There is a debate raging across the sports world on where Michael Phelps stands among the all-time great Olympic athletes, and while I am always interested in a healthy dispute, I rarely waste my time with one as simple as this: Phelps is, without a doubt, the greatest Olympian of modern times.
Not to say that he has no competition for the honor. Carl Lewis was a nine-time gold medalist and long-jump specialist, winning the latter event four times. Jim Thorpe, who only competed in one Olympics, still boasted the unbelievable achievement of gold in the pentathlon AND decathlon. Paavo Nurmi, a Finish runner, won nine golds in the 1920s, doing the amazing feat of running the 1500 and 5000 meter races within 2 hours of each other.
We cannot, and should not, discredit these achievements, as each one is demonstrative of incredible human potential.
Yet, Phelps' achievements stand alone: eight gold medals and seven world records in the Beijing games, which is the single greatest sporting achievement we are ever likely to see; fourteen gold medals across two games, including two bronze, giving Phelps an astounding sixteen career medals. He has won more gold medals than any Olympic athlete. In fact, he won more GOLD medals in the Beijing games than over 50 competing nation's TOTAL medals!
Now, there are several arguments circulating on why Phelps is not the greatest Olympian, the most prominent stemming from the fact that he is a swimmer. Apparently, a swimmer would have an easier time winning 14 gold medals.
This is, obviously, a ludicrous argument, as several key facts show.
First off, there is the top 20 list of top Olympic medal earners, a list where Phelps is one of only three swimmers. Gymnasts dominate the list, for the most part. But that makes me wonder...if we approach this logically, wouldn't swimming, a sport with an allegedly low difficulty, boast more athletes on this list? If it's easier for the athlete to win more medals, why are there not more of them? That little tidbit crumbles the entire argument.
Beyond the list, though, the Phelps' versatility in these games demands extra attention. Throughout the course of the games, Phelps succeeded at three different distances--the 100, 200, and 400. If we were to compare to, say, track, that's the equivalent of a single runner winning gold in the 200, 400, and 800 triple. No swimmer ever accomplished this; in fact, it has never been attempted.
And, another fact to consider--Phelps won three golds in three different strokes, and when he competed in these matches, he was facing masters of each craft who trained for that one, INDIVIDUAL race. This all-encompassing, 360 degree mastery places him in a league of his own. Oh, and did I mention that he competed in 17 races in eight days?!?
I can cite facts till the cows come home and write as extravagantly as I want to prove, once and for all, that Phelps is the greatest Olympian of all time, but I feel that such efforts, whether they are mine of proving or other bloggers disproving, are all in vain. Why? because Phelps will vanquish any dissenters come 2012.
Phelps WILL be at those games, most likely competing in 5-6 events as opposed to the 8 event blowout of the 2004/2008 games, and doing so in other distances with different swims (such as the 200 meter backstroke). What can we count on? Another 4-5 gold medals, another 4-5 world records, and the complete silence of any critics that he is, without a doubt, the greatest Olympian in modern times.
No comments:
Post a Comment