I think those four were it and he did not compete in all four every Olympics just 1984 and 1988. Even so, that's just four events not the 7 or 8 per games that Phelps has got his chance in. You don't see that consistently though in track and field either. Also, I remember there being a bit of a controversy around his long jump because he took one that he knew would win the event and then disregarded the remaining jumps he had left, which isn't wrong but people didn't like it.
If Bolt wins the 200 and team relay again, then the perfection and complete dominance wins out in my book. He wins more dominantly and against tougher competition. That being said, the Jamaican track team found a really good coach in 2001 and you have to be at least very suspicious about their results since then. I'd like to know what changed around the team doctor situation. 1. All of a sudden the Jamaican men and women are dominant in 2008 and 2012 Olympics. 2. Asafa Powell's best time before joining the team was 10.70 seconds. He went on to break the world record multiple times. 3. If you look at the women, many have bulging abs. They are cut and have very low body fat %, why would their stomachs stick out like modern professional bodybuilders? Many pro lifters will tell you it is a symptom of enlarged organs from steroid and HGH abuse. (you will see this on some of the other runners as well, but it is most easily seen on the Jamaicans). Old school body builders could do the vacuum pack pose (Frank Zane), but none would even bother trying it today. I could buy just the women becoming dominant or the men, but both groups becoming world-beaters at the same time is hard to chalk up to coincidence. I do think many top athletes dope, but I think the Jamaicans are doing it better.
You want to talk about complete domination? Did you watch Phelps in 2008? He competed in 8 events and set 6 world records and 2 Olympic records. 2000 Olympics - Qualified at age 15 but did not medal. Finished 5th in 200-m butterfly. 2004 Olympics - 400-m individual medley – Gold (world record) - 4x100-m freestyle relay – Bronze - 200-m freestyle – Bronze - 200-m butterfly – Gold (Olympic record) - 4x200-m freestyle relay – Gold - 200-m individual medley – Gold (Olympic record) - 100-m butterfly – Gold (Olympic record) - 4x100-m medley relay – Gold (world record) 2008 Olympics - 400-m individual medley – Gold (world record) - 4x100-m freestyle relay – Gold (world record) - 200-m freestyle – Gold (world record) - 100-m butterfly – Gold (Olympic record) - 200-m butterfly – Gold (world record) - 4x200-m freestyle relay – Gold (world record) - 200-m individual medley – Gold (world record) 2012 Olympics - 400-m individual medley – 4th place - 4x100-m freestyle relay – Silver - 200-m butterfly – Silver - 4x200-m freestyle relay – Gold - 200-m individual medley – Gold - 100-m butterfly – Gold - 4x100-m medley relay – Gold
This is a completely ridiculous question and I'm shocked the poll results are as close as they are. Phelps has 4.5x the GOLD MEDALS that Bolt has. Say what you want about the 100m being the Olympics signature event but you can't ignore the medal count/scoreboard.
The thing that is red flaggish is that that pretty much everybody from about the 90's onwards, when the sport is riven with drugs etc, struggles to shave a few hundredths off the record just to whittle it down below 9.8, then all of a sudden he blows everybody to pieces and takes tenths off while not seemingly not even running that hard to get in the 9.5's. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:World_record_progression_100m_men.svg Just seems unusual that he's that much faster than any human, even the ones using as much dope as possible. It took Maurice Greene 12 years to get the record down to where a drugged out Ben Johnson had it @ 9.79 in 1988.
Im going with Bolt because i didn't see one single white dude in the 100m semis lol. Im not hating on swimming, but you rarely see blacks in this sport.
I don't think Phelps even owns any of the freestyle world records. So if you told a bunch of swimmers in a pool and said swim as fast as you can Phelps would not be on top. However there is no one who is as fast as Bolt. If you said run as fast as you can for 100m there is no even close to his time.
I think what the Bolt voters think is, that while Phelps indeed won tons of gold in various competitions, Bolt absolutely shattered everyone else in 100m and 200m and vaporized all old records and thought of times. Years ago no one would've believed a man would run unter 9.6. He's a freak of nature, Phelps subtly dominates, but not in a way that makes you think "how the hell is that possible?!".
I think everyone in the world pre-2008 was wondering how 8 gold medals was possible. That's not subtle domination; that's dominating dozens/hundreds of the world's best athletes in those events.
Bolt would get beaten by a cheetah or a dog or a horse. A human could beat a horse in marathon on a hot day, but not a camel. Anyway, Camel > Haile Gebrasalaisse > Horse > Bolt.
But it's at least more imaginable if you are a talented swimmer and are comfortable in different disciplines of it. Bolt destroyed everything in 100m and 200m, when scientists before said times under 9.7 or 9.6 are impossible for any human being. And he makes it look easy and could possibly be even faster.
I suppose it's debatable, but I raise this question: what record do you think falls first? 8 gold medals or Bolt's 100m time. It's tough but I think Bolt's record falls first.
Maybe he could have gone faster if he didnt swim 8 events in 2008 =). I think both are great and I am grateful to able to watch them during my lifetime. I am partial to Phelps because I like swimming better, so I voted for Phelps .
I remember vividly when Ben Johnson "shattered" the world 100m record in 1988. One day, the same will be said of Usain Bolt's record. It will be broken. As far as Phelps? I'm not as certain. His individual medal count might be safe for the next century and beyond its that high.
