Is Michael Phelps the Greatest Athlete Ever?

Michael Phelps has been declared the greatest athlete in history.  No doubt, his 8 gold medals is an amazing feat.  Shoot, I couldn’t swim a lap around a kiddie pool with floaties on both arms.  So I’m not knocking what the guy did – incredible, astounding, awesome…. Use any superlative you want and I wouldn’t argue except when you say he is the greatest athlete ever.

Saying that about an athlete in any sport is a false comparison.  One might argue that Lance Armstrong is the greatest athlete ever.  The dude won 7 Tour de France titles.  I was a big Barry Sanders fan.  Although my heart is with the Green Bay Packers, I couldn’t help watching the Detriot Lions and rooting for them when Barry was running the ball.  Had he not decided to bow out when he did, he would have broken every running record in NFL history.  What about Ali, who floated like a butterfly and stung like a bee.  No one who grew up in my era could forget the “thrilla in Mannila.”  Larry Byrd was probably one of the all time greats on the basketball court.  Mickey Mantle, an Oklahoma boy, was an incredible baseball player.  Could Phelps outdo Armstrong on the bike, Sanders on the football field, Ali in the ring, Byrd on the court, Mantle on the diamond?  Of course not and they couldn’t beat him in the water.

Is Phelps the greatest swimmer ever?  Now that is an argument that holds water (excuse the pun).

No athlete can properly be called the greatest athlete.  It is comparing apples and oranges.

Michael Phelps did an amazing thing at Beijing.  He deserves all the acolades.  But the greatest athlete in hisotry?  Nope.