Big Guy Posted August 16, 2016 Author Report Share Posted August 16, 2016 In my time, the greatest athlete was considered the winner of the decathlon. The individual was tested in a variety of human abilities and the winner was considered the best "overall" athlete. But best etc depends on the criteria set by the evaluator. I know the arguments that take place when discussing the MVP of anything and the comparison of Wayne Gretzky and Bobby Orr. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 16, 2016 Report Share Posted August 16, 2016 (edited) Phelps and Ledecky may be the Secretariat of swimming , but IMO, Bolt is the greatest Olympian ever. The medal count Phelps has wracked up is impressive, but that is aided by the fact that swimmers can participate in a ridiculous number of ridiculous events. Races should be about getting from point A to B as fast as possible, not in some artificially slow manner. Forget different strokes, (what you talkin bout Willis?) swimmers should be permitted to move their bodies however they like to get down the lane as fast as they can. During the breaststroke for example, they are only permitted to dolphin kick once while underwater because it is much faster than the incredibly slow and inefficient stroke itself. Bolt has won 100% of his events, holds records in each and is the only one to be the fastest person in the world 3 times. I feel that if track was as ridiculous as swimming and added the backwards run, crab walk and burlap sac hop, along with the relays for each, medleys and medley relays, Bolt would have an insane number of medals as well. Edited August 16, 2016 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boges Posted August 16, 2016 Report Share Posted August 16, 2016 Bolt has won 100% of his events, holds records in each and is the only one to be the fastest person in the world 3 times. I feel that if track was as ridiculous as swimming and added the backwards run, crab walk and burlap sac hop, along with the relays for each, medleys and medley relays, Bolt would have an insane number of medals as well. In fairness, track does. Long Jump, Triple Jump, High Jump, Power Walking, Hurdles. etc etc. But to say Bolt is less great because he doesn't participate in the 400m or the 100m Hurdles is a bit much. Sprinting is a highly specialized discipline. As Big Guy mentions, there's the Decathalon for all around athletes. BUT a Decathalete is unlikely to win individual medals in other events. Carl Lewis is the outlier there however. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 16, 2016 Report Share Posted August 16, 2016 In fairness, track does. Long Jump, Triple Jump, High Jump, Power Walking, Hurdles. etc etc. But to say Bolt is less great because he doesn't participate in the 400m or the 100m Hurdles is a bit much. Sprinting is a highly specialized discipline. Those events are far less similar than swimming disciplines though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-TSS- Posted August 16, 2016 Report Share Posted August 16, 2016 USA is the biggest of the rich countries and that's why they top the medal-table. In fact it would be embarrassing for them if they didn't. However I'm sure that in the future olympics it will be the Chinese topping the medal-table with a long gap to the next ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bush_cheney2004 Posted August 16, 2016 Report Share Posted August 16, 2016 In fairness, track does. Long Jump, Triple Jump, High Jump, Power Walking, Hurdles. etc etc. But to say Bolt is less great because he doesn't participate in the 400m or the 100m Hurdles is a bit much. Sprinting is a highly specialized discipline. Not that specialized....why hasn't Bolt won a gold medal in the Long Jump, like Lewis or Owens ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boges Posted August 16, 2016 Report Share Posted August 16, 2016 (edited) Not that specialized....why hasn't Bolt won a gold medal in the Long Jump, like Lewis or Owens ? Just the reality of the sport now. It's very rare to see athletes enter multiple events like that. Gotta train your ass off for those extra hundreds of a second. Americans like Justin Gatlin aren't doing it either. That being said, I'm not sure why Bolt doesn't try the 400m or the 200m relay. Edited August 16, 2016 by Boges Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bush_cheney2004 Posted August 16, 2016 Report Share Posted August 16, 2016 USA is the biggest of the rich countries and that's why they top the medal-table. In fact it would be embarrassing for them if they didn't. However I'm sure that in the future olympics it will be the Chinese topping the medal-table with a long gap to the next ones. China has a long way to go to top the total medal table for all Olympics (winter/summer): Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-TSS- Posted August 16, 2016 Report Share Posted August 16, 2016 I like watching volleyball but that beachvolley is just rubbish. It is having fun when on a picnic in a beach but serious sport? Never! Unfortunately it seems to be the TV-director's favourite event as it seems to be on all the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GostHacked Posted August 16, 2016 Report Share Posted August 16, 2016 I disagree. Professional sports is business. Drug use is and has always been rampant in the NFL and NHL. How many hockey fans care if the "enforcer" is crazed on steroids or just doing his job when he starts to pound the **** out of the opposition star. How about the defenceman with a broken ankle playing in the playoffs with his foot frozen? Cross country bike racing, soccer, basketball etc are rampant with drug use - some for enhancement, some because they have too much money and some to stay physically able to compete. We already know that enhancement drugs are being used by all teams but the attendance or viewing audience has not suffered. I think sport fans are repelled my mediocracy and apathy of players. It stops being a sport when these types of drugs are involved. Sportsmanship would no longer be a valid word either. It's called cheating and if you can't play in the rules, then you should not be playing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boges Posted August 16, 2016 Report Share Posted August 16, 2016 I like watching volleyball but that beachvolley is just rubbish. It is having fun when on a picnic in a beach but serious sport? Never! Unfortunately it seems to be the TV-director's favourite event as it seems to be on all the time. Beach is actually much harder. The rules are more restrictive and the players have to do everything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bush_cheney2004 Posted August 17, 2016 Report Share Posted August 17, 2016 Beach is actually much harder. The rules are more restrictive and the players have to do everything. Yes...must be tough having to pull your bikini bottoms out of your butt all the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boges Posted August 17, 2016 Report Share Posted August 17, 2016 Yes...must be tough having to pull your bikini bottoms out of your butt all the time. That doesn't really speak to rules of the game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boges Posted August 17, 2016 Report Share Posted August 17, 2016 I never thought I'd enjoy watching the High Jump. http://olympics.cbc.ca/news/article/derek-drouin-wins-gold-olympic-high-jump.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-TSS- Posted August 17, 2016 Report Share Posted August 17, 2016 Women's wrestling is much nicer to watch than women's boxing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boges Posted August 17, 2016 Report Share Posted August 17, 2016 (edited) Women's wrestling is much nicer to watch than women's boxing. Or women's Basketball, at least with Women's Volleyball they lower the net so the Men's and Women's game resemble each other a bit. Edited August 17, 2016 by Boges Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boges Posted August 18, 2016 Report Share Posted August 18, 2016 Who thought the biggest non-sports story to come out of Rio wouldn't be someone getting robbed at gun point. It'd be an athlete lying about getting robbed at gun point and leaving his friends in Brazil to suffer the fallout. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/19/sports/olympics/police-say-ryan-lochte-lied-about-gunpoint-assault.html?_r=0 The case made global headlines after the Olympic gold medalist Ryan Lochte claimed that men posing as police officers had pulled over their taxi and that an assailant had put a cocked gun to his forehead before taking his money. He later altered his account, saying the taxi stopped at a gas station so they could use the bathroom. A different description of events is emerging from Brazilian authorities on Thursday. Officials say the taxi carrying the swimmers stopped at a Shell gas station about 6 a.m., shortly after the men exited a party at Club France, an Olympic hospitality house established here in the upscale Lagoa district. At the gas station, which is in Barra da Tijuca, on the route to the athletes’ village, the swimmers went to the bathroom. In the process, according to the account by investigators, damage was done to the bathroom door and a discussion ensued with the manager and a security guard. So he's back in the States, but his "friends" got taken off a plane and had their passport confiscated. We know from the Simpsons episode on Brazil, that they don't like being slandered. I wonder if Lochte's buds will take the fall for this. I doubt he'll be asked to take part in a relay ever again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Guy Posted August 18, 2016 Author Report Share Posted August 18, 2016 Looks to me like he passed on the baton and just kept running. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boges Posted August 19, 2016 Report Share Posted August 19, 2016 What was that about Usain Bolt? He made an amazing performance by Canada's Andre De Grasse look ordinary last night. Does the Jamaican relay team need to win for him to be pegged as the most dominant Olympian ever? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bush_cheney2004 Posted August 19, 2016 Report Share Posted August 19, 2016 ...Does the Jamaican relay team need to win for him to be pegged as the most dominant Olympian ever? Not yet....Bolt is moving up the list but he has not topped many dominance rankings for past Olympians. Example: https://sports.bwin.com/en/news/infographics/usain-bolt-eighth-and-michael-phelps-second-so-who-is-the-greatest-olympian-of-all-time,98347.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 19, 2016 Report Share Posted August 19, 2016 So, Ray Ewry. Yep, just as I thought... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boges Posted August 19, 2016 Report Share Posted August 19, 2016 (edited) Not yet....Bolt is moving up the list but he has not topped many dominance rankings for past Olympians. Example: https://sports.bwin.com/en/news/infographics/usain-bolt-eighth-and-michael-phelps-second-so-who-is-the-greatest-olympian-of-all-time,98347.html That metric is stupid. And also outdated. Your #1 guy did it over 4 Olympics. Bolt will have won 9 (assuming a win this weekend in the relay) in 3. He also likely did it before there were any black people allowed to compete. Edited August 19, 2016 by Boges Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-TSS- Posted August 19, 2016 Report Share Posted August 19, 2016 One thing these games will be remembered for is the badly behaved spectators. I knew from soccer that Brazilians aren't exactly well-behaved but the episode of the pole vault-race as well as the same contest medal ceremony really made Brazilians look stupid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bush_cheney2004 Posted August 19, 2016 Report Share Posted August 19, 2016 That metric is stupid. And also outdated. It is just one quantitative approach...there are others. Show me one where Bolt comes out #1. That "stupid" list includes very impressive records from many other Olympians...men and women. Your #1 guy did it over 4 Olympics. Bolt will have won 9 (assuming a win this weekend in the relay) in 3. He also likely did it before there were any black people allowed to compete. Huh ? "Black people" have competed in the modern Olympics since 1900. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boges Posted August 19, 2016 Report Share Posted August 19, 2016 (edited) But the logic of the approach you cite can be blown out of the water easily. It's true though, that it's all subjective of what you value. But wouldn't an objective person value winning percentage the top indicator? And if the two had the same winning percentage than wouldn't the time it took to win those medals be the second? Also World Records need to be taken into consideration. Where Bolt has the records of all the events he competes in. Even though he hasn't broken any in these Olympics. It really comes down to Bolt and Phelps and not some obscure athletes from early last century. I don't think we've ever seen an athlete be so dominant in his 3rd Olympics like Bolt has been. These races aren't even close. Edited August 19, 2016 by Boges Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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