That is - Greatest, Greatest of All Time? Seeing Phelps win his eighth and dominating the field in so many events led to the next discussion of whom in the past 5 years has been more dominant in their respective sport - Phelps or Federer. This then of course led to the inevitable - which athlete was the most GOAT in their sport? You have Gretsky, Jordan, Carl Lewis, Phelps, etc... but there are many more obscure names that have dominated other sports like in wrestling, pingpong, what not... Who do you think is the greatest GOAT?
Phelps isn't the Greatest of all time of sports..simply because swimming is too mundane and not exciting of a sport...you never interact with opponents. Jesse Owens only did one Olympics and not much else so he is not the GOAT. I don't have a top list but if I had to choose from some it would be either: Walter Johnson Michael Jordan Lance Armstrong
He only won four gold medals as a black man in Germany performing in front of Hitler and the Nazis. No biggie.
I'll throw this wild card out there: Alexander Karelin. The man was undefeated in international wrestling for 13 years (1987-2000) in the heaviest weight class around. Some people would forfeit the match beforehand because they simply did not want to face him. Does anybody remember the hoopla when Roulon Gardner upset him in the 2000 Sydney games? 13 years of never losing a match is an incredible feat.
this matters when you're focusing on your sport? every professional athlete goes through that..it doesn't make them all great. every black man back then had to go through that hatefulness every day.
Joe Louis was pretty unstoppable. 69 - 3 Held the championships longer than anyone before or after him 25 title defenses Man, i knew he was good but he looks alot better when you look at his wiki.
Somebody explain this to me because I' am totally ignorant about it. And I think winning 8 gold medals is incredible, but in relation to this thread, how do you compare an Olympian to a professional athlete who's body goes under a grueling season for many, many years (i.e. 82 game season, 162 games, etc.). I would think that longevity has to be accredited for like watching Michael Jordan dominate for so long, watching Tiger, Gretzky, etc.
If swimming is too mundane and not exiciting enough to be recognized then why do you have Lance Armstrong in your top list? Just as boring to watch as swimming.
I agree with you. That guy was almost inhuman. Give me a day to think about it but I challenge anyone to try and argue somebody over Karelin.
Pele in soccer is the GGoat IMO Phelps is the GOAT in swimming, but not enough people try to be good at swimming to make him the GGoat. Same with tennis and hockey. Soccer has the most players, and pele is the goat of soccer, therefore pele is the GGoat
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