China's strength is in diving, gymnastics, table tennis and badminton, some categories in shooting and arrow, and women weightlifting. Most of them are in the first half of the tournament. US is strong cross the board, especially in the medal heavy swimming and track & field. I don't see China pass US in gold medal counts, but they will be a solid 2nd.
I got nothing against Phelps and yeah he is chasing history; but I am getting pretty sick and tired of all these video segments and interviews on him...especially when it's essentially the same damn thing every time. Just give it a rest and let things happen the way they happen, and you know what I'm sure it'll be plenty special (see 1996 Women's Gymnastics Finals).
so you are with the clown's on espn that said swimming is such an exclusive sport that Phelps wouldnt win so much if the 'top athletes' in the world were swimmers. it's also funny when these same people praise Tiger Woods so much for his dominance in his sport but golf is just as much if not more exclusive than swimming. (exclusive meaning not as many kids grow up doing it) what sport has the top athletes? i'd have to say basketball.
The only think I disagree in your post above is Archery. Korea is too strong to defeat. I watched one of their finals (Women Team), Chinese Women team is already very good but the Koreans are unbelievable. Their Archery teams (both men and women) are like the Chinese Diving Teams and USA Basketball Teams.
I really don't think you can compare athletes across sports; therefore I don't think you can definitely say one is the greatest athlete ever. What Phelps is doing is sick, and if the guys on ESPN actually said that then they are completely and utterly devaluing his accomplishments and complete idiots. But that's nothing new.
If we're talking straight athletic prowess, soccer players win. Basketball players only use their upper body to shoot, really. Even then, they can only play around 35 minutes on average before becoming extremely tired. Soccer players go 90.
really? Have you ever played beyond the 5 yr old YMCA division? How do you think we get power behind headers? How do you think we hold off defenders? How do you think we balance? What about the chest trap? Please don't discuss things you clearly know nothing about. Basketball players and soccer players are probably close to even as far as athleticism goes. The very slight edge goes to soccer players because of the lack of timeouts and the length of the game. I'm always impressed with what basketball players can do with their bodies.
played for 8-9 years. you dont use your upper body as much as basketball. i just see guys like lebron/dwight/kobe/josh smith etc... and just wonder how they would do in other sports. anyway enough of this... back to Michael Phelps domination.
man, i hate gymnastics. it's so friggin' nervewracking. i have no idea how they stick any of these landings under this pressure. my legs would be shaking and i would be about to throw up the entire time. and the americans always seem to make mistakes when others don't.
I like me some womens gymnastics. Except Kerri Strug. I wonder whatever happen to Dominque Moceanu, and the rest of the Gold Medal winning team from 96. i gotta do some research.
