Can you say that Michael Phelps is the greatest Olympian because he has the most

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  1. alexandriaruthk profile image69
    alexandriaruthkposted 11 years ago

    Can you say that Michael Phelps is the greatest Olympian because he has the most number of medals?

    Is number of medals won a good criteria for saying that an Olympian is the greatest or it depends on the sports - how difficult it is and time/era?
    What should be the criteria for the greatest athlete?

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  2. profile image0
    dunja-88posted 11 years ago

    Yes. Most medals=the best athlete. It's not rocket science.

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  3. myccpro234 profile image60
    myccpro234posted 11 years ago

    At the moment, yes he is the greatest Olympian.

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  4. tipstoretireearly profile image79
    tipstoretireearlyposted 11 years ago

    No.  Michael Phelps is certainly a great athlete.  But its easier to earn more medals in a sport like swimming since its possible for an athlete to compete in more events than in a sport like basketball, where only one set of medals is awarded during a single Olympic Games.  I think one needs to look at how dominating an athlete is over his peers, and how many people compete in that particular sport at that time.

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  5. e-five profile image92
    e-fiveposted 11 years ago

    The decathalon is an event that includes 10 different track and field events that include running (long and short distance), throwing, jumping, and vaulting.  Yet the winner of this grueling two-day event gets only one medal.  Many people say the winner of the Olympic decathalon is the "greatest athlete in the world," and why not?  It seems to me it takes much more skill and versatility to win this event than swimming several different lengths and using different swimming strokes.

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  6. Shepherd 48 profile image61
    Shepherd 48posted 11 years ago

    What an impressive feat! Not only the most medals of all time but the majority of them are gold. One thing that stands out to me is the amount of years he's had to continue to train. Having said all that, I think we also have to consider bygone eras. For Jesse Owen to do what he did right in Hitler's face - well that's down right colossal!

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