I’ve gotta agree with him. Same goes for speed skaters in winter.
He’s right of course, some sports lend themselves easily to more gold medals, when one is at the top of their sport and their sport has a multitude of competitions they are going to win more overall medals. However, does that make the winner of the most medals the greated olympian ever? Certainly doesn’t have to.
Lotsa fish go faster than Phelps.
Lotsa animals go faster than any human runner.
So why should I give a smelly Obama about either?
Frankly I still beleive that Jim Thorpe may be the greatest Olympian ever. His feats at the 1912 Olympics still boggle the mind.
I agree with Coe. Phelps is probably the greatest CURRENT swimmer, but to say he’s the greatest Olympian or greatest athlete of all time is ridiculous. Yeah, he’ll probably have the most medals, which is no small accomplishment, but that alone doesn’t make him the greatest Olympian EVER.
For one, how do you compare athletes of eons past to those of today. How do you compare wrestlers to gymnasts or swimmers or decathletes? The truth is you can’t. They are all great sports with their own difficulties and uniquness.