Moon-Crane wrote:More great swimming from Phelps tonight. I'm still not sure i'd rate him as the greatest ever Olympian, but he's certainly the top swimmer. Put his pretender Lochte in his place.
The problem I have with calling Phelps or any swimmer the "Greatest Ever" is that if you're measuring it by medal standards you have to look at all the opportunities a swimmer has to medal over some other sport where they only have one event. Swimmers in particular can complete in up to 8 events in a single Olympics. There are a few other sports that have that advantage (track and field, diving, gymnastics) but I think swimming has the most. A guy like Phelps has the chance to win medals in 7 or 8 events whereas someone involved in say basketball, judo, weightlifting etc. only has a chance to medal once.
Certainly Phelps is an amazing athlete and even though I thought he gave up in a couple of races this time around, he's proven himself a great Olympic Champion. I'm just not sure if he's the Greatest Ever.