Michael Phelps "probably" is not Greatest Olympian

[cowgirl836]

hey, if a track and field athlete wants to win everything from the 50 yard dash to the 10,00 0 yard dealy, go for it!

Cause that's what Phelps does comparatively. Winning everything from the 100m to 400m.

[3TrueFans]

A runner could do the 100, 200, 400, 800, both hurdle events, and both relay events for a chance at 8 medals. That would be comparable to what Phelps does.

[CycloneErik]

A runner could do the 100, 200, 400, 800, both hurdle events, and both relay events for a chance at 8 medals. That would be comparable to what Phelps does.

Like Carl Lewis, but more of it.

[3TrueFans]

Moar Carl Lewis!

[isulive2train]

drowns out the competition.

[Cycl1]

He also won all his medals with a big *** mustache.

which is at least worth another 5 medals or so.

[tplumm]

Wonder if this is true? I was reading some of the comments from the article. One poster said it was a shame that athletes have to pay tax on their medals and that the tax on a gold medal is $8000 roughly. That seems high, but i guess I don't really know the monetary value of an Olympic medal.

[BSC1Clone]

imo, carl lewis is the greatest olympian. not saying phelps isn't damn good, cause he is very much so. just my opinion. carl lewis was incredible.

[Tank]

One thing on his side is doing what he did in back-to-back olympics. That's very hard to do in a sport where people are over-the-hill quickly.

What is amazing is that this is his 4th Olympics, granted he didn't medal in his 1st one in Sydney when is was only 15 years old...

[BCforISU]

Wonder if this is true? I was reading some of the comments from the article. One poster said it was a shame that athletes have to pay tax on their medals and that the tax on a gold medal is $8000 roughly. That seems high, but i guess I don't really know the monetary value of an Olympic medal.

If this is true, I am betting the US covers a bunch of the taxes considering they are competing on the US Dime, just a thought, no proof to offer. Either that or sponsors buck up. Either way, doubt it is on the competor's dime. The only issue is the ametuers, may have an issue there.

[mred]

It's not tax on the medal. Gold medalists get a $25k stipend from the USOC. That's what's taxed 8K. The medal is technically taxed too, but that's much less.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/0...n_1729486.html

[Gordyo5]

He is for sure in the discussion and very well may be the best but what about sports like wrestling, archery, boxing and cycling? They have no chance to win more than one (maybe 2, I don't know all of the events). Also If you look at swimming compared to track, swimming has several different strokes at the same distance, track only has one run, no side stepping or back peddling or combination from the same distance. I just think it is nearly impossible to call some one the greatest Olympian of all time because being an Olympian is saying you were great at something but quite a broad range of things. Lots of athletes have dominated their sport but only have a chance at one or two medals. Dan Gable for example won the gold with out giving up a point, pretty dominant but he only had a chance at 1 medal in that year.

I am not saying he isn't great I just think it is pretty crazy to say he is the best Olympian when that is such a broad term.

[mred]

Gable should have qualified at multiple weights, then.

[tm3308]

I can't think of many who could truly challenge Phelps for that title. Track athletes are automatically out, IMO. There are tons of track events they could compete in, but they don't. Phelps dominated in all the strokes, both in sprints and distance races. Nobody is that completely dominant.

[theshadow]

There are several athletes who have medaled at 5 different Olympics (including one at 6 different Olympics). Anyone who ranks top 3 in the world at their sport/event for 20+ years deserves some credit.

A female canoer (canoeist?) from Germany won gold in 1980 (age 18), '88, '92, '96, 2000 and '04 (age 42).