First of all sorry to any Phelps fan but the article is my own and based entirely on my opinion.

First of all congratulations to phelps for world record of 8 gold medals. But I have been sick and tired of media calling Phelps as the greatest olympian. I beg to differ. He may be the most successful olympian in terms of Gold medal won, but does that necessary mean that he is the greatest olympian?.



Why Mark Spitz record of highest gold medals in single olympics  wasn't broken by any boxer, rower, or weight lifter? The answer isnt difficult to answer.

"and I guess, the difference in our 2 cents was, your 2 cents were aimed at throwing a caustic remark to a fellow sajhaiti and my 2 cents were aimed at stopping those remarks".

So it has nothing to do with Olympics or MP? You were just being biased towards me because you "thought" I am throwing negative remarks at the original poster? Hell, it was not even between you and me, or was it? You sir, just disgust me. At this point I could have said "it's none of your business" but that would be cliche.

greatest olympian is Girija prashad koirala.he has been ruling nepal forever...

 

Thank you everybody for the comments.

The swimmers of today has a luxury of playing in many events then the  swimmers in yesteryears. Many experts consider Spitz better than Phelps. Why?     becaause Spitz won the medal in each and every events he participated. Even Phelps has not done that. 

I found  a quote by Mark Spitz in  1972 before the olympics . He said " I am participating in 7 events . If I win 6 gold It will be a faliure?"

The result. Mark Spitz not only won gold in all the seven events but also set world records in each one of those.  Now that is some performance.

As far as loote pointed out Carl Lewis too may well have point in being an outstanding olympian. He won gold in long jup and running. In anybody's book that is completely two different kind of game.

I remamber Maurice Green had GOAT  tatto in his arm. Somebody asked him what is that.  He said " Greatest of all time".  As far as Michael Phelps is concerned, he may not yet be the greatest but he certainly in his way. But to be greatest in the olympic he needs to dominate in the next 2-3 olympics like sir steve Redgrave     did when he dominated from 1984 to 2000.

no_quiero,
i won't commit a sin of comparing two sports. i have as much adulation for carl lewis as i have for phelps. if you understand that long jump and a 100m (in track and field) are events of different nature, you should also recognize the fact that not all swimmers can swim a 100 m butterfly or a 4*100m individual medley or a 200 m freestyle with equal flair, conviction and at world record breaking speeds.

if you look at some of the world class swimmers in history, barring spitz, most of them had a good grip in just one or at most two styles. Ian Thorpe for instance was a king of freestyle. He could swim butterfly but not with as much conviction as freestyle. the dude was awarded 'world swimmer of the year' for at least three times, mind you.

look at ryan lochte, another world class swimmer. but he is great only in freestyle. Same applies to Dara Torres.

and here we are doubting on someone (for not being great enough?) who won golds in all the events he participated and broke and made a mockery of all records to surpass what'd been achieved 36 years ago-- when your parents had not yet planned to conceive you? hahahahaha

Hats off to Michael Phelps.

To no-quiero,

your judgement is biased. If not michael, who do you think is the greatest olympion? It's been 36 years that Phelps broke the record of Spitz. In every olympic, there is someone different who sets world record in 100 m race. you think this person should be called the greast olympion. If you do it, then you misuse the word "the gretest olympion". Whats wrong if Michael is called the greatest olympion. you have egomania, may be you never accepts the . I respect Mr. Bolt who has become the fastest man in the world. There are more than dozens of events in track. you could compare usain with michael only after  he wins couple of races.

Be positive and appreciate others success.

no-quiero i guess you forgot he didn't just won 8 gold medals...he has a perfect session...8/8... to take part in 8 event and to be able to gain 8 gold is something to think about

Yeah I agree he played 8 and won 8. Thing is swimmers and Gymnastics always has an advantage. Then even Mark spitz played 7 and won 7 and all with world records. Swimmers today have an advantage of winning much more medals than swimmers of yesteryears because so many medals are introduced.

Michael Phelps may be best in swimming, unparalleled among his peers  which may give him opportunity to win 8 golds purely because of the sports he is best at. But what about best in Judo, boxing, cycling, pole vault, hammer thrower, high  jumper, wrester and all other sports. If I am 62 Kg weight boxer I can only fight with someone  the similar weight category like me and my  opportunities of winning multiple medals are cut short. Fact remains only swimming and gymnastic presents a realistic opportunity to win a lot of golds.

Even if athlete is exceptional like Carl lewis it only gave him opportunity to win 4 golds.But we have to remember he was good in two sports unlike Phelps.  To judge player only based on total number of gold medal and make him best olympian is farcical. If sir Steve Redgrave was told to row in 200m , 400 m , 600m, 800m or 1000m ( Like swimmers do 200m, 400m.....) he still would have came up with lots of gold in the olympics from 1984 to 2000. Unfortunately he only won one gold in 5 consecutive olympics.

And to loote, if he thinks in 36 years only carl lewis came close to breaking the record of Spitz is ludicrous. what about Kristin otto from East Germany who won 6 golds in six events in 1988 in swimming or Vitali Scherbo of Unified Team who won 6 golds in1992 Barcelona olympics in gymnastics. 

As you can see they are  a swimmer or gymnast. Even if Mohammad Ali is reborn again you will never hear Mohammad ali winning 8 golds in olympics.

There are and will be issues and disagreements surrounding who is the 'greatest olympian', an endless topic of arguments amongst sports fans worldwide. I just want to point out that nobody should compare or judge an athlete as the greatest simply with the number of medal tally rather the discipline, dedication and tremendous amount of hard work that goes into winning the event. Its a soggy assumption that whoever amasses the most must be the greatest. Its absurd.

 I would put Michael Phelps right at the top of the list of the greatest athlete  because of his sheer ability to excel in his discipline and to challenge himself to achieve the unthinkable.

Only a swimmer can understand how difficult it is to master a particular stroke and beat the best in the world. He challenged all human ability, put a benchmark down and rewrote the record books.

He dove into the pool for 9 straight days, morning and night he has competed events after events and won. Events after events he shattered world records. Yes, swimmers have more events, but to down so belligerently this stunning achievement, I feel, haven't fully comprehended how demanding the sport of swimming really is.

Every sport deserves its place in the Games, and far be it from me to diminish any. But Phelps has elevated himself into the conversation. And there can be no dispute now that he is the best swimmer ever.

True, he may be greatest swimmer but greatest olympian is a farce. Because there shouldn't be a trophy like greatest olympian .

As you say only swimmer can understand how difficult it is to swim. But then it applies for every sport. There is no lesser committment in any sports. Take an example of Haile Gebrselassie

 

 

Another thing one must remember is, if michael phelps was not playing for US and playing for Nepal or for that matter any other country he would not have won 8 golds. But he would have to be happy with 5 gold. Now that would make him a lesser swimmer than  mark spitz or kristin otto. So he wouldn't probably regarded as the best olympian .isn't it?

I know winning gold in swimming is difficult. But if you are good enough to win one gold then probably you are good enough to win many more in single olympic. However, it is not the case of other sports.

Another point is, in olympic 1952, there were 11 events of swimming, now it is 34. even within the 100, 200m many new events have been introuduced which is speciality of phelps.  Mark Spitz in his time had to compete in less number of events .

Unlike swimming, Why there is only single gold in diving, Put the gold medals for each events reverse, forward, pike, tuck in differnt degree of diffiiculty. She is as dominating in diving as michael phelps is in swimming.   There is little doubt that world champion Guo JingJing would have won  gold in each and every one of those.See her points in different events.  Unfortunately for a diver everything counts for just one.

. multiple posting  deleted..

Then i can also say that running is much more easier than swimming as it is a natural human activity so anyone who gets gold medal by running or jumping is not that great!!!

You are just underminning the greatest history in Olympics itself and trying to throw mud at the person who is i would say an example of discipline, hardwork and determination. to swim everyday more than 5 hours is no joke and he was determined at his every game.

I started watching olympics just to kill time this year but Michael Phelps taught me the greatest lesson in life - that one need to be determined in life to win and can make the impossible a possibility. Whether you agree or not does not matter to him as his name will be written in history now forever as one of the greatest man. 

There is a lot of subjectivity when you put superlatives on any athletes, but we all can agree that what Phelps accomplished in Beijing puts him in a leage of his own.

 But, if your argument for him not being the greatest Olympian is because he won that many golds only because he was a swimmer, then that does not make much sense. We are talking about the greatest Olympian NOT the greatest athlete. The rules and the categories of the Olympics are already there. So, if he has more gold than anybody I don't see why he can't be claimed to be the greatest (or one of the greatest ever) Olympian. 

I agree with you that Guo could have won more medals had there been more events in her area of expertise. But the FACT is there weren't, and this is Olympics. So, she isn't the greatest Olympian. I don't think I will disagree with you if you claim her to be the greatst diver yet. And, since Phelps won the most golds in a single  OLYMPICS, not just among swimmers,  I don't see why he can't be called the greatest Olympian until someone breaks that record. You can argue that Olympic is biased towards Gymnastics and Swimming when it comes to rewarding, but that's how Olympics have been for the last however many years.

no_quiero wrote:

And to loote, if he thinks in 36 years only carl lewis came close to breaking the record of Spitz is ludicrous. what about Kristin otto from East Germany who won 6 golds in six events in 1988 in swimming or Vitali Scherbo of Unified Team who won 6 golds in1992 Barcelona olympics in gymnastics.

I am not just saying Carl Lewis came close to breaking the record but he was one of the most consistent athletes (in terms of performance in more than just one Olympic) among very, very few others. He shined in three Olympics mind you: 1984, '88 and '92. Look at Phelps now: 2004, 2008 and he is not finished yet. And you compare them with Otto and Vitali who performed well in just one Olympic and couldn't even come close to winning in others? hahaha....Okay Otto couldn't participate in '84 because of the political situation in Germany back then but still that's like comparing Holland with Brazil in soccer and India/Sri-Lanka with Australia in cricket hahahaha

And like some of the other people said, it's not just the number of golds that has made Phelps stand in the competition for the greatest Olympian of all time. His consistency, determination, discipline...fan following (reason that made more people watch the Olympic games) and all also made the difference.

Micheal Phelps is the best swimmer of all time, there's no doubt. Even Mark Spitz thinks that MP would have edged him out.
And for the title of the best Olympian ever... he will prove that too in four years in London. As of now, if he is not the 'Best Olympian,' there is no one better than him. Even in swimming, there are specialties and every swimmer does his/her best only in those events. But, MP won in eight different events including seven in world record time.

you can't put a limit on anything.
the more you dream,
the farther you'll get.
-Michael Phelps

not much to say. love him, adore him. one of the greatest for me. and on top of that...he's hot!!

Is Michael Phelps the greatest Olympian ever?

By Chris Chase

He is the greatest olympian of my generation atleast for me he is simply Greight.thanks MP for this thrilling experience of seeing you swim.cheerios yes he is hawt  n he is my pin-up boy on my wall hahahaha

 

To the thread originator i don't like to compare  but you guys can carry on as much as you want ciao.

Michael Phelps isnt greatest olympian : Michael Jhonson

Michael Johnson who has the world record of 200m and 400m today said that Michael Phelps isnt greatest olympian during his interview in BBC. He told there are some of the players from US and over the world who could have been called greatest olympian. However, he didn't singled out any name.

Few of the experts in interview even said it is easier to win multiple gold medals in swimming and it is not that taxing on the body as it may be in other sports.

Intrestingly enough i found another article in The Los Angeles Times.

Michael Phelps is not the greatest Olympic athlete in history

Despite Phelps' medals and records, the quick recovery time and new technology of swimming dwarf his achievements. Carl Lewis, Paavo Nurmi and others rank higher.

By Philip Hersh, Special to The Times

August 14, 2008, 9:20 AM EDT


Many are saying Michael Phelps, left, is the greatest Olympic athlete of all time. But is he? He surpassed Mark Spitz, top right, in career swimming gold medals, but there are some other notable athletes who could be ranked ahead of him.


BEIJING -- Could everyone please stop hyperventilating about Michael Phelps?

Yes, he now has won more gold medals than anyone in Olympic history.

No, that does not make him the greatest Olympic athlete in history.

In fact, he doesn't even make my top five.

He is No. 6 with a bullet, moving up the charts like a hot pop song.

Ahead of him?

1. Carl Lewis, U.S., track and field.

2. Paavo Nurmi, Finland, track and field.

3. Larisa Latynina, Soviet Union, gymnastics.

4. Birgit Fischer-Schmidt, Germany, kayak.

5. Steven Redgrave, United Kingdom, rowing.

Why is Phelps sixth?

It is easy to win multiple medals in swimming.

The sport is far more forgiving on the body than track or gymnastics.

And Phelps does not yet have the long-term record of the others.

Lewis won nine gold medals, four in the 1984 Olympics and four straight in one event, the long jump.

Nurmi won nine gold medals at distances from 1,500 to 10,000 meters over three Olympics. He likely would have won more had he not been declared ineligible after 1928 under rules that demanded Olympians be amateurs.

Latynina won nine gold medals and 18 total medals over three Olympics.

Fischer-Schmidt won her first of eight gold medals in 1980 and her last 24 years later as a 42-year-old mother of two. She won three for the old East Germany and five for the unified Germany. She won in singles, doubles and fours. She also won four silvers.

Redgrave won gold medals in five consecutive Olympics while rowing in three different boat types.

I asked Phelps on Thursday if winning the most golds makes him the greatest of all time, and he sounded like a man wisely focused on the present.

"I have no idea," he said. "I just get in the water and swim. That's the only thing I think about."

I asked Olympic historian David Wallechinsky the same question, and he ranked Nurmi and Lewis as co-leaders.

"I think Phelps needs one more Olympics to join them," Wallechinsky said.

Over 12 years, Lewis won two gold medals in the 100 meters, one in the 200, two on the sprint relay and an unprecedented four straight in the long jump, an event in which the impact on the body of the run-up and takeoff has been likened to falling off a truck at 25 mph.

"What Lewis did is extraordinary. He is No. 1," said France's Marie-Jose Perec, one of three runners to win the 200 and 400 meters in the same Olympics.

"You can't compare track and swimming. In swimming, you can recover. You can do five races in a day and get world records in all of them. That's impossible in our sport."

Don't try to argue that Phelps has been part of world-record performances in his first five events.

New pool and suit technology have made swimming's world records meaningless, with 18 record performances through Thursday in the Olympics alone. Just four world records have fallen in track and field all year.

Swimming allows an athlete to race two finals in 29 minutes, as U.S. Olympian Ryan Lochte planned Friday morning.

Track and field is so much more physically demanding that neither Allyson Felix nor Sanya Richards dared a 200-400 double after the Olympic schedule put the second round of the 200 within three hours of the 400 final.

"Swimming is pressure off your body, where we are pounding on it," Felix said.

Swimming offers three relays with the risk of a false start minimal. Some sprinters run both of track's longer relays, the 400 and 1,600, but the exchanges on the sprint relay are so dicey Lewis lost a certain medal in 1988 when other U.S. runners botched a baton pass in a preliminary round.

If Olympic track had an 800-meter relay, an event in which Lewis was part of a world-record performance, he probably would have won at least two more gold medals.

Three of swimming's four strokes -- everything but the breaststroke -- might as well be the same. Otherwise, how could backstroker Matt Grevers say he barely trained that stroke before winning an Olympic silver medal in the 100? Nearly every good freestyler can be a good butterflyer, and vice-versa.

You don't see any 100-meter runners in the mile, or any milers in the long jump.

Don't get the wrong idea. Track athletes have great respect for what Phelps has accomplished.

"It's inspiring to watch in amazement at everything he's doing," Felix said.

But he's not the most amazing Olympian ever.

Hersh covers the Olympics for The Times and the Chicago Tribune.

Copyright © 2008, The Los Angeles Times

And of course I am not trying to bring down Michael phelps. His record in swimming is phenomenol. But if you happen to read times magazine, word press, guardian, or watch bbc, los angeles times. Non of the expert in that media regarded him as the best olympian. There must be some truth in that. .

Story 1:
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Is Olympic gender biased? Would Phelps get all the lucrative endorsements that he's getting if he had a 'flat visage' for those kidney shaped beans between his legs?

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/bestoftv/2008/08/20/ec.olympic.double.cnn


Story 2:
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Usain Bolt is impossible. Two world records. 200 m in 19.30 sec!!!!