These two questions could require two much typing to make sound arguments. Given all the Olympic achievements lately, these two questions are all over the news.
Who is the worlds greatest athlete? Phelps, Bolt, Tiger, Kobe, Lebron, Federer etc. etc. etc. I don't know the answer to that. What I do know is who shouldn't be. Why is Tiger always included as the greatest athlete? Granted, his dedication, determination, concentration and hand-eye coordination is superior, however I've never seen him move faster than 3 miles an hour. How do we know he doesn't have the ability to leap over a grasshopper or throw a football without looking like my sister?
When I think of an athlete, I think of Antonio Cromartie, Deion, MJ, Randall El.
I'm not saying Tiger might not be a good athlete, but I'll put money on the fact that either of the 4 I just mentioned would crush Tiger in 95% of all sports. Thus being an athlete.
Greatest Olympic Achievement:
Real hard to answer.
Phelps won 8 golds. EIGHT! Along with breaking multiple world records.
Bolt smoked everyone. I've never seen it look that easy. 2 golds and 2 world records. For gods sake he didnt even look like he was trying in some of those qualifiers and finals.
I can't grasp my hands aroung which is more amazing. The only thing that keeps pulling me back to Bolt is the fact that short sprints are like the Holy Grail of the Olympics, summer or winter. The 100m & 200m to swimming is like the Super Bowl to the WNBA Championship Game.
Can you call one feat better than the other?
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Look at the endurance required of Phelps, multiple events, short recovery times, a variety of distances and techniques.
That said, I don't think you can compare across all sports as each as some degree of specification, and each athlete is tuned according to their sport. The question remains is: given his gifts would Phelps enjoy the same success in another arena, would Bolt, would Tiger be the greatest hitter of all-time if he had been focused on baseball at an early age vs. Golf?
It is probably better to compare standard measurements of athletic prowess, VO2 Max for oxygen consumption, strength measures, flexibility, motor skill tests, etc. However you will always have some that are just plain specimens but can't apply these gifts to athletics.
You could argue the decathlon is the purest measure of greatest all-around athlete...but can anyone even name a decathlete besides Jenner or Dan and Dave from the Reebok commercials?
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