Michael Phelps...best Olympian ever? Overstatement?

Question

Michael Phelps won 8 gold..that's definitely an amazing achievement and he's the best swimmer of his time. But to say he's the best Olympian ever is just exaggerating for me. He owed it to Jason Lezak for the first medley. Without Jason they would have lost to France and woudltn have beat Mark Spitz's record.

I certainly think Mark Spitz is the greater Olympian of the two...see. He won 7 golds and smashed 7 world records in 1972,without the help of the LZR suit and Jason Lezak...just wish that others could have gotten more recognition other than Phelps.

Answer 1

NOOOO ONEE WILL EVER BEAT MICHAEL PHELP'S WORLD RECORDS

EVER

Answer 2

I think it's kind of dumb how they say if you have the most gold medals you are the greatest olympian... i mean he's just the greatest swimmer... other sports like basketball or volleyball you play tons of games and can only get one medal at most per olympics...  so it is impossible for an athlete playing one of those sports to ever beat Phelps's record...  and they may be more talented in their sport then Phelp's is in swimming... like Misty May and Kerri Walsh... in Athens no team scored more then like 15 points on them... and they only ggot one medal... Phelps had a few close races so he isn't as dominate as they were...

so i guess you could say he is the greatest swimmer ever but not olympian...

and c'mon Phelps would crush all Spitz's records with or without the LZR suit... and i like that he did the team stuff cause it allows those other athletes to get gold as well. but i don't think it's fair to call him the greatest olympian or athlete

and Lezak did do amazing in that relay... he also did extremely well in the meadly.

Answer 3

And what did Spitz do to promote the sport after his seven gold? Even his old coach and teammates were disgusted with him after he accomplished that feat. And just like Phelps Spitz owed a lot to his three relay teams.

Answer 4

Lezak did amazing! Phelps did well, but it's so tiring seeing him get all the spotlight.

Answer 5

I think Phelps is definitely amazing. 8 gold medals! omg that's awesome. But i dint think he is the best. People will always stride to beat the world record. And each time that is just going to get harder and harder, so technically people will just keep getting better and better, right?

Answer 6

I think he definitely is a great Olympian. Best ever? Sure, why not? He worked his butt off to get where he is and dominate the competition. I get that he got help during the medleys, but during his part he completely rocked the house...he would have won that part, so I think it's much deserved. After all, if one of his team mates would have had an off day, it could have affected him negatively as well.