Bolt vs Phelps: Who is Greater?

[Historian]

The idea for this post occurred to me a couple of minutes ago while reading Jangle’s post below on swimsuit technology. I didn’t want to risk thrashing his thread, so I’m posting this unrelated discussion separately up here.

I found it ludicrous the way some sports people, in the aftermath of the Beijing Olympic Games, were trying to declare Michael Phelps to be a greater athlete than Usain Bolt. And I found it ridiculous not only because both sports are so different you cannot compare them in terms of records broken, and not only because of the fact that I’m a Jamaican, but more so because of the following four facts:

Fact #1: There were 25 world records set in swimming during the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Fact #2: Of the 25 world records, Michael Phelps contributed to seven (eight gold medals, seven in world record time*).

Fact #3: There were five (5) world records set in track and field during the Beijing Olympics **.

Fact #4: Of the five track and field world records, Usain Bolt was responsible for three (3). (Three gold medals, all in world record time.)

Reader, you do the math. World records in swimming were dropping like flies at the Beijing Olympics, and so we had Phelps sparkling in an “easy” environment where 27 world records were broken, with him contributing to seven and the other 18 coming from other sources.

In track and field, on the other hand, it was so challenging to break world records that of the many events, only five saw world records being broken, and Usain Bolt was responsible for more than 50-percent of those world records!

* Phelp’s 100-meter butterfly, while an Olympic Games record, was not a world record.

** Usain Bolt in the men’s 100-meter dash, Usain Bolt in the men’s 200-meter dash, Jamaica’s men’s 4x100-meter relay team (Carter, Frater, Bolt, Powell), Yelena Isinbayeva of Russia in the pole vault, and Gulnara Samitova of Russia in the women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase.

[Historian]

Thinking about it even more....

Fact #2: Of the 25 world records, Michael Phelps contributed to seven (eight gold medals, seven in world record time*).

In track and field, on the other hand, it was so challenging to break world records that of the many events, only five saw world records being broken, and Usain Bolt was responsible for more than 50-percent of those world records!

Thinking about it now, for a track and field athlete to win eight gold medals like Phelps did in swimming, that track and field athlete would be faced with the obviously impossible task of winning gold in the:

1. 100-meter race
2. 200-meter race
3. 400-meter race
4. 800-meter race
5. 4x100-meter relay
6. 4x400-meter relay
7. Long jump
8. One other activity on the track or the field

This is so funny I’m laughing over my Sunday dinner of McDonald’s and Guinness stout!

[Peter R]

Guiness and McDonald's?? Historian yu fi do bettah dan dat man! .... this afternoon I had Basmati Rice and Curried Chicken washed down with a bottle of "Steam Whistle" pilsener beer (I'm presently in Canada) and later I had a second meal, pork tenderloin roast, with carrots and potato, tossed salad and a glass of white wine...aaaahhhh

Anyway, with respect to your Bolt/Phelps post, this was discussed last year during and after Beijing and most if not all posters voted Bolt the bigger star (not unexpected on this site ) but for the reasons you point out the total medal haul tells very little as the two disciplines are different.

Now, even though I "voted" Bolt the champion of the games, to my mind the real champion should be the winner of the decathlon.

[Historian]

That Was A Banquet!!

Guiness and McDonald's?? Historian yu fi do bettah dan dat man! .... this afternoon I had Basmati Rice and Curried Chicken washed down with a bottle of "Steam Whistle" pilsener beer (I'm presently in Canada) and later I had a second meal, pork tenderloin roast, with carrots and potato, tossed salad and a glass of white wine...aaaahhhh

Anyway, with respect to your Bolt/Phelps post, this was discussed last year during and after Beijing and most if not all posters voted Bolt the bigger star (not unexpected on this site ) but for the reasons you point out the total medal haul tells very little as the two disciplines are different.

Now, even though I "voted" Bolt the champion of the games, to my mind the real champion should be the winner of the decathlon.

Peter, are you an overweight person, as in fat ? That was not Sunday dinner you had yesterday, boss, that was a royal banquet!!

(By the way, LMAO at the irony of me, someone who had McDonald’s for dinner, talking about “fat”! Anyway, thankfully I’m not overweight.)

I live alone, so that gives me the independence, in the truest sense, to indulge in whatever I feel like having and whenever . So (lol), I ended up yesterday evening actually having two Guinness stout with my McDonald’s, followed by two shots of Absolut vodka mixed with grapefruit juice.

There are many other benefits derived from living alone, of course.

I vaguely recall discussions here last year on the topic, Bolt vs. Phelps, but I didn’t take part. What I notice about such discussions is that they often include various people providing interesting points, but with little in the way of objective parameters. I posted the comparison of the number of swimming and track and field world records set in Beijing because this, to some extent, lends some measurable basis and objective context for comparison. Real statistics are thus added to the discussion.

[Jangle]

Funny. I was speaking with a friend yesterday and we were talking about how we change when we come to "fareen". Back in Jamaica, it would be unheard of to eat some of the things we eat at Sunday dinner here. Back home, rice and peas and some other meat was a MUST for me on a sunday evening. Now, in my household, it's every man for himself. I am lucky when the wife "feels" like cooking a "real" meal, especially on a sunday. Sometimes some leftover soup, which I used to consider a sacrilege for sunday dinner, seems like a banquet when hunger bites.

[Gamma]

yuh brute yuh!!! nuh wanda yuh nuh want alcohol to be criminalised!! ah si yuh!

[Gamma]

suh..whey yuh a seh? yuh miss di good old days?!