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Phelps: Unbeatable
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American swimmer Michael Phelps has rewritten the Olympic record books after he picked up his eighth gold medal of the Beijing Games.
Phelps, who won six gold medals in Athens four years ago, has undoubtedly been the story of the these Olympics so far.
His total Olympic medal haul over the past eight years means Phelps has now passed Mark Spitz, Carl Lewis, Paavo Nurmi and Larysa Latynina in the all-time list of Olympic gold medallists.
So can Phelps now lay claim to being the greatest Olympian of all-time?
Will his achievements ever be matched?
Join the Olympics Debate and let us know your views via the form below...
Comments
Jay The truth says...
are you all seriously that narrow minded? If Johnathan Edwards was allowed to enter into 10 different variations of the same discipline...The hop skip & jump /the hop skip & skip / the hop hop & hop /etc ...he would have won 10 golds. FACT. My point is, swimming is a 50 metre pool with a number of ways of getting up and down it with strange styles. Phelps is undoubtedly a truly great swimmer...but NOT the greatest Olympian of all time! YET!!!! If he comes back and wins a number of golds at another 2 or 3 Olympics then maybe!!! You guys get so over excited so easily, jeez . thank goodness im around to put you all right.
Posted 00:05 23rd August 2008
Lauren Payne says...
I think the title of 'Greatest Olympian' can not be determined by how many golds you can hang around your neck. I am in no way trying to undermine Phelps' success, because I think he deserves to be congratulated and praised for his hard work and athletic achievements. However if we consider the age of the British Olympian Mark Foster, Phelps has many years of competing left in him. And I think this title can only come with a certain level of experience and age. It will be hard for any one to beat this record but no doubt in the future some new breed of athlete will take on the challenge. Lets just wait and see what the future brings. Bring on London 2012!
Posted 23:08 22nd August 2008
Krishenn Seunath says...
Are we all really that blind? By what measure does one determine the greatest Olympian? Is it measured by gold medals won and the records broken? Is it seen by the type of character of the athlete? Heck is it by the sport of the athlete? It would clearly seem that swimmers have the only chance, due to so much more gold medal opportunities than other athletes. How can one compare someone who can swim several finals only a couple hours apart to people who for example run maratons, play team sports etc. What about athletes who simply do not have enough events available to get the suposed benchmark of getting gold medals. Sports such as gymnastics,diving,volleyball,waterpolo,football,tennis,table tennis,field events, should I go on? The point is it is utterly ridiculous to compare different sports by the gold medals won. There is a real need to cap the number of events swimmers can be in as they have much more opportunities to medal or more medals should be allocated to other events to level the playing field. A precedent has been set by the IOC regarding Table Tennis where the doubles matches have become a team format to give other countries a chance to medal beside China. Finally, how can modern olympics be compared to for eg. 1960 where they swam in normal trunks and not specially made Speedos. They are just not the same conditions as in previous years. The olympics has become a drug cesspool of disgrace and people now seem to care more about gold medals than what sport is really about, representing your country to the best of your God given ability. Let me also say that the US would have been calling for a event cap if it was not their people winning these medals. Just look at their reactions to being demolished in Athletics after being so dominant in it. In conclusion, swimming is an elitist sport that only rich countries can afford to train for so certainly a lot of potential in poor countries cannot be fulfilled.
Posted 14:15 18th August 2008
Alana Morales says...
Eight years ago in Sidney, we first noticed a young American swimmer race with Australia's number 1 swimmer, Ian Thorpe. Four years later, everyone remembered who he was in Athens: he was Micahel Phelps. He then beat Thorpe in a few races. Promising as his talent was then as a nineteen year old, we knew that he had a promising future ahead in Beijing. Now look at what we have witnessed in the past eight days: history being re-written. He has won more Olympic medals then any other person in one Olympic games. That is extrodinary. We have witnessed over the past eight years, a talent that has grown and developed and had now tranformed into a living legend. At only 23, he is, without a doubt, the best Olympian in histroy and goes up there with the other greats of our time.
Posted 13:30 17th August 2008
Steve Brown says...
All those people complaining that Phelps is not the greatest because he can chose from so many events are pretty shallow. It doesn't matter how many events an athelete can enter, he still had to win them and it's the achievement that counts. Whether its Owens, Lewis, Zatopek Spitz, Korbet or Redgrave their place in Olympic history is down to their acheivements. Anyway did anyone complain about Spitz winning seven golds?
Posted 12:58 17th August 2008
Richard Cowley says...
What Michael Phelps achieved is remarkable taking nothing away from that. I was recently reading some background information about him and he competed in his first olympics at 15 years of age finishing 5th in his race, he then went on to break his first WR at the age of 15 which is a great achievement. I think before we call him the greatest olympian of all time we will need to give him time as well because he is 23 now and will be 27 at the next olympics and 31 at the one after so he has plenty of opportunitys to add to his gold tally. If he does what he did in this olympics in the next 2 then I think he could definatley be right up there (not that he is not already of course) but sometimes you need to look at the bigger picture, look at Steve redgrave, 5 olympics and 5 golds that is an amazing record. I also think it is hard to judge who is the best because swimmers and athletes also have alot more opportunitys to win more golds than say a boxer or a wrestler.
Posted 11:15 17th August 2008
Margaret Horsfield says...
all praise to michael phelps who does what our ( sportsmen and women ) do not do practice again and practice again and again if you want it you have to go for it. but my all time olympian is jesse owens because of the nazis
Posted 12:36 16th August 2008
Lauren D says...
Michael Phelps: Freak of Nature, Phenomenal, Champion, Greatest Olympiad? When the dust settles on his career, any of those terms are sure to be used to describe Phelps, but which one will be best fitting is still yet to be determined. In my mind there will never be one Olympiad that stands alone above the rest. Each era has its Stars, for me it will be Phelps, because regardless of what he could do come 2012, the medals he¿s already won, the hard work put in, the records broken, have already shown the dominance he has over his sport. A lot of people want to see how much further he can go, if he can recreate the same thing in London, people who feel the need for more races to prove he is a great Olympian, to this I say¿ Huh? The guy is in 17 races in nine days alone, not to mention the warm ups and downs following each race. Many swimmers won¿t even qualify for that many Olympic events in a career. Spitz did what he did in 13 races, he competes in more events then anyone in his sport, and not only that he dominates each one, qualifying at the top of almost every event. Every athlete has a limit, a point where it can do no more, every athlete reaches that point where they have to ask themselves what more can I do, but with Phelps you find yourself asking what can¿t he do. I don¿t imagine him taking on such a schedule again, but I don¿t see him just fading away. It¿s not about the amount of Medals, though the number is mind boggling, it¿s the form he¿s done it in. Sure he was born with a great swimmers body, but to build on to that and maintain it, to still be hungry for every medal, is something few could do. It¿s the thing that will put him in a league of his own in many minds, because we are in the modern era, where the fame, money can distract even the great, not to mention the pressure, because we now expect him to win every race, and in WR fashion none the less but he hasn¿t faltered, not yet at least.
Posted 12:28 16th August 2008
Sam Mcelroy says...
What Phelps has achieved in terms of the number of events won is phenomenal, and ranks him as the greatest olympic swimmer of all time. However, because of the very opposing natures of the other sports that make up the Olympics, greatness can not be measured in terms of the number of medals won. A rower, for example, can not enter more than two events, for logistical reasons. What Sir Steven Redgrave achieved, winning five golds in five consecutive Olympics, in THE extreme strength/endurance sport (and don't forget that he did it with diabetes and colitis), is arguably the greatest sporting and Olympic achievement of all time, though I am sure he and Phelps would be happy to share the mantle and agree that greatness simply IS, and comparisons become futile after a certain point of total dominance. Thank you, Phelps, for embodying all that humanity is capable of and allowing us to forget the mediocrity of the modern world for a while, where celebrity is all too often unmerited... Keep scaling Mount Olympus, so graciously. You own it.
Posted 22:11 15th August 2008
Richard Clarke says...
Phelps is simply amazing! Are we jealous as a nation? Of course we are! Not jealous of his achievements but annoyed as heck that he wasn't born over here! Forget the guys nationality, I am in awe at how good he is. I swam competitively in my younger days and could only dream of just going to the Olympics, something that most can never come close to. This guy has just proved how good he is; not how bad everyone else is! His physical make up is perfect for swimming and he has used his gift well. You shoud be proud to be able to say "I saw him", I know I am and tell my kids that this is history in the making.
Posted 17:25 14th August 2008
Dawn Liston says...
Although I am gazing in awe at Michael Phelps achievement, I think it's a bit short sighted to call him the best Olympiad ever. First one has to take into account that he can devote himself to training full time through sponsorship and get the best of care to achieve his goals, and this could never be the case in times gone past with the likes of Jesse Owens. I think what makes Micheal Phelps wonderful is his sheer ability to dominate, but the same could also be said of Carl Lewis, Michael Johnson or Vitaly Scherbo. Swimming gets huge press as it dominates the first week of the Olympics, but what about those individuals like Paula Radcliffe or Sonya O'Sullivan who were at the top of their disciplines for a number of years. Also, isn't there someone appearing in the lesser disciplines this year who is at their 4th Olympics, now that is truely great. So all in all, I think that if someone is at the pinacle of their performance and their sport for a period of time and truely dominates, then it is fair to call them great, but they are also standing on the shoulders of others
Posted 17:10 14th August 2008
Gareth Callow says...
I think Phelps is a tribute to sport. He is by far the best but still has the hunger to keep on winning! Something I think seems to be lacking of 'some' of the GB athletes. Some comments like I read earlier from one of our Olympic swimmers saying "But I am not putting any pressure on myself to win or to get a medal. It doesn't really matter that much, I just want to enjoy myself." really annoy me as if you are going to think like that, whats the point of turning up?? It's typical British mentality thinking that being there is all that counts. This shows with out misrable haul of medals so far. For me, you go there believing that anything is possible!
Posted 17:02 14th August 2008
Dan Bridgeman says...
Great effort, but there is no way anyone can say he is the 'Best' olympian ever, if they think it then they are dillusional, every 4 years every record is broken, does nobody try at any other event ? i think they must be putting something in the water
Posted 16:57 14th August 2008
David Watts says...
I personally think it is too early to judge him as the greatest olympian... When he has retired and gained all of his medals we can look at how he has dealt with all the challenges he has faced. We can then analyze how he has competed against not only his competitors but also against the timed results he puts in. That way we can judge how great this gentleman can surely become. It's not about how many races you win or medals you have, its the career domination over the sport people will remember you for....
Posted 13:56 14th August 2008
Shayne Wilson says...
Phelps' achievement is nothing short of incredible. The fact that other swimmers are preparing for 4 years or more for their specialist event yet he can surpass all their challenges. Not only that he will swim thousands more meters throughout the week than any other competitor as he warms up with a 2000m swim and cools down over 1000m for each and every race!!!That totals over 51000m swum during race week, more than most of our swimmers cover during a training week. He is without doubt the greatest athlete ever.
Posted 11:13 14th August 2008
Gareth Leyshon says...
i think michael phelps is the best ever swimmer of all time but for olympian i don't know, its much easier to win alot of gold medals in swimming than it is for other sports like boxing or cycling so its not fair in that respect. And for that mee me me guy there was a time when we would put alot of money into sport and we would be you all the time but we don't anymore, and don't slag off our football team. All your sports are crap thats why they have never left your country cos no one wants to play them. Baseball grownup version of rounders, American football boring as hell and they all take roids. Why don't you learn a good sport like rugby atleast you wont have to wear pads.
Posted 10:57 14th August 2008
Jon Jardine says...
Michael Phelps is phenominal. And humble with it, a truely inspiring champion. But to call him the greatest olympian of all time is a little unfair on other olympians. Carl Lewis, Jesse Owens, Paul Elvstrom, Steven Redgrave, Mathew Pinsent... The list goes on of greats, who either continued winning (Steve Redgrave 5 golds from 5 olympics) or won under extreme circumstances (Jesse Owens in front of Nazi Germany).
Posted 10:22 14th August 2008
Phil Brown says...
Statistically, Phelps is the greatest Olympian. But in the true spirit of the Olympics, the greatest javelin thrower, best gymnast ever, best so and so will never get that chance at such a haul simply because some sports have only one event per Olympics. So, sports like swimming, track and field etc, will always produce the greatest ever Olympian in most peoples eyes- more opportunities to medal. That is already a skewed result. I think the relay events should not be considered as an individual achievement as well. It is a group result. I may be taking too rigid a view but hey, it should be faster, higher, better , stronger for all. Those NASA researched speedos have helped to obliterate too many swimming records, but I think london 2012 will really show if there was something significantly different going on in the Beijing swimming events. When 5 out of 8 competitors all break a swimming record in a final, something special is going on. But Kudos to Phelps, regardless of his single minded devotion to swimming, to be part of 5 gold medals with world records each is something that should be cherished.
Posted 09:56 14th August 2008
Brian Cook says...
swimmers have a great advantage in that over the same distance they can do it with arms level, arms over their head, sideways and also backwards. whereas the poor athlete can only race once over that distance
Posted 09:41 14th August 2008
Tom Smith says...
what an acheivement from Michael phelps. He is a a freak of nature I think. The amount of time he is underwater after a turn or dive is phenomanal
Posted 09:10 14th August 2008
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