Michael Phelps feat at this year's Olympics is an amazing achievement. But I don't think we can call him "the greatest athlete ever" or even "the greatest Olympian ever." The simple reason is that only swimming allows for a single athlete to have the opportunity to win so many medals. I'm sick of the broadcasters calling him the greatest athlete ever. Michael Phelps just has the ability to win because he's able to race in events which are similar in distance. 100M / 200M / 100M relays. It's as if Usain Bolt in track and field won the 100M (which he did in 9.69) then was able to win the 200M, the 4 x 100M, then was able to run the 100M backwards, sideways, and then the 400M forwards, backwards, and sideways, and some other way. Well it seems crazy, but that's what swimming offers in a single Olympics.
Consider:
Best basketball player: Kobe / LeBron - how many medals can they win? ONE
Best gymnast: Maybe THREE OR FOUR (Team competition, all around, individual events)
Best volleyball player: TWO (Beach and Indoor)
Best tennis player: TWO (doubles and singles, 3 if they have mixed doubles)
I aim not to take away from what he has accomplished, but to consider the format of his events versus the others at the Olympics.
