Michael Phelps- Greatest Olympian Ever?

[Rakala]

I don't think so. Sure he's a great and talented swimmer, sure he's won more gold medals than any other person ever, but has he ever sprained his leg and finished a race anyways? Has he ever flipped over going at amazing speeds then picked up his vehicle and walked the rest of the way? I admire him and his perseverance, but I would say he's far from the greatest Olympian ever.

[Valynth]

If we give everyone medals, then the medals are meaningless.

He has the most medals therefore he's the best.  End of logical battle.  Let the flame wars move in to fill the power void.

[King Of Hearts]

I have to admit I always keep thinking of the OTHER Phelps, when people keep talking about Michael.

Also... nature abhors a vacuum... so dont be surprised if you see Captain Planet along the way.

[Jairus]

I have to admit I always keep thinking of the OTHER Phelps, when people keep talking about Michael.

I know... and that's terrible.

... Oh lord... his dad's name is Fred Phelps. Not THE Fred Phelps, obviously, but sheesh did that give me a start.

[rabid_fox]

He's 23. He's not the greatest yet. But he has a long time to build his legacy.

[Gareeku]

There's absolutely no doubt about his talent, the guy is phenomenal. Sure, he's the greatest Olympian in terms of swimming, but I don't think he's the greatest Olympian full stop, seeing as he's never done any other sport. Now I'm not taking anything away from the guy at all, but that's just my opinion.

[Rakala]

He's 23. He's not the greatest yet. But he has a long time to build his legacy.

Agreed.

There's absolutely no doubt about his talent, the guy is phenomenal. Sure, he's the greatest Olympian in terms of swimming, but I don't think he's the greatest Olympian full stop, seeing as he's never done any other sport. Now I'm not taking anything away from the guy at all, but that's just my opinion.

Also agreed.
/
I'd say he's the best swimmer around, but he's not the greatest Olympian ever. The Olympics have been around for awhile. I'd have to say the Olympian I most admire is the one who showed Hitler a thing or two.

[Zina]

I don't think so. Sure he's a great and talented swimmer, sure he's won more gold medals than any other person ever, but has he ever sprained his leg and finished a race anyways? Has he ever flipped over going at amazing speeds then picked up his vehicle and walked the rest of the way? I admire him and his perseverance, but I would say he's far from the greatest Olympian ever.

I'm baffled by your logic. He has to injure himself and then still somehow win in order to be considered a great athlete? Especially in swimming, where if you sprain one part of your body, that's pretty much it, see you in four years.
Come on now.

I think Micheal Phelps is an amazing swimmer. And he's so young, he has plenty of time to do more great things. Greatest Olympian ever? Who knows.
Personally I'd rather say athlete's who competed and excelled in several events, such as Jim Thorpe, are among the greatest Olympians ever. But hey, Jim Thorpe never sprained his leg and then finished the race anyway, so I guess he doesn't count.

[Gareeku]

Personally I'd rather say athlete's who competed and excelled in several events, such as Jim Thorpe, are among the greatest Olympians ever.

Agreed. Like I said in my previous post, sure Phelps could be the greatest Olympic Swimmer ever, but I don't think he's greatest Olympian full stop.

[Rakala]

I guess I laid on my point a little thick. Sorry. Let me clarify, I think that the greatest Olympians ever are ones who represented the spirit of the games. It's just that those who injure themselves just leap to mind. It's not just about that.... I dunno, I just don't see Michael Phelps as the greatest Olympian ever. I had it all fully thought out when I started this topic and now I'm completely lost. Zina, I do get what you're saying, I just don't get what I'm saying anymore.

I dumb. 

[Zina]

How does Micheal Phelps not represent the spirit of the game? The spirit of the Olympics isn't about those overcoming impossible odds. It's about the world coming together to celebrate sportsmanship. Phelps is just like any other athlete who loves his sport, trains his ass off and wants to do the best he possibly can.
He's just done is a record number of times, and that's worth giving props to. Most people can't win one gold metal, let alone 13.

[Amber Williams]

(Warning: History is rusty, may be wrong)

If I recall right, the Olympics when they first started consisted of the various parts of Greece sending athletic representatives from their various provinces in order to compete for the sake of good sportmanship to to represent their hometown. Back then it wasnt specialized events either, meaning the guys had to pretty much do them all...and for what? Just a lil olive leaf crown. (any actual fundage went to the sponsers of said youth) 

It wasnt until Roman times that they started doing specialized athletes for specialized sports.

So really if anyone is the greatest olympian, its probably some random dude who no one knows his names who busted his ass for some olive leaves.


That said Michael Phelps is doing really well for himself and I think he fully deserves to sit atop his little hoarde.  Being the "Greatest" is a relative term anyways since greatness is defined by individual standards.

[Jairus]

(Warning: History is rusty, may be wrong)

If I recall right, the Olympics when they first started consisted of the various parts of Greece sending athletic representatives from their various provinces in order to compete for the sake of good sportmanship to to represent their hometown. Back then it wasnt specialized events either, meaning the guys had to pretty much do them all...and for what? Just a lil olive leaf crown. (any actual fundage went to the sponsers of said youth) 

It wasnt until Roman times that they started doing specialized athletes for specialized sports.

So really if anyone is the greatest olympian, its probably some random dude who no one knows his names who busted his ass for some olive leaves.

If I remember correctly, they may not have won anything else at the games themselves, but winners tended to get fabulous prizes and were basically treated as heroes when they returned home victorious... then again, my history is rusty too. It never was my favorite subject. But yours sounds about right.

As for the last comment about the random dude, you make a very good point. We really don't know anything about those winners. Which is a little sad, really. All of that effort, lost to history. And now I'm feeling depressed.

[thegayhare]

I have to admit I always keep thinking of the OTHER Phelps, when people keep talking about Michael.

Ohh thank god I'm not the only one that did that

phew.

My biggest phelps mix up moment came during a cell phone commercial about a girl obsessed with michael phelps.  I saw her shirt "Phelps fan" and went wait what... before it sunk in

[ShadesFox]

Not only is he quite the swimmer, he is quite the eater.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7562840.stm

For the sake of summary, copy pasted from the above link:
Breakfast: Three fried egg sandwiches; cheese; tomatoes; lettuce; fried onions; mayonnaise; three chocolate-chip pancakes; five-egg omelette; three sugar-coated slices of French toast; bowl of grits; two cups of coffee
Lunch: Half-kilogramme (one pound) of enriched pasta; two large ham and cheese sandwiches with mayonnaise on white bread; energy drinks
Dinner: Half-kilogramme of pasta, with carbonara sauce; large pizza; energy drinks

10,000 calories per day.  Wow.  I may have to watch, just to see if his heart explodes.

[Rakala]

I have to admit I always keep thinking of the OTHER Phelps, when people keep talking about Michael.

Ohh thank god I'm not the only one that did that

phew.

My biggest phelps mix up moment came during a cell phone commercial about a girl obsessed with michael phelps.  I saw her shirt "Phelps fan" and went wait what... before it sunk in

I did too. It must suck having the same last name as somebody so terrible.

[Jairus]

I have to admit I always keep thinking of the OTHER Phelps, when people keep talking about Michael.

Ohh thank god I'm not the only one that did that

phew.

My biggest phelps mix up moment came during a cell phone commercial about a girl obsessed with michael phelps.  I saw her shirt "Phelps fan" and went wait what... before it sunk in

I did too. It must suck having the same last name as somebody so terrible.

Or a first name. According to the Wikipedia article, before World War II, Adolf was a popular name in that part of the world, particularly among Jewish populations. Ouch.

Anyway, slightly back on topic, apparently some Swedish wrestler had a tantrum and got their medal taken away? Does anyone have some information on that? And also, the guy who came in second to Phelps is contesting it? Anything else on that?

[thegayhare]

Anyway, slightly back on topic, apparently some Swedish wrestler had a tantrum and got their medal taken away? Does anyone have some information on that? And also, the guy who came in second to Phelps is contesting it? Anything else on that?

On the swedish wrestler
http://sports.yahoo.com/top/news?slug=ap-oly-wre--medalstripped&prov=ap&type=lgns

On the phelps issue they tried but omega (the swiss timing company) was able to prove he did indeed touch it first
http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/beijing/swimming/news?slug=dw-finaswimming081608&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

[Sunblink]

I don't watch the Olympics (I might get into it while it's still on), but I nth the notion of Michael Phelps's unfortunate last name.

Ironically, the twins who play Fred and George Weasley in the Harry Potter movies are named James and Oliver Phelps. No relation to certain soulless jerks. When I found out the names of the actors, I was a little surprised, especially since they played my favorite Harry Potter characters. 

On a more relevant subject, even though I don't watch the Olympics, I am amazed by their participants, since it must take a lot of physical and mental discipline to manage the feats they do.

On the swedish wrestler
http://sports.yahoo.com/top/news?slug=ap-oly-wre--medalstripped&prov=ap&type=lgns

That's embarrassing. I grimaced as I read the article.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

[King Of Hearts]

If you watched the match, its somewhat understandable with regards to his disdain...

though he couldve made his protest a bit more classy.

[Jairus]

Anyway, slightly back on topic, apparently some Swedish wrestler had a tantrum and got their medal taken away? Does anyone have some information on that? And also, the guy who came in second to Phelps is contesting it? Anything else on that?

On the swedish wrestler
http://sports.yahoo.com/top/news?slug=ap-oly-wre--medalstripped&prov=ap&type=lgns

On the phelps issue they tried but omega (the swiss timing company) was able to prove he did indeed touch it first
http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/beijing/swimming/news?slug=dw-finaswimming081608&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

...

Ehh. Do we have a "facepalm" smilie? I mean... that's just stupid. They're acting like spoiled rotten children who aren't getting their way. I don't care how long and hard you've worked to get there, that doesn't give you the right to complain until the ones in charge do what you want to do just to shut you up. There have got to be better ways to voice a complaint (EDIT: Ah, King of Hearts beat me to that line).

And I don't follow the Olympics: never really have, to tell the truth. Sports and sporting activities don't really interest me.

Random trivia fact: when my church theater conservatory did The Laramie Project a few years back, guess which lucky actor was chosen by the director to play Fred Phelps?

[Zina]

From what I understand, Cavic, the person that came in second, did not want to contest it. But he can't control what the Serbian officials do.

If you REALLY want something cringe worthy, I recommend the Hungarian weightlifter. Yowch.

[Jairus]

If you REALLY want something cringe worthy, I recommend the Hungarian weightlifter. Yowch.

*checks Wikipedia on János Baranyai*
Eww! Ouch, damn that sucks. I hope he recovers okay.

From what I understand, Cavic, the person that came in second, did not want to contest it. But he can't control what the Serbian officials do.

Okay, so he re-earns some brownie points.

Um, I'm going to sound really stupid but... who's Cavic?

[Zina]

The pictures and the videos are much more upsetting, let me tell you.


And Cavic is the person that came in second to Phelps. He even told the officials to drop the protest, but like I said, he can't do anything if they decide to not listen to him.

[Jairus]

The pictures and the videos are much more upsetting, let me tell you.

As someone who – like Abel – can barely stand the sight of someone else's blood or injuries, I'll take your word for it.

And Cavic is the person that came in second to Phelps. He even told the officials to drop the protest, but like I said, he can't do anything if they decide to not listen to him.

Oh, I'm sorry. I thought you were talking to thegayhare or one of the other posters and calling them by name. Stupid me.

[Alondro]

That reminds me of one of those most-horrifying-whatever shows, on sports disasters and whatnot.  And a guy fell off something and when he got up his arm was twisted backwards...  ick.

[Mao]

I'm reminded every time I visit my lil'bro, Alondro.  He's a paramedic.  He also just graduated one of his certificate courses and noted that he still has all of his text books.  He thought it might be fun while we were just hanging out and having a few beers to run me through all of the pictures of the nastiest accidents he could find in those books.  I'm not the squeamish type but I have to say.. I've now see enough mangled body parts from sports injuries, mva's and just downright stupid moves to last a life time.  All of this because we decided to watch the Olympics while we drank.  Any sport for that matter because it seems that for every sport there's some sort of grotesque injury that can occur because of it.

Onto the main topic, I can see where the original point of overcoming extreme adversity and still prevailing makes some seem greater in the eyes of folks, but you're overlooking something:  All training and sports are a form of adversity.  Saying that the guy who ran and finished the marathon on a sprained ankle is better than the guy who won it for example is silly.  The guy who ran hard and won faced his own hardships and prevailed just as much as the guy who got hurt and didn't win.  In fact, he worked hard enough to come out of his hardships unscathed and in first.

[Faerie Alex]

Incidentally, as far as overcoming adversity, did you know that Michael Phelps was diagnosed with ADHD? Really. I hear it might kinda help him actually, swimming is his outlet for energy, and that gives him a lot of energy to swim.

[Alondro]

*Charles DIED before getting to the Olympic Games... but he overcame that adversity!  As one of the Undead, Charles went on to make Olympic history by winning every medal in the entire competition... after eating the brains of all the other competitors*