Beijing 2008 Olympic Games [SEE THREAD RULES ON PAGE 1] (2 Viewers)
- Thread starter Christina
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First of all, I don't agree with the point that you can't be the greatest Olympian by having more gold medals. Especially when they're in so many different events. There is no definite formula for excellence, but in Phelps case, the evidence is so overwhelming that there almost doesn't need to be. The guy is domination incarnate. We're talking about 8 different events, including 3 completely different styles: IM, Butterfly and Freestyle.
I love Jesse Owens, and the fact that he won 3 different individual events in 1 year, and also tacked on a gold in the 4x100 is outstanding. He is truly a legend - especially given the circumstances of his victory, which clearly add to the lore..
Carl Lewis' Olympic record is at least as impressive... 9 Total gold medals, 4 long jump, 2 100m, 1-100m and 2 4x100m... Spanning 3 Olympics. Lewis' final games were when he was 35.
These guys are incredible athletes. However, Michael Phelps could finish these games with a cumulative 14 Olympic Golds. 14. AS A 25 YEAR OLD. 8 IN ONE YEAR. He'll likely hold world records (at least temporarily) in all of his events. He is an absolute phenom. I'm not sure what the typical shelf life is on a swimmer... but that Jason Lezak guy is 31 or 32 years old and he just broke his personal best, helping the US team to a WR. Which means that Phelps will very likely be around for 2012, barring injury... and it's certainly not our of the realm of possibility that he'll add another medal or two to his haul.
Some people just don't respect swimming as much as sports like track and field. Or water polo (JOKING). I'm probably amongst that group. Frankly, the numbers that Phelps is putting up are mind boggling - this is something that may end up being unrivaled over the course of our life times.
I love Jesse Owens, and the fact that he won 3 different individual events in 1 year, and also tacked on a gold in the 4x100 is outstanding. He is truly a legend - especially given the circumstances of his victory, which clearly add to the lore..
Carl Lewis' Olympic record is at least as impressive... 9 Total gold medals, 4 long jump, 2 100m, 1-100m and 2 4x100m... Spanning 3 Olympics. Lewis' final games were when he was 35.
These guys are incredible athletes. However, Michael Phelps could finish these games with a cumulative 14 Olympic Golds. 14. AS A 25 YEAR OLD. 8 IN ONE YEAR. He'll likely hold world records (at least temporarily) in all of his events. He is an absolute phenom. I'm not sure what the typical shelf life is on a swimmer... but that Jason Lezak guy is 31 or 32 years old and he just broke his personal best, helping the US team to a WR. Which means that Phelps will very likely be around for 2012, barring injury... and it's certainly not our of the realm of possibility that he'll add another medal or two to his haul.
Some people just don't respect swimming as much as sports like track and field. Or water polo (JOKING). I'm probably amongst that group. Frankly, the numbers that Phelps is putting up are mind boggling - this is something that may end up being unrivaled over the course of our life times.
unrivaled in our life time? we will see about that.
I am sure a lot of people witnessed Mark Spitz before and now there's Phelps.
Can u guarantee in another 20 years there won;t be another Phelps?
with advanced technology+training programmes, anything can happen
I still disagree that he's the greatest olympian of all time..ON PAR but not THE greatest! U cannot compare who's greater coz they participate different events
It's like comparing Micheal Jordan w Micheal Sceumacher, 6 NBA titles vs 7 world champions titles, who's the greater sportsman?I salute Phelps effort though!
for me I like Kobe +Lebron more..even if they manage to win 1 gold only,that's just me
I am sure a lot of people witnessed Mark Spitz before and now there's Phelps.
Can u guarantee in another 20 years there won;t be another Phelps?
with advanced technology+training programmes, anything can happen
I still disagree that he's the greatest olympian of all time..ON PAR but not THE greatest! U cannot compare who's greater coz they participate different events
It's like comparing Micheal Jordan w Micheal Sceumacher, 6 NBA titles vs 7 world champions titles, who's the greater sportsman?I salute Phelps effort though!
for me I like Kobe +Lebron more..even if they manage to win 1 gold only,that's just me
HUGE SAVE. I'm dying for another feed...
That's cool Lavender. I understand what you're saying. We'll agree to disagree. I'm just saying that 6 golds in one olympics and 5+ in another... statistically that's on another level. Phelps also swam in the individual IM... Spitz didn't medal in that - not sure if he swam it at all (he did medal in the IM relay). The Schumacher/Jordan comparison doesn't work for many reasons... One plays an individual sport, the other a team. For me, it's the gold medal factor, it's staying in shape and injury free long enough to make use of a very small window, etc etc. Plus, we're not talking about "greatest sportsman"... we're talking about greatest Olympian, which in this case, because of his overwhelming dominance, and medal count, I accredit to phelps. Anyways, to each his own brother.
That's cool Lavender. I understand what you're saying. We'll agree to disagree. I'm just saying that 6 golds in one olympics and 5+ in another... statistically that's on another level. Phelps also swam in the individual IM... Spitz didn't medal in that - not sure if he swam it at all (he did medal in the IM relay). The Schumacher/Jordan comparison doesn't work for many reasons... One plays an individual sport, the other a team. For me, it's the gold medal factor, it's staying in shape and injury free long enough to make use of a very small window, etc etc. Plus, we're not talking about "greatest sportsman"... we're talking about greatest Olympian, which in this case, because of his overwhelming dominance, and medal count, I accredit to phelps. Anyways, to each his own brother.
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