With the most decorated Olympian calling it a career this past week, many have been calling Michael Phelps not only the greatest Olympian of all time, but the greatest athlete ever. The debate over who the greatest of all time across sports is a favorite among fans, commentators, analysts and the athletes themselves. I have often found myself wrapped in the debate, pondering the hypotheticals and comparing the incomparable. However, in light of the recent events of the Rio games, I decided to take an in depth look into whether Michael Phelps really is the greatest athlete in history.
Before explaining my analysis I should explain the criteria I used to judge the athletes. I based my assessment on above all things: physicality of sport, and length of dominance. I should also note that I excluded any athletes who played team sports since I felt comparing an individual athlete to one who plays a team sport would be an unfair comparison. Plus, that’s another debate for another day. Sorry Michael Jordan and Wayne Gretzky.
With these guidelines in place I got to work on brainstorming who could possibly rival Phelps as the greatest of all time. I thought of the great immediately remembered only a year ago arguing that if Ronda Rousey continued her unprecedented dominance, that a case could be made for her as most dominant athlete of all time. Unfortunately, her loss to Holly Holm puts her dominance on hold, and therefore her few years at the top don’t stand up well against Phelps’ 15. Staying in the realm of fighting, I looked at the boxing greats of Mike Tyson, Muhammad Ali and Floyd Mayweather. Like Phelps they each had runs at the top of a physically demanding sport that lasted over a decade. They all had beaten all-time greats from around the world and even competed at the Olympic Games themselves.
While I did give consideration to those boxing legends, boxing is a one on one sport as opposed to an eight man race found in swimming. Not only that, Phelps has managed to dominate not just one aspect of the sport, consistently winning gold medals in numerous strokes, lengths, relays and medleys. No matter which way you look at it, in my mind at least, the choice is clear. Michael Phelps is the greatest individual athlete in history.
But of course the debate isn’t over, this is sports. What makes sports so great is that there will always be someone new trying to become "the greatest ever, making the competition that much more intense every time. We’ve even seen this year the unparalleled dominance of fellow USA swimmer Katie Ledecky. At the young age of 19 she could very well be on her way to surpassing Phelps as the most dominant swimmer in history. We’ll have to wait and see if that happens. But until then, it’s time to say goodbye to for now the greatest athlete of all time. The man who dominated the Olympic Games like no other by winning 17 individual medals, 14 gold, and 23 gold medals in total with 28 in total. The man who stayed comfortably atop a physically demanding sport among the best in the world seemingly with ease for fifteen years. The man who made swimming a must watch event in the Olympics, and elevated as well as transcended the sport. The Greatest of all-time, Michael Phelps.
