What is Digg?110 Comments
- RagingIce, on 08/14/2008, -8/+59No offense to Michael Phelps, but there are so many swimming events that require a similar skill-set I think that it would be a little ignorant to consider him the greatest Olympian of all time. Consider someone like Donovan Bailey (held the 100m WR at one point). He was a really great runner, but he only ever had a chance at 2, maybe 3 medals per Olympics due to the skill-set required (100m, relay, and 200m). With swimming there are 100m, 200m, and relays for every stroke.
Not taking anything away from Phelps, but it just isn't that clear cut. - rabidg00se, on 08/14/2008, -4/+32I absolutely agree with you, and even a step further. I think it's somewhat of a travesty that someone like Kobe Bryant (for example) only has the opportunity to win one gold. I would much prefer if the commentators paid attention to events such as the triathlon or athletes that compete across multiple disciplines.
- ousthouse, on 08/14/2008, -3/+21Oh great - so the Huffington Post is now our top source for SPORTS news.
- inactive, on 08/13/2008, -14/+31***** NBC.
- KungF0o, on 08/14/2008, -1/+1611 Now..
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/08/13/sports/olyp ... - arichard, on 08/14/2008, -0/+14If you've ever swam competitively, you know it's not that simple. Different strokes use entirely different muscle groups. Also, consider that he's in the pool - flirting with world records - 2 or 3 times a day, every day. That's damn impressive no matter how you slice it.
- ZeeZee2k, on 08/14/2008, -3/+14They did air it live yesterday u douchebag. This is old news.
- bunkka, on 08/13/2008, -2/+12Hopefully it will be 14 by the end of the games!
- ELCad, on 08/14/2008, -0/+8Agreed. He's the greatest for swimmer for sure.
- XombieRobot, on 08/14/2008, -1/+9Terrible... WTF Huffington Post??
Why, why why? Yes I am whining, but why is this story getting dugg up? Is it because Upick snatched this story and all his drone friends jumped on the bandwagon or just because Huffpo can make the front page no matter what the hell the article says?!?! - aladin, on 08/14/2008, -0/+7Really well said. Comparing medal counts is like comparing apples to oranges. Other sports require just as much "greatness" but there are less medal opportunities. I guess you can call him the greatest in terms of medal count but that's hardly a fair way to judge him against non swimmers.
Also as for the suit was designed by NASA and is some state of the art business. Remember that Mark Spitz swam with a damn mustache, regular bathers and he had long hair? That's serious drag you have to take into account when individual times vary by mere seconds. - TheInformer, on 08/14/2008, -1/+7Huffingtonpost made a mistake and posted a genuine news article instead of something that bashes McCain/praises Obama. Someone's gonna get fired.
- OGTK423, on 08/14/2008, -0/+6Yes but you also have to remember that Phelps has not only won a medal each time he's gotten in the pool but broken a world or Olympic record each time as well.
- brewer, on 08/14/2008, -0/+6Not only is he setting world records every time he gets wet, he is setting them by a good margin in a sport where wins are usually eeked out in hundredths of a second.
- ghostrc, on 08/14/2008, -1/+7This post is 1 day and 1 medal behind
- walugi, on 08/14/2008, -8/+14Not the greatest Olympian at all. Maybe the greatest swimmer.
Although, I'd like to see how many records he can break without the suit.
And didn't we think similiar things about Marion Jones :) - chispito, on 08/14/2008, -0/+6Do you see a lot of other swimmers who are able to succeed in that many different events, much less medal in them?
- Cwo655321, on 08/14/2008, -1/+6OLD ***** NEWS! You should watch it live and not complain about it not being live.
- shagg187, on 08/14/2008, -0/+5Once again:
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Main Entry: win·ning·est
Function: adjective
Date: 1972
having achieved the most wins - "the winningest coach in football"
It's a word but hardly used cause no one in this world is worthy enough, except for Phelps, ofcourse!
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I just copied and pasted this from my digg entry yesterday. Yes! This news is 1000 years old according to digg's standard! - egthareal, on 08/14/2008, -1/+5Puffington Host
- ThatGeek, on 08/14/2008, -0/+4you kind of have to see the wall
its important when some races come down to hundreths of seconds - AvidPreatorian, on 08/14/2008, -2/+5he's without question great, but of all time is a stretch and a debatable claim in the least. why exaggerate? he's impressive enough.
- Rickler, on 08/14/2008, -0/+3It's NOT LIVE.
- Thestormo, on 08/14/2008, -2/+5I love that this comes to the top after his 11th.
- sq2shooter, on 08/14/2008, -0/+3This is true but I think the point is that it is unfair to call him the greatest Olympic athlete when he plays one of the only sports that give you the opportunity to win 8 gold medals in one Olympics. There have been plenty of olympic athletes that were so dominant in their sport that they could have won multiple golds but that opportunity was not afforded them due to the fact that their sport only allowed them to win a couple of golds per olympic competition. It is like calling the Astros the greatest sports team last year because they won more games than the patriots, giants or celtics. He is an incredible athlete without a doubt and arguably one of the best but using medal count is an unfair comparison due to the nature of his sport compared to others.
- jeremyadam, on 08/14/2008, -3/+6that's awesome, for real, but how many times today must i be reminded on digg about it?
- AceyS, on 08/14/2008, -1/+4The fact that he won that 200m butterfly with his goggles completely filled with water and still beat the world record really shows how amazing of a swimmer he is.
- justbloggin, on 08/14/2008, -0/+3Oh to have balanced media coverage.... The endless hunt to find some kind of hero is tiring. Yes he's a good athlete, congrats. But can we hear about all the thousands of other athletes? Maybe even some coverage of non american athletes?
- chispito, on 08/14/2008, -1/+4Sigh. He's not wearing a super suit that singularly gives him a competitive edge. Other swimmers have the high tech stuff, too, and he's beating the crap out of them in the pool, event after event.
- EtherGnat, on 08/14/2008, -1/+4I've already seen as much of Michael Phelps as I want to see. Keep the suit on please.
- lexington86, on 08/14/2008, -0/+3Buried for being old, but more so for being from the Huffington Post.
- inactive, on 08/14/2008, -2/+4***** it...
- hmunkey, on 08/14/2008, -0/+2I saw it live last night...
- yoda133113, on 08/14/2008, -0/+2@enmand
Yeah, Phelps has broken the world record for every event he's gotten a medal on, and he even got a national record on the 100m freestyle because his part of the 4x100m race counts towards records, that's of course in addition to the World Record on the whole relay. - MaxMWood, on 08/14/2008, -4/+6winningest?
- yoda133113, on 08/14/2008, -0/+2He's broken some of these records by seconds, that's a lot more than a suit.
- chispito, on 08/14/2008, -3/+5Huh? This is the best Olympics coverage I can remember. They're bringing stuff live, showing complete matches and games of non mainstream sports, and aren't nearly as overbearing with the human interest crap they always pile on.
I can think of things I would do differently, but I view this coverage as a huge improvement over anything for at least the last 12 years. - yoda133113, on 08/14/2008, -0/+2Hey, he can break world records with his eyes closed, literally :P
- EtherGnat, on 08/14/2008, -0/+2" America needs to start teaching English....seriously!"
Indeed. http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=winninges ... - paulvq, on 08/14/2008, -1/+3Proof?
- loconet, on 08/14/2008, -1/+3I am in agreement with the article - Phelps is probably one of the greatest Olympians ever but c'mon, we've already had this story (twice!).
http://digg.com/olympics/Michael_Phelps_swims_into ...
http://digg.com/olympics/Michael_Phelps_Now_Stands ... - ThEDeMoNKiNg, on 08/14/2008, -0/+2http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/winningest
Maybe America should start teaching you first. - Eric1285, on 08/14/2008, -1/+3Congratulations to Phelps, but I went to school with him and had friends who were in classes with him. The general consensus around campus was that he was a douchebag extraordinaire. Take this story for example:
It was the fall semester right after the '04 Games and it's the first day of class. My buddy is sitting next to him in a smaller class where the Professor is having everyone introduce themselves and talk about what they did over the summer. Of course, when it's Phelps' turn he has to remind everyone by saying "I won 6 gold medals". My buddy's next up and is at a loss for what to say...so he puts a ***** eating grin on his face and says "I won 7 gold medals"...everyone in the class burst out laughing.
He's the most talented Olympian ever, but everyone on campus that had ever had a run in with him seemed to hate him. I only ran into the guy once, but never spoke with him. - Disodium, on 08/14/2008, -0/+1His record is for most GOLD medals, not total. Although hes getting close to that aswell
- cgruber, on 08/14/2008, -0/+1spell much?
- chispito, on 08/14/2008, -0/+1The world records don't make him the best ever, his complete and utter dominance over the rest of the field in a variety of events does. They have the suits, too.
- ivanov, on 08/14/2008, -0/+1Most Olympic medals (not just gold):
Men: Nikolai Yefimovich Andrianov of Russia
Total: 15 (7 gold medals, 5 silver medals, 3 bronze medals) Gymnastics
Women: Larissa Semyonovna Latynina of Russia
Total: 18 (9 gold medals, 5 silver, 4 bronze) Gymnastics
(Larissa is going to be hard to beat) - Dragular, on 08/14/2008, -0/+1OVER 9000!!!!!!!!
- SPRFRKR, on 08/14/2008, -0/+1If he does it again in 2012, then I will agree he is the greatest. Longevity, in addition to dominance, is a better criteia.
- trollick, on 08/14/2008, -0/+1Measuring greatness by the number of Olympic gold medals is not fair. A swimmer can get like 100 medals during one Olympics, while a boxer, for example, no matter how great he is can get only 1.
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