Greatest Olympian of All Time: Phelps Wins 10th Career Gold

BEIJING — Michael Phelps has become the winningest Olympic athlete ever, earning his fourth gold medal of the Beijing Games with a world record in the 200-meter butterfly. The American touched in 1 minute, 52.03 seconds, breaking his old mark of 1:52.09 set at last year's world championships in Australia.

It was Phelps' 10th career gold medal, breaking a tie with Mark Spitz, Carl Lewis and two others for most golds. He is 4-for-4 so far, setting world records in each of his events.

Laszlo Cseh of Hungary took the silver in 1:52.70. Takeshi Matsuda of Japan got the bronze in 1:52.97.

Comments

[ZsaZsa]

What do they mean "breaking a tie with Mark Spitz, Carl Lewis, and two others?" I know no one's ever heard of them, but it would it kill the AP to mention Paavo Nurmi and Larissa Latynina by name? If Phelps isn't the greatest Olympian of all time, one of those two certainly is.

[steamboat]

Al Oerter-----4 gold medals in 4 different olympics in track & field in the discus in this modern era.....Un­believable­. So where is his respect?

[GreenT2]

I have great respect for Phelps's athleticism and hard work, but I think it's a bit much to declare him the greatest Olympian of all time based on a quantitative measure. Kind of shallow, like much of HuffPo's non-politics news coverage.

How about adversity factors? Jessie Owens, anyone?

[jsinclair]

I agree. He's great. That's enough, without demeaning others who have competed in the past--or, especially, who excelled in other sports.

It makes Americans look gauche and arrogant (and a bit dumb) to insist he's "the Greatest of All Time".

[Irons]

Today's top athletes are way better than than those old fashioned losers in the past Olympics

[steamboat]

and the stop-watch proves it.

[YouDisgustMe]

not really...t­hey just train more and use more performanc­e-enhancin­g substances­...thats all

[daddydamon]

So, by your logic, the athletes in about 70 years will make Phelps look like an old fashioned loser. So, by your logic, he's not the greatest of all time. He's a loser.

[nighthawk808]

Goodbye Jesse Owens, hello ridiculously overblown load of media hype. No one will remember Michael Phelps twenty years from now, but people still know what Owens did way back in 1936.

Is Phelps undeniably the best athlete of the 2008 Games? Yes. Is the the best Olympian ever? Not even close.

[jpcline004]

Yeah no one will remember the guy with the most gold medals....­riiiiiiiig­ht

[BlueZoo]

Over 35 years later, we all still remember who Mark Spitz is, even if he's an old curmudgeon right now. Michael Phelps is making history. Get over it.

[BlueZoo]

Sorry jpc...I wasn't responding to you, with whom I agree totally. I got my "Reply" click screwed up!

[steamboat]

Athletes today are so much better that Jesse Owens would NOT make it today to the semi-finals of the 100 and 200 meter runs.

[bobdevo]

Well, since he's dead, you're probably right. Keep in mind, however, Owens ran a 9.4 hundred at Cleveland East Tech HS on a cinder track without starting blocks. Given toaday's equipment and training, I will guarantee Owens would make the friggin' finals.

[awcbuddy8]

Because nobody remembers Jesse Owens...

[joshrox]

For all your hard work Michael, you deserve congratulations, but, give me Jesse Owens who snubbed his nose at Hitler, in other words, Hitler, FU*K YOU, now that is my kind of hero.

[steamboat]

All world-class athletes have high-diet regiments due to their extensive training schedules. So why this cheap-shot of Phelps?

[dameofdismay]

I love M.P., but I don't think it's fair to call him "greatest Olympian" -- most decorated Olympian, yes -- but I don't think you can measure Olympic greatness just by the number of gold medals. Swimming and Track and Field offer athletes the opportunity to medal several times...

[Mason]

I doubt if the finalists in the various track competitions would do very well in the finals of the free form figure-skating competition at the winter olympics although the viewing audience might get a few chuckles watching it, if the competitors dressed up as clowns.

Hmnnnn -- Michael Phelps attempting a triple axel. Now that would be interesting.

BTW, let's not leave women athletes out of this discussion because there have been and are some great ones.

[lvogt]

To take nothing away from Phelps and the swim team tremendous feat but I can't help but compare the amazing number of skills required of the gymnasts as compared to any other sport.

[TheBlackCat]

I think you can't really quantify which sport is most difficult, because they are so different. Swimming uses all the muscles, it requires TOTAL body fitness (as opposed to say, upper body strengh) and unbelievable stamina. Football requires coordination, agility, and massive strength. Etc etc

Visually, though, I also find gymnastics the most impressive. Especially considering the rates of eating disorders with competitive gymnasts is through the roof! How some of those girls can do what they do while being malnourished is beyond me!!

I agree with others that Michael Phelps is the most DECORATED Olympian as opposed to necessarily "the best." But as you say, that doesn't mean he didn't accomplish something tremendous!

[Irons]

If Phelps gets seven golds rather than eight, he's a big fat failure.

[jsinclair]

I like the guy, and admire his achievements. But I'm almost hoping he doesn't get 8 just to stop the ridiculous and embarrassing hype.

[steamboat]

If he gets 8 gold medals, then its hype well-deserved.

[ramper]

Although I picked Jim Thorpe as the greatest ever I am still sifting through my ancient Greek stone tablets to try to locate someone better. It may take a few days.

[Mason]

Don't leave out Pharaoh Tuthmoses IV of Egypt's fabled Eighteenth Dynasty. He could accurately shoot a bow and arrow while driving a horse drawn chariot at top speed over rough terrain.

[Mason]

I forgot to mention that Thutmoses IV was the greatest warrior pharaoh of Ancient Egypt and way better than the supposedly great Ramses who was far greater at producing offspring at 92 kids. He and Wilt Chamberlain could have a serious competition in that category, although I doubt Ramses would know what to do with a basketball except stab it with his sword.

Almost forgot, but Thutmoses's feet weren't nailed to the floor of the chariot.so he''s gotta get top honors in the maintainin­g-balance-­while-kill­ing-enemie­s-with-a-b­ow-and-arr­ow-from-a-­bouncing-c­hariot competition.

[Furby]

Was Hercules an olympian?

[Mason]

No, he was an American and his name was Steve Reeves and he looked great in sandals and a kilt. And, of course he was mighty handy with his sword.

[alieninvader]

In the same way that someone from the Island of Lesbos is a...Greek.

[bob8788]

what will happen when someone gets 12 metals , will he/she then be the greatest in the world, greatest ever? GIVE ME A BREAK

[BlueZoo]

When he/she wins 12 medals, he/she will be the greatest in their respective sports. It's just that simple. If you ask ten people who the "greatest Olympian" is, you'll probably get ten different answers. It's a subjective question which cannot be answered.

[alieninvader]

I used to live in New York, where my closest friends were immigrants from Scandinavia and the Middle East. I remember watching the Olympics with them and feeling a sense of patriotism that I rarely feel in my every day life. It's not about hating the rest of the world, it's about having a sense of community with your fellow country people...w­ithout war.

[alieninvader]

In other words, people...r­elax. The talk of the "best ever" is at least as old as me...remem­ber Muhammad Ali?

[Amennyc]

Greatest athlete? hardly. Amazing swimmer yes and fast. But get him on the balance beam, floor excercices with tumble and jumps. Phelps is good, he ain't no Nadia Comenici (sp?).

[Mason]

Well, I believe that I deserve serious consideration as the best athlete ever because I was selected captain of my second-grade kickball team.

Geez Louise, folks. Why argue about who was the best ever at anything? It may be fun, but it's pointless because there is no way to definitively know the answer without a time machine and we ain't there, although somebody seems to be working on an invisible car, which seems like a pretty stupid idea because where would you park it and how would you find it if you forgot where you parked it?

[Mantle]

I agree. What irks me is -- they have 9 competitions all about swimming. All them have to do something about speed -- once you are good at one, it likely that you will be good at the rest. The same is true with running. Unless Phelps gets on diving board, synchronized swiming ..etc. it is difficult for me to say he is the greatest, just because he is able to swim faster than anyone. So, let's go easy on the adjectives.

[TMAN]

once you are good at one, it likely that you will be good at the rest.

You could'nt be more wrong if you tried. Butterfly stroke and back stroke are two distinct forms, disciplines of "swimming" and require development of vastly different muscle groups as do the free and breast strokes. Not to mention strategy and tactics. Your generalization about "all of them have to do something about speed, etc" is nonesense. That same criteria can be applied to your disclaimer, "Unless Phelps gets on diving board, etc" ...as in all of them have to do something about falling!

Lets honor people achieving great accomplishments and put away the cynicism.

[flatus]

Gee, a country with a relatively large population, moderate climate, and more pools per square mile than any other wins swimming events. What a surprise!

If we excel in it then it will get mucho coverage. Otherwise, not so much.

[barriosbabe]

Upper middle class sport. BTW, he went to a really snobby pool club as a kid - when are we going to see inner city kids excelling at something like competitve swimming? Good fookin luck. The deck is stacked!

[Mason]

At least the African American swimmer who swam the third leg of the men's 400 meter freestyle relay ought to finally end the racist nonsense that African Americans can't compete with Caucasians in swimming because they can't float.

[steamboat]

You are right, just as when Brett Berry dunk from beyond the free-throw line to win the All-Star dunk contest several years ago should end the stereotype of whites can't jump.

BTW, have you looked at the stereotypes lately:

2007 Super Bowl winning coach----Tony Dungy (Black)

Worlds Heavyweight Champion---Wladimar Klitchko (White)

Golf----Tiger Woods (Everything)

[Irons]

Phelps is an ADHD kid and took meds until he was eleven.

[alieninvader]

So?

[barriosbabe]

All psych meds are horrible.

"Your Drug May Be Your Problem!"

http://www.breggin.com/

===

[MitzMN]

Snobby? His mom is a high school principal. I haven't seen a dad in the picture so I'm assuming she's a single mom.

Geez. You guys are brutal. Cut the poor kid some slack. He's been working hard for over a dozen years. He won, fair and square, and he should be proud and we should be proud!

[TheBlackCat]

She is a single Mom.

[iambusto]

so many haters in one post. i believe the inner city kids are very good at playing basketball. and they are doing well there..mov­e on.

[TheBlackCat]

People who feel unaccomplished in their own lives tend to use anything they can think of to detract from the validity of the accomplishments of others.

I was on sports teams and academic competititve teams in HS and college. To be clear, I was NEVER the top dog, I always only did okay. But of the kids who didn't do well, or the ones who didn't make the teams, there were ALWAYS those who tried to bring down the winners. They were rich, they were suck ups, they were jerks, blah blah blah. It all boiled down to people with very low self esteem who had no apreciation for the sacrifice and dedication it takes to be a champion. The rest of us didn't feel we had to drag down others to feel better about ourselves.

And by the way I swam with a YMCA team that was LOCATED IN AN INNER CITY. There was indeed very few inner city kids on the swim team, it was mostly middle class kids who just trained in an inner city Y because it was the best one in the region. Most inner cities have YMCAs with swim teams, but the youth in the neighborhoods BY THEIR OWN DECISION usually prefer other sports the Y offers.

Lastly, my family could never afford to go skiing, but I love watching Olympic skiing, I don't wallow in jealousy and think because *I* couldn't afford to do it no one else should!

[steamboat]

If he wasn't white there wouldn't be a story about his diet.

[barriosbabe]

He's an idiot who eats white bread - possibly connected to his well-documented alcoholism. I wish his body good luck 40 years from now. I was disgusted at how the programs don't talk about the beauty of swimming or even winning but just this obsession with how many fookin medals. What on earth are we teaching our kids? Americans are so vulgar. I'm embarrassed.

[alieninvader]

You must be fun at dinner parties.

[truthbrigade]

Yes, naturally vulgar; they don’t have to work on it.

[radicalcentrist44]

Go back to your failed career and your mom's basement, loser.

[jpcline004]

If you are embarrassed feel free to leave

[truthbrigade]

I'm not surprised by this respond. Goober Nation rejoice!!