Quote:
Originally Posted by transplant99
nope...i will stand by greatest olympian...and by a mile. Is there a decathalete who wins every event? If there was i would be more inclined to agree.
How many running distances are there? 10? No one can come anywhere near his medal total.
Hell he has twice as many gold medals as the next best olympian has total medals IIRC.
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every medal Phelps has won has come in the same sized pool, in a climate controlled building, with no outside variables that might factor in. very few other Olympic sports have that same kind of perfect environment in which to participate in. what about athletes who medal in multiple sports, in both the winter and summer games? i'd argue that is a better measurement of a complete athlete than being able to dominate at a single sport. Phelps has the perfect physique for a swimmer, but in what other sport could he hope to compete at a high level. just as arguments about the greatest hockey player in the game has to take into account all of a player's skills, not just point totals, i say any argument about the greatest athlete or Olympian of all time has to factor in more than one event where someone can dominate