Michael Phelps is the greatest Olympic swimmer ever, but when it comes to all-time Olympians, he’s third in my poll.
I’m not hating on Phelps. It’s wonderful to have the biggest star of the Beijing Olympics from our region. Phelps certainly surpasses Mark Spitz as king of the pool and NBC is naturally promoting him as the greatest Olympian ever to pump their ratings.
But, my top Olympians ever are American track and field stars Carl Lewis and Jesse Owens respectively over Phelps with German kayaker Birgit Fischer-Schmidt fourth and Finish runner Paavo Nurmi fifth.
Owens nearly gained my top vote. What can be greater than a black man winning four gold medals at the 1936 games in Berlin while Adolph Hitler fumed nearby? Hitler, as in the Aryan supremacist who soon plunged the world into a war. You think there wasn’t pressure on Owens to simply survive the games, much less win? You think Phelps is facing pressure even close to that? One medal would have been impressive, but Owens broke world records in the 200 meter race and broad jump while tying the 100-meter mark. The U.S. also took the 400-meter relay.
Lewis’ nine gold medals over four Olympics was my tie-breaker over Owens’ one-time mastery. Lewis won the long jump in four straight Olympics from 1984-96. He was the fastest man on dry land in consecutive games.
Longevity is a big factor in ranking Olympians. That’s why I nearly took Fischer-Schmidt third. She won eight gold medals from 1980 to 2004 as the youngest and oldest canoeist to earn top honors. Fischer-Schmidt earned three golds for East Germany and five for a re-united Germany plus four silvers. East Germany’s boycott of the 1984 Olympics probably cost her another medal or two.
But, it’s hard to keep Phelps off the board, especially after winning his seventh gold medal of the Beijing games on Friday with a miraculous finish. Winning by .01 is what creates greatness. Phelps has won more gold medals than any Olympian. And, that nearly every gold medal over the last week seemed to come with a world record is staggering. The Beijing pool seems to be cranking out marks, but Phelps still has to do it.
The most impressive part is Phelps looks so thin despite eating 12,000 calories per day. That’s nearly more than I do during the entire workweek and let’s just say I can make a bigger cannonball splash than Phelps could.
Phelps can become the greatest Olympian ever by winning a gold medal at the 2012 London games. There’s some debate on whether Phelps is retiring soon. With millions of dollars in endorsement deals, he can afford to spend his time on the beach now. But, the competitiveness doesn’t just go away. Spitz tried to return 19 years after his seven golds in Munich only to not even qualify for the games. This decision might be more agonizing than Brett Favre’s short retirement.
Let’s hope Phelps wins again in 2012. Then he will be the greatest Olympian ever on land, sea or ice.
Rick Snider has covered local sports since 1978. Contact him at [email protected].
