Put me in the camp that isn't sold on Phelps being the greatest olympian of all time. Certainly he's in the conversation, probably is the favorite. But there's something that's going to be a real problem... evaluating how his record performances stand the test of time.
It's really hard to evaluate those records, simply because swimming records have dropped so much in every discipline over the years leading up to 2008. At the 2008 Olympics, where everyone had those LZR suits, Olympic records were set in almost every event. Since the LZR suits were banned in 2009, only five new WRs have been set. How then do you evaluate Phelps' career best performances compared to athletes who follow? You can't just choose to disregard them completely, yet he certainly did have an advantage that future athletes won't have. If he threw down a new world record in any of his solo events this Olympics, it would be a massive statement, but I think I've read that he's set only one personal best (in a race that he lost to Lochte) since the LZR era, so it's pretty unlikely.
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