We all are in awe of Michael Phelps and ... as we tend to do ... are now trying to place him among the greatest Olympians of all time. Right now, there is a very good debate that he may be the greatest.
Former Olympic gold medal winning sprinter Linford Christie doesn't think so:
"I don't think Michael Phelps is the greatest Olympian because fewer athletes take part in swimming as compared to athletics. I feel [Carl] Lewis was the greatest Olympian the world ever saw," said Christie, who will be the guest anchor for a special Olympic programme on news channel NewsX.
"More people run than swim," he added.
I've heard this being a major part of the "no he's not" debate and it does have some merit. ESPN's First Take had the same sort of debate a few days ago and hinted at such earlier this week. Still, it isn't that Phelps is just winning his events ... he's dominating them.
My vote goes for Carl Lewis just because Phelps has never made a video like the one above.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
8-15-2008 @ 1:45PM
thaddeusj113 said...
Why did Christie say "swimming as opposed to athletics"? Is swimming not athletics?
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8-15-2008 @ 5:02PM
jay said...
I do think Phelps is a great athlete. But the greatest Olympian? No.
There is a reason why Aquaman is the lamest superhero.
Phelps is the greatest swimming Olympian ever. Other than saying that it is hard/impossible to compare swimming to running (apples to oranges).
Let's say that some table tennis (ping pong) player got more gold medals than any other Olympian (if it were possible to get that many). Would they really be the greatest Olympian because they had more gold medals? It's ping pong.
What if some bowler stayed at number one twice as long as Tiger or Sampras or Federer? Would the guy that bowls be a better athlete than them?
The popularity of a sport has a lot more to do with the rankings. Things are not even.
Tennis > bowling
Golf > lawn darts
Gymnastics > curling
Running > Swimming
I can say that running is more popular than swimming and it would be a fact that could backed up with research.
I CANT say that Lewis is better than Phelps, because that would just be opinion.
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8-15-2008 @ 3:17PM
Pat said...
I think Christie is dead wrong, Carl Lewis was great to watch but did not dominate his sport and the other top elites like this. Pheleps is going 80 percent out to conserve energy and still breaking records.
Yes he is going strong at the end of races, but he is not going full board from the start. As to the comment on the depth of the field, we would have to find elite atheletes in other fields that could be elite in another field of sport. Like Bo Jackson elite in football adaquate in baseball, Micheal Jordon elite in basketball below average in baseball. Deon Sanders elite football above average baseball., Reality is elite in one sport never translates to elite in another. So adding numbers to swimming is not going to change the reality, that after this and the next olympics in england he will be far ahead of the rest of the field that even Linford will have to agree. Unless he is hoping DIrk or Tim Duncun are going to change sports. again laughable.
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8-15-2008 @ 10:51PM
Clark said...
I'm gonna bet Linford Christie is black.
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8-17-2008 @ 11:03AM
Phyllis said...
Am I the only one that remembers that Carl Lewis was striped of his gold medal because of drugs in his system. So how can anyone admire him. He won unfairly, he was dirty.
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8-16-2008 @ 12:01AM
DWIGHT HAYNES said...
WHERE DID YOU GET THAT INFO. FROM, YOU'RE WRONG, NEVER TESTED POSTIVE FOR DRUGS
9-02-2008 @ 9:04AM
allen said...
When did he lose a medal. You may be thinking of Ben Johnson. Carl has always had a clean image. He had a stumble with cold medicine. Facts not opinions!
8-18-2008 @ 12:31AM
George B Vieto said...
Michael Phelps is the best Olympian in swimming but Carl Lewis is one of the greatest Olympians in track and field since he won the long jump and the shot distance runs. Debating who is the greatest Olympians is like saying who is the best home run hitter of all time between Babe Ruth, Barry Bonds and Henry Aaron.
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8-20-2008 @ 3:17PM
brandon said...
swimming is easier then track and field and more forgiving on the body also. If your gonna say he's the best ever because he has 9 gold medals then your wrong. WHy? Like I said swimming is more foriving on the body, so your able to do more events. That would be like saying wilt chamberlain was a better scorer then wayne gretzky becaue he scored 100 pts in a game. Of course because basketball allows for more points to be scored then hockey. In swimming you cant feel the impact of the ground. one aspect of swimming that can be compared to other sports is the endurance factor which is needed in distance running but than again i would rather have to worry about just endurance(swiming) rather than endurance and the pounding ur body will take from the ground (distance running). Phelps is one of the greatest olympians ever though without a doubt. but the greatest? he's not in my top 5.
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8-21-2008 @ 9:33PM
kai said...
There really is no need to compare any of the people who make it to the Olympics because all of them dominated over any ordinary person running, jumping, swimming, or play volley ball. Phelps is a beast in his event and is well deserving of being honored amongst the greats. No one seems to have a sense of respect for these athlete's and the drive and determination they put forth to be No. 1. All and all appreciate and don't hate him because you ain't him.
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