Which is the better olympic achievement - Redgrave 5 golds in 5 olympics or Phelps 8 golds in 1 olympics ?

Question

Arguments for Redgrave - Longevity, living like a monk for 20 years. Against - could he have been carried for his last gold in the coxless Fours. If he was still in top shape why did he move from the pairs?

Phelps, For - unique achievement

Against -More opportunites for medals than other sports.

Answer 1

Redgrave. To determine a good player, you check for consitency and number of appearances in Olympics. It's all about appearances at every Olympics and claiming the title. Any athlete can become a one hit wonder and can't repeat ever again. Nonetheless, Phelps made history.

Edit: Well, you have to consider swimming has the most events than any other sports in Olympics. Which is unfair to compare to Redgrave. So I only take into account, Phelps can have 20 or 50 medals, but he's only considered the best swimmer in that Olympics. Then like Redgrave, repeat again at the next Olympics.

Answer 2

Watch Michael Phelps videos at Beijing 2008 Olympic swimming finals below

http://www.freakncool.com

Complete collection of 8 Gold Medals Videos

http://www.freakncool.com

Answer 3

Choco - "Redgrave. To determine a good player, you check for consitency and number of appearances in Olympics. It's all about appearances at every Olympics and claiming the title. Any athlete can become a one hit wonder and can't repeat ever again. Nonetheless, Phelps made history."

You mean, 14 hit wonder? 6 in one Olympics, 8 in another, and set to appear for 2012?

Answer 4

Phelps not only has 8 in one games - he has 14 in 2.

Redgrave was fantastic though, taking gold in 5 consecutive games, and the IOC recognised that achievement.

Answer 5

Redgrave! he was entered for one event only and he did not blow his chance.

And to maintain that kind of fitness for 20years and still beat the worlds best!

Answer 6

I think it's like asking who is the better runner, a sprinter or a marathon runner.

They are two very different things. If you rate longevity then winning gold over 5 Olympics is an amazing feat and if you value the performance of an athlete at their peak and the speeds they can reach that have never been reached before the one Olympics success will mean more.

One thing though, you said that Redgraves achievement might have been lessened because he was in a four person team, well Phelps didn't win all his medals in individual events, he was helped by teammates too - especially in the first team race.

Answer 7

I still think that what Redgrave has achieved far surpasses anyone else.

6 medals in 5 Olympics, 5 of them gold, and the sacrifices and that he was so ill a lot of the time was an astonishing achievement

Answer 8

I Would say Phelps is the better athlete because he is the only person to have achieved 8 golds in one olympic while Redgrave is not the only person to have achieved 5 golds in 5 olympics  

Answer 9

redgrave.....

Answer 10

all the medals were for swimming.

a decathlete winning two golds is, for me, a far greater olympian