... to wish they would stop calling Michael Phelps the 'greatest Olympian of all times'?

[PacificDogwood]

He is great, is achievement is phantastic and I hope he enjoys his record.

But -

does 'the most medals' = the greatest Olympian?

I find the phrase just a lazy journalistic shortcut and it is beginning to grate.

YANBU, 'most decorated' would be better. Swimmers have way more events to compete in than most (all?) other categories of athlete. So more opportunities to rack up medals.

Obviously its still a great achievement though, etc etc ;)

I love Merlene Otty too JumpingthroughHoops

My fav is Maria Mutola

Hiroshi Hoketsu, never heard of him, but I'm not big on horses either!

www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-19073349

I agree, Mutola was a fantastic athelete in her day.

IMHO Lawrence Lemieux is the greatest ever Olympian.

If you have never heard of hiim I'm not suprised.

He was in second place in the sailing in Seoul olympics and on track for a silver medal. But then he saw a capsised boat that had been competing in a different division. The crew were in the water injured.

He abandoned the race to rescue them and then rejoined the race finishing 22nd.

He got the Pierre de Coubertin medal.

YABU.

Most of the people that complain about Michael Phelps not being the 'greatest Olympian' are people that are jealous they are not it themselves (like Ian Thorpe or Michael Johnson).

8 medals in 8 days was a fantastic feat.

Also, I thought he was very humble last night, when Chad Le Clos won gold, he disnt have a cats bum mouth despite how disappointed he must have been.

I think that is it, sashh - it's not about just the haul of medals, it's the whole spirit of the games thing.

I do have a soft spot for Frankie Fredericks though.

LOL @ Frankie Fredericks - DS2 was a toss up between Frankie and Sergei (Bubka) - but I was veto'd on both account!

Bubka, there's one we haven't mentioned. He was phenomenal - I saw him at Crystal Palace in 1992, wow, he didn't break the WR that night, but he kept going long after everyone else had finished, just to see if he could nudge it up a bit more!

pacific I agree completely about the badminton. I used to play and I loved the game, I would try my hardest to win every game I played. Gail emms is right the group stage setup is shit and the pairs involved in throwing their matches should have been disqualified.

Frankie Fredericks is a proper gent. I always used to cheer for him.

I too was very impressed by Phelps's attitude yesterday when beaten by the South African boy. He seems like a lovely bloke. I think no one can deny that he is right up there with the greatest, but obviously it depends on your definition of greatness. So many categories....some would say Phelps, some would say Ali, some would say Regrave. You might even say Derek Redmond after he was so determined to cross the line in the final of the 400m in Barcelona, despite hobbling.

I wish all the shitness about the Olympics would just go away Those badminton players should be chucked out and banned from future competition.

Oh yes, Bubka....what a guy.

YANBU. I have been thinking just the same.
I think there are a lot of medals available in swimming. If Steve Redgrave had the chance to do 100m rowing, 200m rowing, 400m rowing, rowing relay etc, he might have picked up a few more.

I've been watching the weightlifting and it's great to see how many competitors are attempting to break world records even when they've already won gold and don't have to use their final lift.

I just love the whole Olympic thing. It makes me cry. I get caught up in the whole amazing spectacle. I think I love the Commonwealths a little bit more, because it is The Friendly Games, and the little nations don't have to meet such strict qualifying time, and I think it's utterly amazing that all this shit and war and strife in the world can be put to one side for a few weeks, people come together on a level playing field and just be their best. Some know they will never be world class, but it is the taking part that counts.

*Apologies for over use of the word amazing this morning

Yeah, what's your name, Zara Phillips?

today they have been calling him the most decorated olympian.

All the other examples of why people should be 'the greatest olympian' are all subjective.
The medals is the only way to have an out and out 'greatest'.
Although I do agree 'spirit' is more important, but can't be definitively measured.

"Most Decorated" is more factual but does not fit into the soundbite mode of mainstream news/headlines so much... I don't think it is anything big to get worked up over.

I love watching Eric the Eel (I downloaded that race off youtube) when I'm feeling down.

IMO, sportsmanship should be so much more encouraged than winning medals. Someone will always break your record. No one ever forgets acts of extreme bravery, kindness and humility.

But I can barely watch the Olympics because I get so blubbery for the underdog

If you look up the dictionary definition it is a fitting description - adjective "of exceptional talents or achievements; remarkable ⇒ "a great writer"" or noun "(slang) an exceptional person". Sporting ranking, acheivement and ability is measured by winning so he is the greatest olympian of all time.

Was great to see that young South African guy win though. His dad gave the best interview :)

My main issue with hearing Michael Phelps referred to as the "greatest ever Olympian" as opposed to the factually correct "most decorated" is that I don't recall commentators, experts etc falling over themselves to include Larisa Latynina, the previous medal record-holder, in their inevitable "greatest ever" discussions. If "greatest" = "most medals" then for the last 48 years she has been the greatest, but I'd never heard of her before last night and I watch a lot of sport and commentary around sport.

"Greatest" is a subjective term so there's never going to be unanimous agreement. I'm more in the Steve Redgrave / Mary King / unsung losers against the odds camp myself, but that's not to say Phelps's achievement isn't phenomenal.

Ok, so IABU and IANBU - fair 'nuff .

I had never heard of Larisa Latynina until her record was broken.

I have been noting with interest this morning that Wiggo is 'the most decorated British Olympian' - not once have I heard him referred to as the 'greatest British Olympian'.
That may of course come if he wins another gold and then equals Redgraves' number of gold medals and exceeds his total number of medals. Does that make Redgrave any less 'great'?? Not in my book, frankly.

Phelps/Lochte/LeClos et al - they are all fabulous, I have been enjoying the swimming so much. And our boy, Jamieson .