Another quick Olympic note to counteract the predictably insipid, jingoistic and advertising-stuffed coverage on NBC...
After Michael Phelps broke Larisa Latynina's record for Olympic medals won, talk arose about whether Phelps is the greatest Olympian ever.
The obvious answer is: possibly, but not necessarily. Absent Phelps, is Latynina the best ever? She won nine gold, five silver and four bronze medals as part of the Soviet gymnastics team in the 1956, 1960 and 1964 games. Likely, you'd never heard of her before, in part because she's not American, and in part because simply collecting medals -- even golds -- doesn't necessarily convey greatness beyond single-event champions.
Swimmers and gymnasts have the advantage of competing in disciplines that allow for multiple medal hauls, something not really available to hockey players, pole vaulters, biathletes, boxers, or most other competitors. (This is why, incidentally, China has concentrated its efforts on the pool and the gym. It's the fast lane to the leader board.) Phelps' achievements over multiple Olympics are spectacular; nevertheless, it's important to put them into perspective.
1. He won 18 golds, eight more than anyone else in Olympic history.
2. But nine of his medals are team accomplishments (i.e. relays).
3. He's won two different races -- 200 I.M. and 100 butterfly -- in three consecutive Olympics.
4. But the 100 and 200 in the same stroke are really the same event. So Phelps has several duplicate golds.
5. He's set 30 world records in his career.
The greatest swimmer in the world for a decade, Phelps deserves the bouquet of accolades and the endorsement bonanza. But the greatest Olympian ever? Try these on for size (in no particular order):
Paavo Nurmi (Finland) -- won 12 long-distance and middle-distance medals in three Olympics (1920, 1924, 1928). Nine golds and three silvers make him the greatest distance runner in history.
Eric Heiden (USA) -- captured all five golds in speed skating in the 1980 winter games. Then he became a professional bicyclist. Then he went to medical school.
Teofilo Stevenson (Cuba) -- dominated the heavyweight boxing world in three straight Olympics (1972, 1976, 1980). Benefited from rules on amateurism as a representative of a Communist country.
Daley Thompson (Great Britain) and Bob Mathias (USA) -- Each won the decathlon in two consecutive Olympics. Each set the record (at the time) for decathlon points. Each was considered the world's greatest athlete for eight years. (Between Olympic competitions, Mathias played football for Stanford, carrying the ball in the Rose Bowl.)
Jackie Joyner-Kersee (USA) -- Won a silver in the 1984 heptathlon (the women's equivalent of the decathlon) and then ran away with gold in 1988 and 1992, setting a points record that's yet to be equaled. She also competed in three Olympic long jump competitions, placing first once and third twice. She continues to hold the world's top six heptathlon scores and is generally considered the greatest female athlete ever.
Aleksandr Karelin (USSR/Unified Team/Russia) -- Not just the greatest Greco-Roman wrestler of all time, winner of three consecutive golds and then a silver in 2000 at age 33, Karelin struck terror in the breasts of his opponents. His devastating "Karelin Lift," in which he pulled prone opponents from the mat and whipped their bodies over his head violently to the ground, scared some fighters into submission. Karelin's 13-year undefeated streak ended in the 2000 Olympic finals when Rulon Gardner scored an unfathomable upset. Karelin had not surrendered a single point in competition for six years before that.
Al Oerter (USA) -- The Olympic discus champion from age 20 to age 32, winning in Melbourne, Rome, Tokyo and Mexico City, setting a record each time. In 1980, at age 44, he competed in the US Olympic trials and finished fourth.
Bjorn Daehlie (Norway) -- The most successful winter Olympian of all time, Daehlie posted cross country skiing victories in the '88, '92 and '94 Games. (The winter schedule was separated from the summer schedule between the 1992 and 1996 Olympics.) He won the combined, the 10K and the 50K, finishing second in the 30K. Overall, Daehlie's stash is eight golds and four silvers.
Jim Thorpe (USA) -- Competed in just one Olympics, winning the pentathlon and the decathlon in a pair of shoes fished from a rubbish bin after his were stolen. Thorpe finished first in eight of the 15 events comprising the two competitions. In the decathlon, he finished in the top four in every event and set a record for points that stood for two decades. Besides those grueling competitions, Thorpe competed in the long jump and high jump, finishing fourth and seventh respectively.
Naim Süleymanoğlu (Turkey) -- The Pocket Hercules, at 4'10" and 123 pounds, clean-and-jerked 375 pounds in the 1988 Games, becoming one of only two men in history to lift three times his weight. The Bulgarian-born defector moved up in weight class to 132 pounds and proceeded to lift 418 pounds in the 1992 competition, again tripling his weight. He won gold again in 1996 and is considered the greatest pound-for-pound lifter ever.
Jesse Owens (USA) -- In Hitler's face, Owens bested the world in track and field -- the 100 and 200 sprints, the 4x100 relay and the long jump.
Carl Lewis (USA) -- Won 10 medals, nine gold, from 1984 to 1996, in two different disciplines -- sprinting and long jump. Lewis was undefeated in the long jump for 10 years and took the gold in '84, '88, '92 and '96. In 1984, he matched Jesse Owens by sweeping the 100 and 200 dashes, the long jump and the 4x100 relay.
Sonja Henie (Norway) -- Three time Olympic figure skating champion (and 10-time World champion), Henie transformed and popularized the sport, adding balletic form and costuming.
Comparing Oerter, Kersee-Joyner, Suleymanoglu, Thorpe and Phelps is a fool's errand. Suffice to say, Phelps is the most decorated, and among the greatest ever. Just don't forget all those amazing athletes who hail from places other than the 50 states.
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