tazinib1 Posted August 13, 2008 Share Posted August 13, 2008 (edited) Lets not get ahead of ourselves here. Sure Michael Phelps is a freak of nature and has more gold than Mr.T has around his neck. But cmon...greatest of all time? Are we forgetting about Olympic greats such as: Ed Moses -- My personal favorite. Carl Lewis -- Aside from his GHEYness, NTTAWWT, he dominated track and field. and the best of all: Jesse Owens -- He won 4 gold medals in Berlin, in 1936, in Aryan Nation, in front of HITLER, as a black man. Sorry Phelps, but when all is said and done and you have pushed your gold medal tally beyond reach in 2012, Owens will still be the greatest of all time. But being second fiddle to Jesse is not such a bad thing. Edited August 13, 2008 by tazinib1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big John Posted August 13, 2008 Share Posted August 13, 2008 Jim Thorpe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tazinib1 Posted August 13, 2008 Author Share Posted August 13, 2008 Jim Thorpe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Double Agent Posted August 13, 2008 Share Posted August 13, 2008 Are we looking at this subjectively or objectively? I mean, if my son were an Olympian he would be my all time favorite. But if we're being objective, Phelps is the greatest. He's got the medals to prove it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chargerz Posted August 13, 2008 Share Posted August 13, 2008 Lets not get ahead of ourselves here. Sure Michael Phelps is a freak of nature and has more gold than Mr.T has around his neck. But cmon...greatest of all time? Are we forgetting about Olympic greats such as: Ed Moses -- My personal favorite. Carl Lewis -- Aside from his GHEYness, NTTAWWT, he dominated track and field. and the best of all: Jesse Owens -- He won 4 gold medals in Berlin, in 1936, in Aryan Nation, in front of HITLER, as a black man. Sorry Phelps, but when all is said and done and you have pushed your gold medal tally beyond reach in 2012, Owens will still be the greatest of all time. But being second fiddle to Jesse is not such a bad thing. I agree with all this, but if Phelps comes back in 4 years and wins a ton more golds I'd have to give him the nod then as the greatest Olympian. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tazinib1 Posted August 13, 2008 Author Share Posted August 13, 2008 I'm giving the nod to Jesse Owens because of the circumstances he was faced while competing. Just because you have a ton of gold medals, doesn't make you the greatest OLYMPIAN of all-time. I guess my criteria for the greatest is alittle different than others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cameltosis Posted August 13, 2008 Share Posted August 13, 2008 I'm giving the nod to Jesse Owens because of the circumstances he was faced while competing In that case I vote Jamaican bobsled team. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Sacrebleu Posted August 13, 2008 Share Posted August 13, 2008 Fact of the matter is that many swimmers are competent in different lenghts and swimming styles, which to me means that if you are a superlative swimmer you have a chance at multiple medals. Not so with many other sports, so really the comparison is unfair. Runners for example can at MOST be competitive in 2 distances. Seeing Phelps dominate by THAT much is really pretty incredible, but remember Spitz did it as well, it's not like this is unchartered territory. Thorpe definitely has my vote, despite his cheating Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muck Posted August 13, 2008 Share Posted August 13, 2008 The criteria most definitely CANNOT be the most gold cuz some athletes compete in areas that only offer one or a few opportunities per Olympic session. How about making it... most Olympics having won medals? Maybe: Al Oerter, Discus -- four consecutive gold medals 1956 - 1968; nearly made the Olympic team in 1980 when he was 43 and tossed an unofficial throw when filming a TV segment in 1980 that would have been a still-standing world record Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big John Posted August 13, 2008 Share Posted August 13, 2008 nearly made the Olympic team in 1980 when he was 43 There was no American team in the 1980 summer Olympics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Sacrebleu Posted August 13, 2008 Share Posted August 13, 2008 my great uncle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gonkis Posted August 13, 2008 Share Posted August 13, 2008 my great uncle Go Blue. The greatest Olympians are those that were Wolverines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geeteebee Posted August 13, 2008 Share Posted August 13, 2008 There was no American team in the 1980 summer Olympics. but there was a US olympic team. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wildcat2334 Posted August 13, 2008 Share Posted August 13, 2008 (edited) gretaest Olympian?? fine, I have no problem with people annointing Phelps - the way he is piling up medals. Personally, I am WAY more impressed by Carl Lewis and Jim Thorpe - they were competing against the best athletes in the world, . which makes their feats more impressive swimmers?? negative, the best athletes are not in the water- it is a sport that requires tremendous endurance, and stamina it is more of a specialized skills in my book- not the same as track and field 100m,200m, 400m, long jump, decathlon - in the Olympics these are the best athletes, not swimmers. Edited August 13, 2008 by wildcat2334 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cre8tiff Posted August 13, 2008 Share Posted August 13, 2008 The chick that did the springboard exercise with a severly sprained ankle and had to stick the landing should be in the list. I understand all the others, but in shear guts, that one was major. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darin3 Posted August 13, 2008 Share Posted August 13, 2008 The chick that did the springboard exercise with a severly sprained ankle and had to stick the landing should be in the list. I understand all the others, but in shear guts, that one was major. Kerri Strug. And while Phelps' achievements are worthy of a ton of praise, all these "Olympic" and "World" records being beat like nobody's business is probably partially due to the technological advancements in swimwear. I jest not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bengal Mania Posted August 13, 2008 Share Posted August 13, 2008 (edited) The dude is crushing everyone at every distance with every stroke. In many cases......an hour after he won his last gold. OK, you want to argue he is not THEE greatest, fine. I don't know why people get bent out of shape about that anyway (Emmit Smith/Barry Sanders/Jim Brown, Tiger Woods/JackNicholaus, Akili Smith/David Klinger). But if any of you think he isn't "among" the greatest of all time, you're a bozo. Edited August 13, 2008 by Bengal Mania Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big John Posted August 13, 2008 Share Posted August 13, 2008 The dude is crushing everyone at every distance with every stroke. In many cases......an hour after he won his last gold. OK, you want to argue he is not THEE greatest, fine. I don't know why people get bent out of shape about that anyway (Emmit Smith/Barry Sanders/Jim Brown, Tiger Woods/JackNicholaus, Akili Smith/David Klinger). But if any of you think he isn't "among" the greatest of all time, you're a bozo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tazinib1 Posted August 13, 2008 Author Share Posted August 13, 2008 (edited) whoops Edited August 13, 2008 by tazinib1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimmy Neutron Posted August 13, 2008 Share Posted August 13, 2008 Jesse Owens -- He won 4 gold medals in Berlin, in 1936, in Aryan Nation, in front of HITLER, as a black man. Gets my vote for historical significance. Owens was simply awesome under tremendous pressure. Sticking it to old Adolph was pretty damn cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justin Posted August 13, 2008 Share Posted August 13, 2008 I agree with all this, but if Phelps comes back in 4 years and wins a ton more golds I'd have to give him the nod then as the greatest Olympian. Under that theory, Bonds would have to be considered the greatest HR hitter in the history of our country. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justin Posted August 13, 2008 Share Posted August 13, 2008 He's the greatest. After all, he is a hugh Ravens fan! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chargerz Posted August 13, 2008 Share Posted August 13, 2008 (edited) Under that theory, Bonds would have to be considered the greatest HR hitter in the history of our country. I'm not sure I understand your point. Edited August 14, 2008 by Chargerz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtomicCEO Posted August 13, 2008 Share Posted August 13, 2008 Big fan of Carl Lewis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Double Agent Posted August 14, 2008 Share Posted August 14, 2008 Under that theory, Bonds would have to be considered the greatest HR hitter in the history of our country. Well, yes. He does hold the record, no? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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