.

[dougthonus]

Certainly a very reasonable article. I think you can make the case for Phelps right now, but I can also understand those who want to see him dominate at a 3rd Olympics. If he scores 6 golds in 2012 (just as a hypothetical) then I think it will start to get pretty hard to make the case against him.

[eyeatoma]

To the mod who shortened the article.

The first 3 paragraphs?

Lol the first 2 are one 1 sentence each...Since when does that constitute as a paragraph? The essence of the article is further on. I initially did cut it down though. Didn't think you guys are that strict about this. I mean there are posts that are way longer...

[Doctor MJ]

^ Wow, thats pretty much exactly what Ive been saying on this board for the past 2 days, about Phelps being the greatest Olympics Swimmer of all time, Swimming and the number of medals you can accrue, and Carl Lewis being the greatest Olympian of all time.

I feel like Tim Dahlberg has channeled my thoughts here lol.

Lewis would be my vote for best Olympian as well. He stands out in track quite a bit more than Phelps does in swimming.

[dougthonus]

Lol the first 2 are one 1 sentence each...Since when does that constitute as a paragraph? The essence of the article is further on. I initially did cut it down though. Didn't think you guys are that strict about this. I mean there are posts that are way longer...

It's part of copyright law not common sense law. Realgm is a large enough entity that they need to try to enforce that. Not that I cut your article, but I'm just saying..

[BlackMamba]

To the mod who shortened the article.

The first 3 paragraphs?

Lol the first 2 are one 1 sentence each...Since when does that constitute as a paragraph? The essence of the article is further on. I initially did cut it down though. Didn't think you guys are that strict about this. I mean there are posts that are way longer...

i made the edition of the article, and like dougthonus wrote it's because of copyright issues that users are only allowed to post 3 paragraphs.

[eyeatoma]

Lol the first 2 are one 1 sentence each...Since when does that constitute as a paragraph? The essence of the article is further on. I initially did cut it down though. Didn't think you guys are that strict about this. I mean there are posts that are way longer...

It's part of copyright law not common sense law. Realgm is a large enough entity that they need to try to enforce that. Not that I cut your article, but I'm just saying..

Oh ok...no worries...

[eyeatoma]

To the mod who shortened the article.

The first 3 paragraphs?

Lol the first 2 are one 1 sentence each...Since when does that constitute as a paragraph? The essence of the article is further on. I initially did cut it down though. Didn't think you guys are that strict about this. I mean there are posts that are way longer...

i made the edition of the article, and like dougthonus wrote it's because of copyright issues that users are only allowed to post 3 paragraphs.

Alright cool...no worries...

[Michael Phelps]

My first post in this new community, wow, and Yes he's t he greatest Olympian ever. No doubt about that!

[Napoleon7]

YES

[tkb]

^ Wow, thats pretty much exactly what Ive been saying on this board for the past 2 days, about Phelps being the greatest Olympics Swimmer of all time, Swimming and the number of medals you can accrue, and Carl Lewis being the greatest Olympian of all time.

I feel like Tim Dahlberg has channeled my thoughts here lol.

Lewis would be my vote for best Olympian as well. He stands out in track quite a bit more than Phelps does in swimming.

Any consideration for any of the winter olympics athletes?

[Fairview4Life]

Carl Lewis doped.

This is dominant:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Karelin

So was that Cuban Boxer who won for so long, but it's tough to argue for him since all the best boxers turn pro and he couldn't.

Jesse Owens is also still above Phelps.

There are also a few women who competed in multiple different events and won golds I think, but I didn't catch the names from the thread about this on the Raptors board.

[Joker]

As I alluded to in another thread, they didn't have the 50 m freestyle back in the 1972 Olympics, and Spitz took gold in the 100 m and 200 m freestyle events.

A very strong argument could be made that Spitz would've had an excellent shot at 8 gold medals, and we'd consequently be talking about Phelps as someone comparable to Spitz, not someone who is the greatest Olympian of all time. And having two guys each win 8 gold medals in swimming just 9 Olympics apart sort of dampens the mystique of it. Imagine if someone scored 100 points 9 seasons after Wilt did it.

[Blame Rasho]

Carl Lewis doped.

This is dominant:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Karelin

So was that Cuban Boxer who won for so long, but it's tough to argue for him since all the best boxers turn pro and he couldn't.

Jesse Owens is also still above Phelps.

There are also a few women who competed in multiple different events and won golds I think, but I didn't catch the names from the thread about this on the Raptors board.

Félix Savón

[dougthonus]

A very strong argument could be made that Spitz would've had an excellent shot at 8 gold medals, and we'd consequently be talking about Phelps as someone comparable to Spitz, not someone who is the greatest Olympian of all time. And having two guys each win 8 gold medals in swimming just 9 Olympics apart sort of dampens the mystique of it. Imagine if someone scored 100 points 9 seasons after Wilt did it.

If the record was 8 medals Phelps may have gone for 9. Either way, 9 Olympics is a long time. How many Olympic records stand for 9 Olympics? Plus Phelps was dominant twice. Spitz competed in 2 Olympics at the same age, but only was successful in the 2nd one. He wasn't successful in his earlier one where at that age Phelps still scored 8 medals (6 gold). Getting the 8 medals this Olympics certainly is huge for Phelps, but when crafting the greatest Olympian case, it would be his longevity as well as total medal count that would give him a chance not just getting the 8 in one year.

I think for Phelps to be considered the greatest Olympian ever he still needs a big 2012 games still to prove longevity.