If you are going to compare Phelps to other Olympians in other sports, you can't use gold medal count?

Question

In swimming there are 16 gold medals available. No other Olympic sport has that many gold medals available. Phelps is the greatest swimmer of all time because all the great swimmers in history had the same chance of winning as many golds as Phelps in Olympic swimming, but none were as good as Phelps.

But it is quite stupid to use Phelps gold medal count in arguments about who is the greatest olympian. There are many legendary Olympians whose chosen sport didn't present them with more than say 2 or 3 gold medal opportunites. Many others only had a chance to win one gold medal. How the h**l is a Boxer supposed to compete with Phelps gold medal count, when in boxing you have to make your weight class or you will be sent home. Even if a boxer was allowed to compete in many weight classes, there still wouldn't be enough events to win 8 Golds. How the h**l is a Basketball player supposed to compete with Phelps gold medal count, when there is only one Gold medal available in Basketball. Same with many other sports.

I could go and on, but I'm sure you get the point.

Answer 1

I agree, they should use the fact that Michael Phelps has broken 31 records to make their point.  

But I think the reason people are using the gold medal thing is because he has broken a record for the most gold medals ever.  But, either way, Michael Phelps is an amazing athlete.  

Answer 2

Your point is exactly the same as my point.  I often use the example of what if the best olympian turned out to be a marathon runner?  How can the marathon runner win 8 gold medals in a single olympic games?  He can't.

It's hard to compare apples to oragnes but if you had to then I think the protocol for selecting the "greatest olympian of all time" should be longevity/dominance in the sport.  Sir Steve Redgrave (Rowing) won a gold medal in each of the 5 Olympics he competed in....and rowing is an endurance sport of all things!!  While the competition got younger and faster no one over that 20 year span could beat him.  There are only 5 others who have won a gold medal in 5 separate olympics so that really narrows the field of great olympic competitors out of the thousands and thousands of people who were every named to an olympic team over the years.  If Phelps comes back to dominate like this is future olympics then he will join that elite list of 6 names.  

You simply can't distinguish one athlete from another soley based on the fact one has more medals than the next.  NBC is pushing this "greatest olympian of all time" thing simply for ratings.  How many times have you heard from Bob Costas "only 31 more minutes until Phelps hops back in the pool"?  It's ridiculous but that's what they need to do to get the ratings.  I hope NBC plans on compensating him for exposing him like this.  

Listen to Phelps when he's interviewed though.  He's never said "I want to be the greatest olympian of all time".  He's only ever said "I want to be the best swimmer I can".  See the difference?  I respect that.  He's showing respect for the other sports that don't hand out medals like candy from a pez dispensor.

Answer 3

yeah, i know

that's why i don't consider him the best olympian ever. best swimmer ever, yes. not olympian

Answer 4

You are right. It is like comparing apples to oranges. Phelps would not do well in a track and field event, but on that same token say Mary Lou Retton would not do well in a swimming event. Both are great athletes in their own sport but it is two completely different disciplines.

Answer 5

I agree. Michael Phelps is good, but he is getting way too much attention. Even if every sport had the same amount of medals, he doesn't deserve to be compared to olympians from other sports because he'd get owned if he were doing anything else other than swimming.  

Answer 6

I completely agree with you. I think the best way to phrase it is that Phelps is the "most decorated" olympic champion.

I think a great example would be Muhammad Ali, who was a gold medal boxer at the 1960 Olympics in Rome. At the time armatures were the competitors - Ali was 100-5 before he turned pro and arguably one of the greatest athletes of all time across any sport.

Jackie Joyner Kersee is another. She won a handful of medals but most notably 2 were gold medals in the heptathlon. That's 7 events rolled into one medal and she won it twice.

Phelps is phenomenal but its really presumptuous to assume he is the greatest ever because he won the most gold medals.

Answer 7

I do consider him to be the best swimmer ever.  But I think it is unfair to compare him to those in other sports because every sport varies.  They all have their differences.  It's like comparing apples and oranges!  I think it is true that he is not the best Olympian. (But is the best Olympic swimmer.)  I don't think there will ever be an overall best Olympian.... unless of course one person competes in every single sport and dominates at it.