DAMN PHELPS, THIS IS NOT FAIR

[anointed]

1. He has won more gold medals than 83% of IOC recognized countries
2. If he were a country, he would have been 42nd on the all-time table
3. If he were a country, he'd have been 7th on the all-time swimming log

[mcal]

...did they factor in drug suspicion? If he can do 'bong' at a party to get high and get chicks how much more lucrative gold at the olympics.

[anointed]

...did they factor in drug suspicion? If he can do 'bong' at a party to get high and get chicks how much more lucrative gold at the olympics.

Can u just shut up for once!!!

[mcal]

...see dis wan

[JuJuMan]

impressive no doubt, but when put in perspective
as far as i am concerned 3 swimming medals are the equivalent of 1 track and field medal
an exceptional swimmer has access to more medal oppourtunies than an equally exceptional track athlete

[soothsayer]

come on... there is not as much competitors in swimming as other sports... as JuJuMan mentions there is more opportunities to win in swimming events than athletics.... its like an athlete getting gold in 100m ,200m, 400m ,400m relays, its far more specialized in athletics and far more difficult to compete in multiple events because of the demands of the sport.

[mcal]

impressive no doubt, but when put in perspective
as far as i am concerned 3 swimming medals are the equivalent of 1 track and field medal
an exceptional swimmer has access to more medal oppourtunies than an equally exceptional track athlete

...US no wan hear that. They stack their teams. See at every heat or actual finals they always have atleast 2 USA on line up. Kudos to their efforts at home getting ready.
Right from elementary school to university, even when that's not enough they have recreational leagues and outlets to groom future athletes like boxing come from inner-city gyms, gymnastics.

[folem]

come on... there is not as much competitors in swimming as other sports... as JuJuMan mentions there is more opportunities to win in swimming events than athletics.... its like an athlete getting gold in 100m ,200m, 400m ,400m relays, its far more specialized in athletics and far more difficult to compete in multiple events because of the demands of the sport.

You can add 110m Hurdles, 400m Hurdles, 1600m relays, Long Jump & Triple Jump.

There are more Gold Medals in Athletics than in Swimming.

Swimming is just as difficult as Athletics and with very little time between events.

[phantomjournalist]

come on... there is not as much competitors in swimming as other sports... as JuJuMan mentions there is more opportunities to win in swimming events than athletics.... its like an athlete getting gold in 100m ,200m, 400m ,400m relays, its far more specialized in athletics and far more difficult to compete in multiple events because of the demands of the sport.

You can add 110m Hurdles, 400m Hurdles, 1600m relays, Long Jump & Triple Jump.

There are more Gold Medals in Athletics than in Swimming.

Swimming is just as difficult as Athletics and with very little time between events.

There are more multiple medalists in swimming than any other sport at the Olympics.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mu ... _medalists

[folem]

come on... there is not as much competitors in swimming as other sports... as JuJuMan mentions there is more opportunities to win in swimming events than athletics.... its like an athlete getting gold in 100m ,200m, 400m ,400m relays, its far more specialized in athletics and far more difficult to compete in multiple events because of the demands of the sport.

You can add 110m Hurdles, 400m Hurdles, 1600m relays, Long Jump & Triple Jump.

There are more Gold Medals in Athletics than in Swimming.

Swimming is just as difficult as Athletics and with very little time between events.

There are more multiple medalists in swimming than any other sport at the Olympics.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mu ... _medalists

Around 80 to 55, it looks like on that list. Many track athletes who specialise in Hurdles tend to leave the straight sprints.

[tfco]

come on... there is not as much competitors in swimming as other sports... as JuJuMan mentions there is more opportunities to win in swimming events than athletics.... its like an athlete getting gold in 100m ,200m, 400m ,400m relays, its far more specialized in athletics and far more difficult to compete in multiple events because of the demands of the sport.

well said

Now if T&F had events like 50m (running forward), 50m (backwards), 50m (1 leg), 200m (relay) then we can talk

[Metho scorpion]

come on... there is not as much competitors in swimming as other sports... as JuJuMan mentions there is more opportunities to win in swimming events than athletics.... its like an athlete getting gold in 100m ,200m, 400m ,400m relays, its far more specialized in athletics and far more difficult to compete in multiple events because of the demands of the sport.

well said

Now if T&F had events like 50m (running forward), 50m (backwards), 50m (1 leg), 200m (relay) then we can talk

...what about sack race...

[galoise]

I hope the IOC will not be giving him some kind of special prize for that!!! He should only get something of the sorts from the International swimming federation. My point here is he is not playing on the same field as other athletes! He goes to the Olympics & can challenge for what 3 or 4 different events? Others dont have that opportunity! Football, basketball, cycling, just to name those 3 have just 1 shot. Worse case is actually footballers! In a footballer's life time the max # of Olympics u can play is maybe 3 if u are really good & come from a country that is! Phelps & swimmers on the other hand can take part at the comp from age 16 to when ever they feel like stopping & at each event they challenge for multiple medals! That adds up pretty damn fast!

Put every1 else on a similar playing field & then I will call him the greatest Olympian! For now, he is just the greatest swimmer to me.

[kolinzo]

What are you guys saying? Swimming is just as hard as other sport, period! Phelps is just from another planet that's all. How many event did Carl Lewis participated in? Yeah...okay I thought so! Prior to Phelp breaking the record the previous record was owned a gymnast...so what gives? Nobody is holding Usain Bolt not to compete in many track and field event, nobody is holding Gatlin not to run 10,000meters and other track event if he wants to. Phelp is just a super athlete and one in a million. End of story.

[folem]

I hope the IOC will not be giving him some kind of special prize for that!!! He should only get something of the sorts from the International swimming federation. My point here is he is not playing on the same field as other athletes! He goes to the Olympics & can challenge for what 3 or 4 different events? Others dont have that opportunity! Football, basketball, cycling, just to name those 3 have just 1 shot. Worse case is actually footballers! In a footballer's life time the max # of Olympics u can play is maybe 3 if u are really good & come from a country that is! Phelps & swimmers on the other hand can take part at the comp from age 16 to when ever they feel like stopping & at each event they challenge for multiple medals! That adds up pretty damn fast!

Put every1 else on a similar playing field & then I will call him the greatest Olympian! For now, he is just the greatest swimmer to me.

Vitaly Scherbo,the Russian Gymnast won 6 Gold medals in 1992 & Paavo Numi won 5 Gold medals in Athletics which included team events in Long distance races. Jesse Owens & Carl Lewis each won Gold Medals in 4 events in one Olympic Games. If Carl lewis decided to run in the 4x400m relay in 1984, I'm sure he will get Gold too. All Track sprinters can run 100, 200 and 400. If you add hurdles and a few Jumps with relays you can win more. The shape of the track will not allow for 4x400m Hurdles relay though, but an improvised one for 4x100m Hurdles is possible.

[galoise]

What are you guys saying? Swimming is just as hard as other sport, period! Phelps is just from another planet that's all. How many event did Carl Lewis participated in? Yeah...okay I thought so! Prior to Phelp breaking the record the previous record was owned a gymnast...so what gives? Nobody is holding Usain Bolt not to compete in many track and field event, nobody is holding Gatlin not to run 10,000meters and other track event if he wants to. Phelp is just a super athlete and one in a million. End of story.

But something is stopping Messi from participating at 100 Olympics events! The same thing that is stopping Eto'o, Kobe, volley ball players, cyclist, handball, and tens of others!!! Phelps is a great swimmer BUT I dont think he should be labelled the greatest Olympian!

Others do not have the opportunity to challenge for as many medals as he & some others do! Simply put, they should limit how many events each Olympian can take part at in the course of 1 Olympics finals.

[Tbite]

Here is my take on the issue from any forum

I think I counted 17 different events in swimming.

Whereas some Like Usain Bolt...only has 3 events that he is expected to do.....4 if he pushed himself.....like crazy......5 if he was insane in his head.....and 6 if he was not a human being but from another planet.....and 7 ...if he was just plain stupid.

100m Sprint
200m Sprint
4x100 Relay
Long Jump
400m
4x400

Are some of the possibilities. For an athlete in the Sprint category to do this...the amount of pain they would have to put their body through ....is incomprehensible.

Yes I know that Phelps cannot contest in 17 events, but competing in 5-8 events for an athlete is a LOT & the number of multiple event competitors in swimming just goes to prove that being in these events in swimming is even less impressive than someone like Michael Johnson succeeding in all Sprint categories.

[Man Ataye]

...did they factor in drug suspicion? If he can do 'bong' at a party to get high and get chicks how much more lucrative gold at the olympics.

Can u just shut up for once!!!