Michael Phelps-Greatest Athlete of All Time?

Is Eric Heiden the greatest athlete of all time?

 

Good point..he's incredibly versatile...but I think the oldest sport must have been running.

 

To me, the list begins and ends with Vincent Bo Jackson.

But, that's just me.

 

But we swim in our mother's placentas

 

Hey -- that what I was going to say!

 

Left out running and jumping.

 

Ewwwwwwwww.

You were in your mother's placenta?

 

Boxing would have to be one of the oldest sports too. Man's first weapon was the fist.

 

Why isn't Biondi in the argument. His 1988 Olympic year is comparable to Spitz's or Phelps' and moreover he was part of two or three NCAA Water Polo national championship teams at Berkeley and some of the toughest SOBs I know played water polo. I can say that Biondi doesn't have the overall depth as a swimmer that Phelps did since he was more of a sprint specialist, but I add in his water polo credentials as well.

 

Frankly, I thought it was silly enough that it wasn't worth more than "um...no"

That and these debates give me a headache.

 

I think mastering the various strokes and kicks required in swimming matches up with hitting, catching or throwing a ball. In fact, I'd argue that a butterfly stroke is more difficult than any of those.
I'm not advocating Phelps for greatest athlete - wasn't that what the decathlon was supposed to determine? - but I think a lot of the comments have been fairly myopically pointed toward traditional "American" sports.

Not to get all political, but Americans would find the world a far easier place in which to co-habitate if they were more accepting of things beyond their borders

 

I respectfully don't agree with that POV, not in the least.