Michael Phelps not best Olympian ever? So says chief of London Olympics (Lord Sebastian Coe)

CS Monitor ^ | 08/02/2012 | By Mark Sappenfield

[Our man in washington]

I’d have to go with Eric Heiden as the great Olympics athlete ever. I mean, the man won a gold medal at EVERY single distance in speed skating. No one has ever done it before or since. It’s like a running winning the 100-meter sprint, the mile, and the marathon in the same olympics.

But Phelps has to be in the top two or three. I know, that’s a domination of the Americans in the “best ever” categories. But the reason for that is if someone with Heiden or Phelps’ ability had been born in China or the old Soviet Union or East Germany, they would have figured out what event he was best at and had them focus on that. Those countries haven’t produced a lot of individual athletes who won a slew of golds. (Except in gymnastics, where you have to compete in everything if you want to compete at all.)

[bgill]

Agree with Coe that he’s the most medalled in swimming but that’s as far as it goes.

[9YearLurker]

Haven’t you been watching your Animal Kingdom (or whatever)?

Plenty of animals work together, whether by pack or otherwise.

[mjp]

Who holds the most world records and for how long?

world record index = # of world records x length of time held

[battlecry]

My vote is for Paul Elvstrom.

[capt B]

Agree, Thorpe has had no equal, although the Pentathlon has changed

[dfwgator]

How many medals would Mark Spitz won if they had as many swimming events back then as they do now? The criteria should be the percentage of Gold Medals per Events entered.

[dfwgator]

I’d have to go with Eric Heiden as the great Olympics athlete ever. I mean, the man won a gold medal at EVERY single distance in speed skating. No one has ever done it before or since. It’s like a running winning the 100-meter sprint, the mile, and the marathon in the same olympics.

I would tend to agree. He was as dominant as anyone could be.

[miss marmelstein]

Oh, Lord! Say something slightly critical of Brits, and the scotsman pops up!

It was his use of the word “successful” that tipped me off. Brit-speak for PUSHY, AGRESSIVE AND OVER HERE.

[dead]

Wow, you're touchy.

I was merely pointing out his jingoism. It's a common trait, affecting the citizens of most nations, including the US.

American sports fans, the media and experts are the most insular and parochial there are.

Can you document this claim in any way? More so than Brazilians? Chinese? French?

I'd be interested to see your evidence for your contention.

[the scotsman]

I have followed US sports (NFL esp) for 30 years. I follow US sports media (ESPN, NBC sports) via satellite/cable and the internet. And I lived in the US for nearly two years. Which btw I loved.

American sports fans and the media ignore and dont care about world sport. I found most to be more insular about sport than others. Not all, but more insular than sports fans in the UK and Europe. And the Aussies, Canucks, Springboks and Kiwis I have met. Although the Canucks can be just as bad.

[the scotsman]

Yep.
Standing up for my country.
That a problem?.

[the scotsman]

Actually Phelps is well liked over here and thats because he comes across as not that type. Not in the in-yer-face, cocky type, but just a polite midwestern type American. The type we Brits love.

[Lou L]

Yes, but then again, how many people actually compete for the decathlon?

Not to mention, most decathletes are "jacks of all trades, masters of none." They do a bunch of skills well, but in most of their individual events, other people excel far better.

[the scotsman]

Actually I find the media much worse.

At least your average US sports fan is just a normal guy or gal who follows sport whilst earning a living. The media, its their job, and with that comes the arrogance of ‘experts’.

[patriotspride]

Jim Thorpe won the Decathlon (10 events) AND the Pentathlon (5 events). You can make a pretty strong argument that Thorpe was the greatest Olympic athlete ever.

---

Agree he’s my favorite

Though I will recognize M Phelps on the basis of medals alone.

This could be settle by simply stating the obvious. M Phelps is now the All Time
Medal Winner in the Olympics.

[miss marmelstein]

So you agree that “successful” is a code word for Pushy, Agressive and Over Here, right? And that adds up to typical sour grapes.

[SeaHawkFan]

Best was probably Jim Thorpe, but serious consideration must be given to Abibi Bekela.

[the scotsman]

No, I dont.
Thats your interpretation.

Funny how you are bashing the Brits for being their usual snarky Limey selfs, where all I see is Americans looking for anything that they can shriek ‘anti-american!’ at....

[PA Engineer]

He has a little bit of a point, actually. Both Phelps and Trey Hardee train here at UT, and if Phelps claimed he was a better athlete than Hardee, there would be a lot of raised eyebrows. But he hasn’t, so there is no need to try and take anything away from his amazing success.

I agree. I believe Phelps has burned out. He is 27 and probably has been training for over 17 years. That is a lot of hours in the Pool. He may be at the point of wanting to move on. Just an observation from comments made about Phelps fellow swimmers and personal experience. His heart just does not seem to be in it.

Swimmers, unlike many other sports can maintain a high level of athleticism as they get older. The problem is the amount of training that is required to maintain an elite status.