I had a pretty funny post planned about Michael Phelps that I was going to post today, until I read Scott's post from last night and now I choose not to let that go unchallenged.
Phelps may have the most Olympic medals of all time, but I don't think that necessarily means he's the greatest Olympian of all time.
It may be fair to say that he's the greatest Olympic swimmer of all time, but the fact that he competes in swimming immediately gives him a leg up on anyone in any other sport. In no other Olympic sport are there so many seperate events that require the same set of strengths and training. Not even track and field with it's endless list of distances can compare to swimming.
And the fact that the relays this year were so hotly contested, while certainly "illustrates why doing what Phelps did is so much harder now" it is not evidence of Phelp's greatness, since had he been born in Ireland he would not have that medal to add to his count.
So when we talk about greatest Olympians, lets not leave out gymnast Larissa Latynina of the old Soviet Union (who has two more medals than Phelps, although fewer gold - only three of which were in team events), runner Pavo Nurmi a Fin whose Olympic career was cut short by his choice to accept money as an athlete thus potentially violating the amateurism of the Olympic Games. Not to mention German Brigit Fischer whose Olympic career spanned 24 years earned her 12 medals in flatwater canoeing. Or Cross-Country Skier Bjoern Dahlie whose eight gold medals for Norway is the most every for a Winter Olympian.
And don't forget all the athletes who participate in boxing, table-tennis, soccer, basketball, volleyball, or water polo who only get the chance to win one medal all four years. Whose to say that beach volleyball players Misty May-Treaner and Kerri Walsh who have won over 100 consecutive volleyball matches aren't greater Olympians than Michael Phelps, after all they only get one chance every four years.
And just to pile on here's someone who agrees. (Okay, so this post came after his, but you get my point.)
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29 minutes ago
1 comments:
My co-contributor has caught in me in what is one of my habitual blogging "sins". I make a statement that is far too sweeping (my original comment about Phelps being the greatest Olympian ever had no qualification at all), then when I read it, realize this, and go back into correct it, I do a poor job of meshing what was originally there with the new stuff. My final intent was to say that while you could make an argument for certain athletes to be at the same level, it's clear that no one in Olympic history stands above him. Whether you agree with that or not, it's a statement I'll stick to. Honestly, I'll stick to the idea of him being the greatest, period, and I think I can make a pretty compelling argument for that. Whether you get to see it or not will depend on how interesting I find the next week of the Olympics.
As for the relay question, Jeff is right, it's not relevant in comparing Phelps to athletes in other sports. Heck, it's not really that relevant to comparing Phelps to any non-American swimmer. Right now, in order to have a realistic shot at 7 or 8 gold medals, you still probably have to be a US swimmer, unless you want to swim at least 6 or 7 individual events. But at that point, I was only comparing Phelps to Spitz, where such a point of comparison is rather relevant.
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