Question:

Is Michael Phelps the most overrated athlete ever?

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What's so great about what he has done? He is a freak of nature that looks like he would be a phenomenal swimmer - and he is. This is like being impressed with a 7 foot basketball player that can dunk - he looks like he could dunk!...what's so impressive about it if it's expected?

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  1. He's overrated for a reason, sourpuss.

    But, yeah, I think he is a bit overrated.


  2. You feel exactly how I do - PHELPS IS WAY OVERRATED!...I AM NOT IMPRESSED!

  3. How can you even think that about him? He went 8 for 8 with 7 world records. He is the best olympian ever.  

  4. 14 gold medals in 2 olympics against the world's best.

    He attained this after 12+ years of rigorous training, a passion

    for the sport and a fiery desire to be the best at what he does.

    He DID NOT achieve this because he "looks" like a good

    swimmer.

    Phelps deserves all the accolades.

  5. No he is not overrated.

    Let's put this into perspective.He has now won more golds than any other athlete in Olympic history.

    Carl Lewis,for example,won 9 in his Olympic career,Phelps has won 8 in this Olympics alone.

    I doubt that we will ever see such an achievement again.

  6. No that would be christiano ronaldo

  7. the media attention is over the top, i agree. however that doesnt detract from what he has done. his accomplishments are impressive, and he has done things no one else has ever done. sorry you dont think that deserves attention. he has worked hard for this and has immense dedication to what he does. he deserves the recognition he is getting. after olympics the attention will die down, and his life will return to normal. just because you cannot appreciate what he has done doesnt make it any less impressive.  

  8. No one is impressed by a 7' basketball player who dunks, It's by how many points he scores or championships he wins. Phelps athleticism is in a whole new level no one has ever been.

  9. I think all the hype is totally over the top and I suspect Michael Phelps thinks that as well.

  10. He went against the best in the world 8 times and was shown to be the best each time. There is nothing overrated about him.

  11. Hahahaha. Nothing really. He's not that great, I mean he's built to swim. He looks like a fish/shark. His torso is longer than his legs. Ya...he is a really great swimmer, but I think we should focus on other good swimmers who aren't freaks of nature (Lezak, Lochte, and Coghlin).  

  12. I think that just because you are tall doesn't mean that you will make you a good basketball player. You need more than height. Also I think that yes his body is built for swimming but this man has put in a phenomenal amount of practice time in his life, and we should be proud to say he is from the USA. If you look at the total of gold medals that the USA has you will see that he has helped us gain almost half of them.  China is beating us in gold medals. I think that all of the athletes should be applauded for all of their hard work!!!!!!!

  13. He's a great athlete in his sport of swimming and perhaps the best swimmer, but yes the comparisons to athletes in other sports is probably unfair.  As previously mentioned by others, athletes in other sports have no chance of earning so many medals because swimming is the only sport with so many to offer.  In track for instance, the fastest man at 200m or less will only win 3 medals at best (100m, 200m, and 4x100m).  In swimming, he could win a dozen medals -- 1 for each of the four strokes at the 100 and 200m, the 50m free, the IM relays, and the freestyle relays.

    Will the record that Phelps has set ever been broken?  I don't know, but if it is -- only a future swimmer will have the possibility to potentially break it.

  14. He's good, one of the best ever, but it is easier to win more swimming medals than in any other sport due to the similarity between the races.  Men's 100m freestyle and 100m breaststroke are much more similar to each other than 100m dash and 110m hurdles, or high jump and pole vault.  Yet, swimming awards 34 gold medals whereas athletics awards just 47.  Thus, he isn't quite the best in history.

    It really doesn't matter since no one is really supposed to be competitive when it comes to number of medals won, and it's not Phelps' fault at all since he has a great personality, but the media really has to tune it down and focus on other great athletes competing.

  15. for all of those who say they arent impressed with michael, do you think you can get in a pool and swim the crazy schedule he does and break basically ever record of the event you swim in? i think not. could you also win 8 golds in like a two week span? hes beaten the best which makes him the best.  he isnt overrated he deserves it hes worked hard  harder then youve ever worked for something

  16. yes he is way OVERRATED, its all these armchair american fanboys who keep saying how amazing he is, and how they want to kiss his a**

  17. Athletes are overrated in my opinion, and I mean athletes of any type of sports. They are in the same league as Hollywood stars. I am not saying they are not good in what they are doing. They are, but do their efforts worth more than say a teacher, a farmer or a scientist to deserve millions of $$? No.

  18. He is one of the best Olympians,

    but I think the media is prob over hyping his records, ect.

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