Michael Phelps is not the greatest athlete ever

<p>According to this article, which I suspect the writer wrote just to make a flashy and controversial statement, boldly proclaims Michael Phelps to be the greatest athlete ever. As in the history of humankind. [Celizic:</a> Phelps officially world’s greatest athlete ever - Beijing Olympics News - MSNBC.com](<a href=“http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26194188/]Celizic:”>http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26194188/)</p>

<p>Michael Phelps is a great athlete, no doubt, but he’s lucky to be so good at a sport that awards medals like stickers in a kindergarten class. Lebron James may be the greatest basketball player ever, but he’s not going to get gold medals for awesomest dunk, most points in a game, most rebounds in a game, etc. No matter how good the likes of Lebron James or Nastia Liukin or Roger Federer are at the Olympics, their ability to win a bulk of gold medals is severely hampered by their sport of choice, not their abilities.</p>

<p>Mike Celizic, the writer of the article, makes a couple of stupid (in my opinion) points. Firstly, he fails to acknowledge that the 50m race did not exist in Mark Spitz’s time, and had that race been an event, Spitz probably would’ve won it and Phelps would have to chase 9 golds. Secondly, he dismisses Lance Armstrong’s godlike 7 Tour de France titles as lesser than Phelps’ 8 golds because the Tour de France is, to him, just one type of race, while swimming encompasses various different strokes. I’m sorry, the Tour de France is one type of race? Hey Mike, France is not just a flat race course; there are mountains, for one thing. Various riders excel at different stages, and what made Armstrong unstoppable was that he was unbeatable in the mountains while he was also a very fast rider in the time trials and flat stages. </p>

<p>I enjoy watching swimming, but it’s such a medal gouge for Americans. 50m? 100m? 200m? AND the different strokes to each distance? Give me a break. Using that standard, we should a 50m dash, 100m backpedal, 100m skipping, 100m cartwheel. The difference between swimming distances and track distances is that generally, a track sprinter can’t win a 200m or a 400m (that’s what made Michael Johnson so special), while in swimming, you can easily compete in such diverse events as 200m AND the 1500m.</p>

<p>He is good, but the best athlete ever? Naaah. I’d have to say someone who is involved in elite level wrestling (Alexander Karelin), or decathlons, or something along that nature. The amount of strength qualities you have to blend for those sports is simply ridiculous.</p>

<p>That’s just their opinion that he’s the greatest. Certainly a name to remember along the likes of Woods, Jordan, etc. in the present time.</p>

<p>One thing’s for sure, he’s better than those underaged Chinese girls haha</p>

<p>It’s because we’re in the midst of the Olympics right now, and everyone in the US is obsessed with him.</p>

<p>Yeah, it really is much: schrizto is right that it’s just in the middle of Olympic hype, especially since this man is keeping the US ahead (of everyone but China). This is the first year I ever paid attention to the Olympics and I was really surprised at how often medals were awarded.</p>

<p>I say they take your suggestion for 100m cartwheeling.</p>

<p>He’s not the greatest athlete ever. No way. He can swim, undoubtedly, but can he really do anything else athletically? Greatest athlete has to go to one of the Decathlon competitors.</p>

<p>Michael. Jordan.</p>

<p>nuff said.</p>

<p>I agree with the rest of you guys. While he is dominant in his sport (swimming), he is not the greatest athlete ever. Also, there are plenty of other athletes who are dominant in sports that only have one medal (like the volleyball girls).</p>

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<p>Umm, no. Only if present time is the extent of the Olympics and a little while after. Otherwise, he’s just going to fall out of fame until next time. Jordan and Woods will still be there, and Jordan doesn’t even play ball anymore.</p>

<p>Everyone’s just jumping on the bandwagon because it’s the olympics. Most of these people didn’t even know this guy existed before.</p>

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Spitz could’ve done the IM’s-- races that did exist and which are more difficult than the 50m. There were a lot of races he could’ve entered and more that Phelps could have has well, but that doesn’t matter. Should’ve, would’ve, could’ve are all weak excuses in retrospect. Spitz’s swims, records, medals are as history will remember them, but his sport has evolved and there are people better than he was.</p>

<p>When I think about someone being the greatest athlete ever I, like most people, think of it with respect to their sport. If the person is the best at what they do, the title gets attached to them a lot. Since I was little, I’ve thought of Michael Jordan as one of the best but if you follow some of the standards set forth in this thread, his failed attempts at other sports means he shouldn’t even be in contention for the title. Great athletes have the ability to bring people from different walks to come watch them and their talent-- Phelps can obviously do that.
Every time I see NBC’s coverage of anything Phelps related, they always refer to him as the greatest Olympian ever. I don’t think that title can be disputed in any way, especially considering Spitz admitted to it as well.</p>

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It depends on marketing and how successful he is in turning himself into a global icon like Jordan did.</p>

<p>There’s no way that Phelps can be marketed to Jordan status. First of all, the NBA season is almost year round and has established recognition irrespective of just one player. That has really helped in having casual observers identify Jordan. Now, how many of those same casual observers will continue to watch swimming competitions after the Olympics?</p>

<p>Also, just to put things in perspective: More people know who Wilt Chamberlain is than Mark Spitz.</p>

<p>i agree that he may not be the greatest “athlete” but he is the greatest “olympian” based on the number of golds he has won.</p>

<p>^Not really. Name another sport where doing that many races is even possible? And please don’t say track and field because the human body is incapable of such a feat. As I said before, he is without a doubt the most kick*** swimmer there has ever been, but greatest olympian ever? Nope, those sort of comparisons between sports aren’t even valid. There are other athletes who are equally dominant in their respective sports.</p>

<p>He’s one of the greatest for sure, just not THE greatest.</p>

<p>^^^Disagree. He is the greatest olympian ever. EVERY race he has been in so far he has won and broken the world record. With the vast amounts of pressure and hype going into every race, that is incredible.</p>

<p>Keep in mind also that he is 23 yrs old. He started in Sydney at age 15. He still has one, maybe two more olympics ahead of him.</p>

<p>just my opinion though</p>

<p>^^ i totally agree with alipes07…i dont know why you guys are bashing phepls right now.</p>

<p>It used to be that the 100 Meter track champion was considered the greatest athlete in the world, but those days are long gone. </p>

<p>Phillip Hersh of the Chicago Tribune just wrote an article about this (greatest Olympians). He seems to know his stuff. One of his main arguments is that swimming is not as physically demanding as some other sports.</p>

<p><a href=“Chicago Sports News, Schedules & Scores - Chicago Tribune”>Chicago Sports News, Schedules & Scores - Chicago Tribune;

<p>As the OP already stated, you can’t make a fair comparison when other athletes simply do not have the opportunity to break individual records as he does. If a random basketball player in the Olympics averaged 40 points, 40 rebounds, 10 blocks, 10 steals, and won his country a gold medal, he would not be considered the best Olympian, regardless of his individual record. He would just be considered incredibly dominant in his sport. I think it’s reasonable to consider Phelps one of, if not, the best Olympic swimmer. To do anything else is like comparing apples and oranges</p>

<p>We’re not bashing HIM, we’re bashing the bandwagoners who claim him the greatest athlete, or even the great OLYMPIAN, of all time (as if they even know every top olympian in every single event).</p>

<p>And it’s not even fair in basketball. All the greatest players in the world (or at least most of them) strive to make it to the NBA. You don’t see Lebron and Kobe coming back to the states after committing murder on some countries saying they’re the best athletes in the world, nor does anybody else say that really.</p>

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<p>Very good arguments indeed.</p>

<p>Spot on, nbachris. </p>

<p>He’s the greatest swimmer ever. That’s the only valid claim that can be made; sport to sport comparisons are tenuous. </p>

<p>The track & field analysis is sound. Track is too physically taxing a sport to EVER permit a Michael Phelps-style medal count. So does this mean Phelps is more dominant than people like Carl Lewis, Michael Johnson, El Guerrouj, Nurmi, etc? No, it doesn’t. It isn’t humanly possible for a track runner to win (let alone even attempt) the 100, 200, 110 hurdles, 400, 1500, and relays, which would be analagous in number to what swimmers often do. </p>

<p>Swimming world records fall every five seconds. Not a big deal imo. Almost every race I’ve seen on NBC results in a new WR (not just Phelps’ races), which is treated as a relatively casual occurance. In track, it’s a BIG deal when a WR falls. </p>

<p>Also, we must remember that the article is from NBC, whose olympic livelihood depends on hyping Phelps; it’s not surprising that such a stupid claim is made. NBC takes advantage of swimming’s sluttish medal availibilty to draw viewership to a safe and repetitive patriotic enthusiasm, which is fine for some people. It’s just getting a little nauseating watching the NBC anchors stumble over themselves to fellate him imo.</p>