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Olympics; Phelps going for the Medal Record


Mord

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Well that is that. He is now the greatest Olympian in history. Pretty damn sweet.

Man, I have never seen so many records broken.

The semi final race before Phelp's, the French guy broke the Aussie's world record. The next race the Aussie guy friggin' won his record back! Unbelievable.

Mord.

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Well that is that. He is now the greatest Olympian in history. Pretty damn sweet.

Man, I have never seen so many records broken.

The semi final race before Phelp's, the French guy broke the Aussie's world record. The next race the Aussie guy friggin' won his record back! Unbelievable.

Mord.

greatest olympian i think not.....

the swimming events are ridiculous

why...

because you have you various distance events

100...200.. up to 1500m or whatever and thats fine... relay... fine

but then you get the whole lot 3 times again in different styles.. what kind of nonsense is that.

medley relay????? talk about freebie

ok if you want to compare apples to apples allow the track and field athletes to repeat all the running events again but this time running backwards.. or how about the 100m sprint with your hands behind your back while we are at it. or the tossing the hammer DOWNHILL.. discus indoors.....

is it any wonder that multiple winners of medals are most likely to come from the pool?

alternatively have the events in the pool reduced to freestyle only...

its a swiming race..get from A to B anyway you can as long as its swimming

just for balance you can get rid of the walk as thats ridiculous as well..

phelps is awesome but carl lewis is a greater olympian as is redgrave and numerous others

Boris

London

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With all the world records being broken all I can think is what new performance enhancing therapy has been developed that nobody can detect.

Or maybe the chinese reduced the viscosity in the pool. Is there any regulation to ensure that the pool is filled with 100% water? Serious question.

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Well we could argue semantics left in right about what event is better or worse and whatever, the fact remains he is defeating the best swimmers in the world. You can argue whose greatest too but when it comes down to it it's gonna be the records and who has the most medals...history isn't gonna give a crap about nitpicking that there are too many events or repeats or whatever. I never heard anyone argue Spitz's greatness.

Another point I think some are missing is the dude will have swum something like 17 races and over two miles in 8 days and so far is still winning. He's a machine. Most of those other swimmers aren't swimming near as much and losing.

And yeah, I think these new suits are really changing things...NASA helped design them from what I heard.

Now, you really wanna argue about something, I have a pet peeve about the US using pros. It irks the crap outta me. Even if every country in the world used state sponsored competitors I still don't think we (USA) should be shipping NBA (or whoever) stars off to these games. The greatness of US athletes to me was always the struggle, the dedication, the sweat they put in for the pure love of sport and the chance for glory. Sending pampered, rich, over payed prima donnas to represent the country is an insult to all those that came before. Where's the sport when these guys haven't had to toil and fight and compete all over the world just for the chance, in relative obscurity, with little funding? Dream Team...is crap. Would Lake Placid have been as sweet and beautiful a moment if the US hockey guys had all been picked out of the NHL?

Anyways, these games have been pretty great so far and I am looking forward to the T&F events.

Mord.

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Well that is that. He is now the greatest Olympian in history. Pretty damn sweet.

Like Boris already said, it's not really a fair comparison. For javelin thrower for example, 8 olympic gold medals would mean getting to olympics everytime for 28 years, getting to finals and winning it every time.

Swimming medals are seriously inflated. His achievement is great but doesn't really make him the greatest Olympian in history.

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"Phelps is, at the moment, the face of the Summer Olympics, an historic event his agent long ago dubbed "the most significant Games ever from a marketing standpoint."

And now that it's showtime, Phelps - a standard-bearer for sponsorship dollars even before these Olympics began - certainly is delivering.

And just in case the American public needed any reminding, Visa, one of his chief corporate backers"

(dumb assed 10 character limit text)

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Like Boris already said, it's not really a fair comparison. For javelin thrower for example, 8 olympic gold medals would mean getting to Olympics everytime for 28 years, getting to finals and winning it every time.

Swimming medals are seriously inflated. His achievement is great but doesn't really make him the greatest Olympian in history.

LOL well I guess I should've reworded that to most decorated. Regardless, he will have won the most and that's what history and the media are gonna concentrate on until it is surpassed. Not to mention he has a long life ahead of him...who knows what the future will bring as far as his career longevity and achievements. But even if he retired after these games he's still done something no one else has and that's worth a pat on the back.

As far as you guys talking about how inflated the sport's medals are, jump in a pool for the next 8 days and run 17 races, and win them all, then I'll believe it's inflated. It takes an helluva an athlete to do what he is doing. He's got two left. Spitz is in his sights.

Mord.

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of those who say yes, it's great what Phelps is doing but the way swimming and maybe a few other sports award medals is skewed. He's definitely a great athlete who has and is accomplishing a lot. I'm sure a lot of people will look at 'X' number of golds and that's all they care about as far as 'greatest athlete' or whatever, but people really should be aware of the sport and that people in other sports have no chance to compete against that.

I think some people out there are trying to ordain him as the greatest athlete ever. They were discussing this on NBC at one point. I'd say that at most, he's the greatest athlete who doesn't really matter much. I mean, swimming? If it's not a Summer Olympics year I don't even hear Phelps' name, or any swimmer for that year (or most Olympic athletes). The Olympics are a big deal, of course, but outside of that how many people watch these sports live or even on TV that much? Not many people.

Herr Kruger

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Mord,

I'd like to say a word in defense of one of the U.S. Olympic team basketball players, Kobe Bryant. By Olympic athletic standards, he's pretty old, being 30. Widely known as the hardest working man in the NBA, he is the quintessential gym rat, first in and last to leave, NBA MVP, and a real leader who has learned to play team ball and inspire the younger players.

The guy's been working his tail off ever since high school, from which he was drafted straight into the NBA at age 17. Unlike some of his fellow players, this guy always arrives at training camp in shape and ready to go to work. If anybody deserves to be in the Olympics from the NBA, it's Kobe.

As for your objection regarding using pros, that is exactly what the Russian hockey team was at the 1980 Winter Olympics, with everything provided by the state: the best coaches, the best facilities, apartments, cars, food, medical car, massage, the works, all on a scale simply incomprehensible to the average Russian spending life in queue just to get the basics. Thus, they ate, lived and slept hockey, not to mention they also likely were soldiers under military discipline. Why? Because the top sports clubs in Russia then were directly tied to the KGB, the Army and, we think, the CPSU. Unless and until that playing field is leveled for everyone, I see no reason why we should take a drubbing in a rigged sport system. Further, I don't see any objection from you regarding NBA players representing countries other than the U.S. Yao Ming (Houston Rockets) of China is playing for China at the Olympics, not for the U.S., Manu Ginobili is playing for Italy, and Dirk Nowitzki is playing for Germany.

Regards,

John Kettler

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I'd say what Usian Bolt just did is as impressive as anything Phelps has done. Coasting to victory in THE glamour event of the Summer Olympics. He broke the world record and made it look easy.

Absolutely among the best athletic performances ever!

And his physical appearance is not that of Ben Johnson's, which tells us that he is not better than the rest solely because of anabolic steroids.

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@JK, I have to admit I saw an interview with Bryant last night and he impressed the hell out of me with his patriotism, enthusiasm, and sincerity. He seemed truly honored and awestruck that he was there and I did admire that.

As far as objecting to other countries using pros, I don't care what they do. It's what made winning against them so great when it happened. Our athletes for the most part seemed to make it on their self belief and grassroots movement 20 or 30 years ago, it was part of that American spirit, ingenuity, self reliance of old. I kinda felt part of that was lost when they opened the doors to pros, especially after the crap they pulled on Jim Thorpe! I totally understand that Russia was a machine pumping out state sponsored supermen and for me that's what was so beautiful when they were beaten. Regardless, I am enjoying the games.

@ Everyone else, there have been some pretty great moments in these Olympics so far. Lots of cool stuff and not just for me as an American. I Like watching almost anyone when they win. One of my favorites so far has been the Chinese guy who won the silver in shooting. He couldn't contain himself and started crying when they placed it around his neck he was so proud and happy. It was a sweet moment. LOL AND I was actually routing for Latvia during the Men's Beach Volley Ball. For me it's not just about America it's about the joy of watching other human beings reveling in the glory of these events.

But tonight, Phelps and Torres are what I am excited about.

Mord.

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Two question for those who don't think Phelps is the greatest Olympian ever:

1. Who do you think is?

2. Why?

greatest? wouldn't like to say

better (so far)

carl lewis was better

cross disciplines

multiple olympics

harder events requiring more focus in the longevity stakes... 1984-1996 4 olympics

Steve Redgrave

six olympics ... 6 events ie only one shot in each

5 golds one bronze.. no one has done that in an endurance olympic sport

mike johnson

still standing world records ... only man to defend 400m, sprint

Boris

London

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WAHAHAHHAHAHHAAAAAAAAAAA!!!

20 years from now not one punk is gonna remember who won the 2008 Superbowl, World Series, Stanely Cup or any other thing...but they sure will remember seeing the dude win number 8. Say what you want but he did it and he did it with all the drama and greatness one could've hoped for. He did his sport and athletics honor. One of the greatest moments I have ever seen in sports.

Mord.

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LOL, Mord. Yeah, b/c no one ever remembers Gretzky and Montana... (20 years ago) ROFL!!!!! Baseball? Not on my radar, so I don't care. Outside of the Olympics I have zero interest in swimming as a sport to watch, like most Olympic sports.

Herr Kruger

PS. Phelps won't hardly be mentioned six months from now and will basically disappear from mainstream sports media until the next Summer Olympics. At least the 100m title gets some mainstream sports attention during non-Olympic years.

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That's not what I said. I said no one will remember the 2008 Superbowl blah, blah, blah.

He'll be forgotten just like Spitz was for the last 36 years....which was never.

LOL it doesn't matter if you like watching swimming or not, nor does it matter if he'll be a hot topic in the media six months from now...whenever great moments in sports history are discussed his name will reside along side all the others for doing something unprecedented in his field.

I enjoyed it.

Mord.

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