Soldato
The Greatest Olympian Ever?
- Thread starter Pigeon_Killer
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Freestyle only means front crawl because at the top thats the fastest stroke,
In lower level competition, especially with very young swimmers, you quite often see people swimming backstroke in freestyle events. I even did it myself a couple of times when I was proper young, as I hadn't got the hang of the breathing in front crawl.
In lower level competition, especially with very young swimmers, you quite often see people swimming backstroke in freestyle events. I even did it myself a couple of times when I was proper young, as I hadn't got the hang of the breathing in front crawl.
Soldato
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Well no Freestyle, as the name suggests means you can do whatever you want. It just so happens that the front crawls seems to be the fastest stroke for the top pros but they aren't forced into using that stroke.
But as you correctly say, that then begs the question why have other stroke styles at all, just make them all freestyle.
According to Wikipedia there are 34 individual swimming events, which is far ahead of any other single event in terms of amount of potential medals.
Bah yeah, I forgot his WR wasn't in the Olympics. I honestly thought he had won more than one gold though, he seemed dominant for so long.. So yeah, I'm very shocked at that.
i dont get all this but yeah phelps is gonna win that many blah de blah he can enter loads of events blah de blah
well what about runners? whats stopping them entering 100/200/400/relays/1500/5000/10000/hurdles etc etc
its only like phelps doing all the swimming disciplines
Phelps does far from all the swimming disciplines. The only breaststroke he does is in the medley, and he doesn't swim long distance either.
I do think you need to work out medals as a percentage of possible medals (i.e. events entered) though, to even things out. However I expect Phelps would probably still be up the top of that list.
I do think you need to work out medals as a percentage of possible medals (i.e. events entered) though, to even things out. However I expect Phelps would probably still be up the top of that list.
I think this is too superficial.
With running the sprinters utilize different muscle fibres to the distance runners. Each athlete start with what nature blessed them with and train one or other, or a blend of both, but the compromise is always suited to certain types of event.
I'd guess that if Phelps was put in the swim part of the triathlon he would be soundly beaten, but his swimming events in the pool are sufficiently similar that he can compete in most of them.
There is such a difference between all the swimming disciplnes. Far more than people think. The idea that swimming is just swimming and its all the same is simply wrong.
Being good in Medleys and also in a number of individual events is rare. It would be like a heptathlon champion also being the 100m champion and the javelin champion.
And its not like Phelps is competing in every event either. How many is he in, 7 or so? Out of a possible 34? Yes swimming has a higher number of medal chances for athletes than other sports, but that doesn't change the fat that Phelps has dominated. If it was really that easy for anyone to pick up shed loads of medals then there would be loads of people with similar numbers to Phelps. But as it happens, he has almost double the next highest swimmer in the all time medals list.
Being good in Medleys and also in a number of individual events is rare. It would be like a heptathlon champion also being the 100m champion and the javelin champion.
And its not like Phelps is competing in every event either. How many is he in, 7 or so? Out of a possible 34? Yes swimming has a higher number of medal chances for athletes than other sports, but that doesn't change the fat that Phelps has dominated. If it was really that easy for anyone to pick up shed loads of medals then there would be loads of people with similar numbers to Phelps. But as it happens, he has almost double the next highest swimmer in the all time medals list.
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Caporegime
Well, yeah, it's freestyle in the sense that you can do any stroke you like, but in a Henry Ford'ian way you can win with any stroke so long as it's front crawl.
^it would be different if he was british no doubt
I do get the point though. You can't say that Phelps is 4x better than Chris Hoy simply on the number of medals they have. But there does seem to be feeling in here that Phelps is actually not that good and its just really easy to win lots of medals in swimming. But if you take swimming in isolation, Phelps has completely dominated that sport.
Maybe you should grade people within their own sports against their peers to gauge their performance? Having 10 gold medals when the average for the sport is 9, for example, would be very different to having 10 when the average for the sport is 1.
Associate
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A possible 17
I doubt most athletes compare their medal total with those from other sports anyway. It's mostly just the media and fans who want to argue about "greatest olympian evar!!!".
i thought id posted him , must have clicked away before clicking post the last time i read this thread. only just been reminded now because michael johnson had said the same
phelps and his mutant feet dont even get a look in
Agreed. Though it would be fair to say the majority of people mentioned in this thread would easily make it on to a list of 'The greatest Olympians of all time', I just don't think I could easily rate one above all of the others.
Another names to add would be Larissa Latynina & Alexei Nemov. I wonder what Florence Griffith-Joyner could have gone on to if she hadn't retired after the 1988 Olympics, she was something else.
theres an argument for ainslie but anyone who wins gold in only one discipline cant be compared to winners in multi disciplines tbh
Jim Thorpe
Thorpe's Olympic record of 8413 points in the decathlon stood for nearly two decades. !!! that to me is more of an acheivment than a single discipline he was also extremely talented in other sports not represented in the olympics
Jim Thorpe
Thorpe's Olympic record of 8413 points in the decathlon stood for nearly two decades. !!! that to me is more of an acheivment than a single discipline he was also extremely talented in other sports not represented in the olympics
Yes how strange that she increased her PB's in both the 100 and 200 by large margins and then quit in 88 when out of competition drug testing was coming into force in 89. Retiring at what 29 after increasing her physique and records so dramatically in 88.
How odd
I personally doubt she would have added much to her tally before being caught and stripped of what she had.That's why I think it would have been interesting to see. Never tested positive (she was tested incidentally but not out of competition), people though she got better but too quickly as were suspicious of it. She retired to have family and to persue other things, which she did. She attempted a comeback but had problems with injury. 10 years later she died having never really returned to competition. So maybe she was a drugs cheat (many in the 80s were), maybe she wasn't. We'll never know.
Greatest Olympian of all time based on medals won alone is such a stupid performance measurement.
At best you could call Phelps the Greatest Olympic Swimmer of all time and leave it at that.
To be the Greatest Olympian of all time I think you need to be successful in multiple disciplines. Chances are if you are the best at swimming in one event you are likely to be the best at swimming in all swimming events.
At best you could call Phelps the Greatest Olympic Swimmer of all time and leave it at that.
To be the Greatest Olympian of all time I think you need to be successful in multiple disciplines. Chances are if you are the best at swimming in one event you are likely to be the best at swimming in all swimming events.
I'm sorry but that kind of statement seems pretty stupid.