Michael Phelps is the single most dominant athlete on the planet, bar none

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I think British gold medal track cyclist Rebecca Romero deserves some more recognition.

2008 - Gold Medal in Cycling
2004 - Silver Medal in Rowing

And she took up track cycling only a couple of years ago. It would be interesting to see how many other medalists have had that success in two separate, unrelated sports.
 
One thing I'm curious about is how many of those 7 golds that Mark Spitz has are from group events? How does Phelps stack up if you only compare the individual golds?
 
I think British gold medal track cyclist Rebecca Romero deserves some more recognition.

2008 - Gold Medal in Cycling
2004 - Silver Medal in Rowing

And she took up track cycling only a couple of years ago. It would be interesting to see how many other medalists have had that success in two separate, unrelated sports.

Canadian Clara Hughes has won multiple medals in both the Summer Olympics and Winter Olympics. She competed in speed skating and in cycling. She has 2 bronze medals in cycling and a gold, a silver and a bronze in speed skating.
 
One thing I'm curious about is how many of those 7 golds that Mark Spitz has are from group events? How does Phelps stack up if you only compare the individual golds?



1972 -- Spitz wins 4 individual gold medals (100/200 fly, 100/200 free)
2004 -- Phelps wins 4 individual gold medals (100/200 fly, 200/400 IM)
2008 -- Phelps wins 5 individual gold medas (100/200fly, 200/400IM, 200 free)
 
The # of events Phelps won in or the exact WR are flawed metrics for comparing how impressive his achievements were in these Olympics. The most impressive part was the sheer dominance versus the rest of the field in the freestyle and 200m medley. That's the part that Phelps should be remembered for, making other men look like boys.

I do think the article makes a case that it's easier for a dominant athlete to rake in the medals at swimming versus the track. The anecdote about Lochte's two finals in 29 minutes versus the athletes unwilling to do the 200/400 double with "only" 3 hours rest between is pretty dramatic.
 
i find it interesting at how nervous track and field seems to be getting now that swimming has become the centerpiece of the Olympics.

I think it's less being nervous and more a debate whether or not Phelps, especially once all this Beijing/Spitz hype dies down, can be called "greatest Olympian ever".

Sour grapes ? I'm reminded of a certain gymnast team looking for excuses...
 
I'm getting a little tired of this whole situation and with all the parties involved.
You guys need to just ignore each other if you cant get along.
 
i find it interesting at how nervous track and field seems to be getting now that swimming has become the centerpiece of the Olympics.

i suppose some sour grapes are inevitable, but lines like this:
Hersh is an all-around sportswriter with decades of experience covering multiple sports internationally, though, not a mouthpiece for the 'track and field world.' There is a lot of griping on track sites right now about NBC's delayed coverage of the T&F events as opposed to its show of scheduling clout with the swimming, but no puzzlement as to why--track doesn't have a Big US Star right now; swimming does; big stars mean big ratings and that matters more to NBC than any of the sports themselves.

I agree there's a lot of dumb hot air blowing in that article, but I don't think its attitude is representative of track and field afficionados collectively at all.
 
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I don't know if this has been mentioned already, but one of the events Phelps won for (the 50, maybe?) wasn't even included in the Olympics Spitz competed at. I think it's fair to say, considering Spitz went 7-for-7, setting a new world record each time, that he would have won that race and gold as well.

And he did it with a FUCKING MOUSTACHE.

markspitz.jpg



Old school FTW.
 
McGovern's new economics? :hyper::hyper::hyper:

Phelps was rocking some facial hair before the Olympics, although judging by the photos he made the right choice.
 
He looks naked

Olympic hero Michael Phelps graces the cover of Sports Illustrated on newsstands Thursday. On it, he mimics and one-ups the iconic image of Mark Spitz wearing 7 gold medals that was on posters sold for $2 back in 1972.

With 8 gold medals from Beijing around his neck, Phelps smiles from beneath the label "The Alltime Olympian" The photo was taken inside an ancient temple in Beijing on Sunday night

"This one being the first [photo] of him with all eight medals, we hope that our cover will stick in everyone's mind," SI's managing editor Terry McDonell said.

Phelps also tops Spitz on the number of SI covers on which he's featured: 5-3.

original.jpg
 
Whatever it was, there was an extra event added post-1972 that I feel should be taken into account.



Spitz is claiming that he would have won the 50 free, but that's not for certain, his most uncertain win in 1972 was the 100 free, and in fact he wanted to pull out of that race for fear that he might not win and blemish his perfect record. so i'm doubtful of that claim. Spitz had a huge, huge cushion in 1972 in that the American relays were unbeatable back then, and he didn't have to swim semi-finals.

no matter which way you look at it, Phelps is by far the more impressive of the two.

one point that Spitz does have, however, is that it's now possible to be a professional swimmer in a way that it wasn't in 1972. Spitz chose to retire and cash in, and made a cool $5m which was pretty big bucks in 1972, which was a good decision even if it ended his Olympic career because he was no longer an "amateur." today, he would be able to take the money and keep on swimming, and i'm sure he would have been in the Olympics in 1976 and won more medals.

so, different ages, different times. but if you compare Spitz in '72 and Phelps in '08, there's no question that the Phelps performance is superior. Spitz will have to settle for the second best Olympic swimming performance, not such a bad thing.
 
I agree there's a lot of dumb hot air blowing in that article, but I don't think its attitude is representative of track and field afficionados collectively at all.



fair enough, it's just incredibly silly (and, in fact, insulting) to say that hopping or skipping is equivalent to breaststroke or butterfly.
 
Spitz is claiming that he would have won the 50 free, but that's not for certain, his most uncertain win in 1972 was the 100 free, and in fact he wanted to pull out of that race for fear that he might not win and blemish his perfect record. so i'm doubtful of that claim.

Is Phelps not competitive in the 100 free? I just noticed he did not compete in it. It looks like his 200m free record is only a second faster than Thorpe's.
 
Is Phelps not competitive in the 100 free? I just noticed he did not compete in it. It looks like his 200m free record is only a second faster than Thorpe's.



Phelps lead off the men's 4x100 free relay in 47.51 -- that time would have been good enough for bronze, and it was a new American record (he broke Lezak's record). for someone to hold the American record in the 100 free and the 400 IM at the same time absolutely boggles the mind. it just doesn't happen. no one is this versatile over different strokes and different distances.

*only* a second faster than Thorpe? 1 second is *huge* in a 200m race of any stroke, and Thorpe swam the old standard back in 2001 and never came close to it again. at the time, Thorpe's 1:44.01 was considered a monumental record, akin to his 400 free or a Janet Evans record. Phelps broke it in 2007 at the World Championships when he went 1:43.89 (i think, not positive about the tenths), and he won that race by over 2 seconds over Pieter Van Den Hoogenband, who actually beat Thorpe in the 200 free in Sydney, and finished second to Thorpe in Athens (beating Phelps back then).

i thought Phelps going 1:42 was probably the individual swim of the meet, and he won by 2 seconds.

if Phelps starts to concentrate on the sprints in the future, expect to see him challenge Sullivan's WR.
 
What a terrible cover.

I saw the funniest .gif of him celebrating that relay win except with a paper bag over his head. :wink:
 
if Phelps starts to concentrate on the sprints in the future, expect to see him challenge Sullivan's WR.

I'm sure he's capable of it. I just have the impression that the average casual fan (such as myself) would think he is currently the "world's fastest swimmer". I think most fans who see the headlines, magazine covers, etc. would be surprised to learn that he cannot claim that title.
 
I'm sure he's capable of it. I just have the impression that the average casual fan (such as myself) would think he is currently the "world's fastest swimmer". I think most fans who see the headlines, magazine covers, etc. would be surprised to learn that he cannot claim that title.



no, he's called the world's "best" swimmer.

the "fastest" -- which would have to be the winner, or WR holder of the 50 -- would be the "fastest."

this is a great opportunity for casual fans to learn more about swimming, so newspaper columnists won't equate hopping and skipping to breaststroke and butterfly.
 
I saw the funniest .gif of him celebrating that relay win except with a paper bag over his head. :wink:

Whoa that's harsh



In a candid interview via satellite from China, Olympic golden boy Michael Phelps opened up to "Extra's" Dayna Devon about dating, his multi-million dollar payday and Cameron Diaz!

As for the rumors Phelps is dating fellow Olympic swimmer, Amanda Beard, he declares, "No, I'm not dating Amanda Beard. I'll say that. I think she has a boyfriend." When asked if he's single, he responds, "Part of my life is kept to myself. I'm able to relax and be with my friends. Those pretty much are the only people who really know the answer to that question."

The eight-time gold medal winner in the Beijing Olympics has been known to listen to music before races and reveals to "Extra" what's on his iPod saying, "Rap, hip hop, Lil Wayne..."

News that American Idol alum, Carrie Underwood, has a crush on him, he admits, "That's the first I've heard of that. That's pretty cool."

Devon also asks Phelps his pick to play his leading lady in a movie about his life. "Any actress you love?" Phelps says, "Cameron Diaz seems pretty cool. She seems like she has a cool personality. "

Phelps is now poised to rake in an estimated $40-100 million in endorsements, but he tells Devon, "It's not about the money. I love what I do." He continues, "The one thing I'm really looking forward to doing is raising the bar in the sport of swimming and promoting it...to get new faces involved in the sport."

Phelps' ceremonial last lap for the Hilton Swim to Beijing Relay helped raise $100,000 for The USA Swimming Foundation benefiting swimming education programs across the U.S.
 
When I talked to my Mom on the phone a couple of days ago she said "you know, I find that Michael Phelps boy to be charmingly ugly so that he's almost cute." :wink:
 
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