READ TODAY'S STORIES AND E-EDITION SUBSCRIBE |  CONTACT US |  SIGN IN
Sports Extra!



SPORTS EXTRA BLOGS

FOR THE RECORD
LOCAL PROS

ALL SPORTS

PHOTOS & VIDEOS

OUTDOORS

FIND A STORY

EMAIL ALERTS

SOCIAL MEDIA

RSS FEEDS

CONTACT US
BUY PHOTOS & PAGES

ADVERTISE ON SPORTS EXTRA


Print story only Print story with comments Email Twitter Facebook Pinterest
Eight is not Enough
Published: 8/18/2008 9:37 AM
Last Modified: 8/18/2008 9:37 AM

Michael Phelps is almost sure to come back in four years and add to his medal total.
Thus, it is safe to say he willl remain the most-decorated in Olympian in history.
There is some debate, among sports historians, whether he is the greatest Olympian of all-time.
I'd fall on the side of Phelps being the greatest.
However, there are plenty of worthy candidates.
The fact that he won 15 golds and 16 medals in 16 attempts over two Olympics is pretty convincing for me.
Yet, one has to wonder about Olympians in sports that don't give you that many chances
For instance, Oklahoma State wrestling coach John Smith went to two Olympics. He had chances for two gold medals and won two gold medals.
In other words, he was perfect in his two Olympics. If given the chance to win eight medals in an Olympics (maybe breaking wrestling into various skills like single-leg takedowns, double-leg takedown, etc.) perhaps Smith would have won eight.
So, trying to compare sports is impossible.
Let's just say Phelps' record haul of gold medals looks pretty safe to me for years to come.



Reader Comments 5 Total
deejay, claremore (5 years ago)
Phelps is a great Olympian but I'll take Carl Lewis and some of the track and field stars any day. Wasn't that the original Olympic sport? How did all the other trash get in?
deejay, claremore (5 years ago)
And many Oklahomans would vote for Jim Thorpe as the greatest Olympian of all time.
Tom (5 years ago)
No problem with saying Phelps is greatest Olympic swimmer of all time. Isn't that enough? To determine "greatest ever" of anything shouldn't we look at some kind of "difficulty of doing" criterion? Suppose beach volleyballers had eekd out wins for four consecutive Olympics (never been done). Should they be considered as GREATEST OLYMPIANS OF ALL TIME!! Of course not. I think consideration should also be given to ability to compete at medal level in multiple activity sports. Thorpe could do this. Laughingly (I thought) someone held up Michael Jordan as an example of GREATEST ATHLETE EVER because of multi-sport competition. Obviously, they never actually saw him attempt baseball or golf. Poker is a game, not a sport.
deejay, claremore (5 years ago)
I would rate Carl Lewis and Jim Thorpe--and Michael Johnson--over Michael Phelps as great Olymnpians because I rate track and field over swimming as an Olympic sport. Way over.
HeadSteal (4 years ago)
While I'd certainly vote for Smith, because I'm a wrestling fan, it seems that everybody has forgotten about the decathlon participants (decathletes, I think?). Is that still an Olympic sport or is it just the individual track and field events?

It's certainly a subjective argument. No doubt Phelps is a great athlete and, by far, the greatest swimmer, but the hype has gotten to the people saying he's the greatest athlete ever. I don't think a winner could be declared - maybe just a top 10 or 20 list.
5 comments displayed


To post comments on tulsaworld.com, you must be an active Tulsa World print or digital subscriber and signed into your account.


Klein's Korner

Tulsa World senior sports columnist John Klein is in his fourth decade of covering sports. He started his newspaper career at The Daily Ardmoreite in 1977 and moved to the Tulsa World in 1978. He served 10 years as sports editor for the Tulsa World before being named to his current position in 2005. He also spent five years as the Southwest Conference beat writer for the Houston Post. He has won many writing awards and is a former Oklahoma Sports Writer of the Year.

Follow John Klein on Twitter

Subscribe to this blog



Archive

 
John Klein's Blog Archive:

2/2013  1/2013  12/2012  11/2012  10/2012  9/2012  
8/2012  7/2012  6/2012  5/2012  4/2012  3/2012  
2/2012  1/2012  12/2011  11/2011  10/2011  9/2011  
8/2011  7/2011  6/2011  5/2011  4/2011  3/2011  
2/2011  1/2011  12/2010  11/2010  10/2010  9/2010  
8/2010  7/2010  6/2010  5/2010  4/2010  3/2010  
2/2010  1/2010  12/2009  11/2009  10/2009  9/2009  
8/2009  7/2009  6/2009  5/2009  4/2009  3/2009  
2/2009  1/2009  12/2008  11/2008  10/2008  9/2008  
8/2008  7/2008  6/2008  5/2008  4/2008  3/2008  
2/2008  1/2008  12/2007  11/2007  10/2007  9/2007  
8/2007  7/2007  6/2007  5/2007  4/2007  3/2007  
2/2007  1/2007  12/2006  11/2006  10/2006  9/2006  
8/2006  





Home | Contact Us | Search | Subscribe | Customer Service | About | Advertise
Copyright © 2013, World Publishing Co. All rights reserved.