Who is more impressive?

Bolt has to do it for an extensive period of time before he can compare himself to Phelps

Bolt is juicing so gonna go with Phelps

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and Phelps is tokin'.

If you think that bolt hasn't ever smoked dope, you're kidding yourself. There just aren't as many cameras around in Jamaica.

[This message has been edited by gobluwolverine (edited 8/17/2009 12:17a).]

And smoking pot is definitely helping him swim faster...

Bolt.

Running:Swimming::Football:Hockey

Head Ninja, believe it or not, in many parts of this country, hockey is still as big as, if not bigger than, football.

Furthermore, I'd surmise that more people swam when they were young than ran track. And anyways, your argument, even if it were legitimate doesn't make Phelps any less IMPRESSIVE. Is Joe Montana more impressive than Wayne Gretzky just because he played football?

Phelps

What Mookie said

If Bolt could hold WRs in 7 different events then lets talk. Bolt is an unbelievable sprinter and he's dazzling to watch. But Phelps is world class in three strokes over three different distances.

For now Phelps is the man. I kinda like him even more now that he appears to enjoy life a bit.

I agree with Spice. Although, 7 is probably not do-able in track. He could do:

100
200
4x100
4x200
Long jump

Then he'd have to do long jump, triple jump, 400?

What Look out Below said.

Phelps.

I recently met a former tu track athlete who is now a private trainer for professional/collegiate/high school sprinters, and he's told me plenty of dirty little secrets of the sprinter world. The testing will probably never completely catch up with the cheaters.

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I recently met a former tu track athlete who is now a private trainer for professional/collegiate/high school sprinters, and he's told me plenty of dirty little secrets of the sprinter world. The testing will probably never completely catch up with the cheaters.

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This is why they need to freeze the samples and test them as the testing improves. Doesn't Lance Armstrong or someone do that?

I'd like to believe he's clean, but dear god is he fast. I would be as loose as he is before my races if I knew I was juiced up too.

Dara Torres and Phelps have allowed blood samples to be taken and stored for future use. Lance was volunteering more since his comeback but I didn't think he was allowing storage. I could be wrong....

I've read that pretty much every single sprinter at the international level is cheating. It's just that the cheating is now so high tech that it's impossible to catch anyone except the dumb ones.

Well, we know a good chunk of the Jamaican team is juicing:

http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/trackandfield/news/story?id=4409197

methylxanthine is not a steroid, it is a stimulant

true, but there is so much freaking smoke around the jamaican team (pardon the pun) that it's impossible for me to ignore. The # of women they have dominating the short sprints seems crazy, Bolt taking huge chunks off of records that have always just come down at slivers at a time, and then their country's weak drug testing system.

I say Bolt is more impressive.

Different sports completely so it's tough to compare, but I come away more impressed with what Bolt does than Phelps.

Now, the bloodwork is being held for years from these events so the testing can catch up with the steroids, so if he is ever caught I'd change my mind, but I'm absolutely blown away by Bolt.

I think a lot of people would answer this Bolt, because of 1 of 3 reasons:

#1. He's more recently been "the man" than has Phelps.
#2. Nobody wants to admit that they think a swimmer is cool.
#3. More people have tried to run fast than swim fast, and thus they can relate more to Bolt's speed than Phelps'.

Of course, there's probably some people who just flat out think Bolt is better. But I bet a majority of people would fall into one of the above 3 categories.

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#1. He's more recently been "the man" than has Phelps.
#2. Nobody wants to admit that they think a swimmer is cool.
#3. More people have tried to run fast than swim fast, and thus they can relate more to Bolt's speed than Phelps'.

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I might get flamed, but I think it's easier to compete in multiple events in swimming than it is running.

That's not to take anything away from Phelps, who did the amazing in Beijing and was spectacular in 04 as well, but it's just different. Swimmers can really add up the medals.

We are literally splitting hairs, but the 100/200(and not only that, but setting WR's in both) is something I hold sacred for achievement in all of sport.

Also, it took a lot of help for Phelps to get his golds than it did Bolt in the Olympics. I think the way he won had something to do with it.

Phelps can be beat in multiple events. It appears Bolt cannot.

they are 2 of the top 5 greatest athletes in the world today, but I go with Bolt(until I hear that he is a roider) by a slim margin.

regarding your "theories"...

1) I thought this after Beijing when they were either equal or with Phelps getting more of the press.

2) Has nothing to do with that. Phelps is a badass, I loved what Spitz did, and what Phelps does it amazing.

3) Always enjoyed swimming, so I hold no "bias."



[This message has been edited by J Peterman (edited 8/22/2009 11:15p).]

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I might get flamed, but I think it's easier to compete in multiple events in swimming than it is running.

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Please elaborate.

I think there is much more of a difference in the different swimming strokes than there is difference between running the 100 and the 200.

I think it's shown over time in world/olympic results, whether the competition is deeper in sprints, or the talents of swimming can overlap different strokes, swimmers have shown the ability to excel in different strokes more often than sprinters in different lengths, especially when talking WR's.

I'm talking specifically about the 100 and the 200...That's what Bolt has done his work in.

[This message has been edited by TXAggie2011 (edited 8/23/2009 1:56a).]

There are numerous examples of top performers in both the 100m and the 200m...most notably Bolt at #1 in both and Gay at #2 in the 100m and #3 in the 200m.

Guys like Walter Dix also come to mind.

Take a look at the Athens Games. Gold in the 200m, Carl Crawford, was on the 4x100 silver medalist team. Silver, Bernard Williams, in the 200m was on the Gold medalist 4x100 team in Sydney. And the Bronze Medalist, Justin Gatlin, of course won the 100m gold.

to win gold in the 100/200 in the same competition, much less set WR's in both.

I would give your argument more credit if you said that winning 3 events in track was harder than winning 3 events in swimming. But winning 3 events in track is certainly not more impressive than winning 7 events in swimming.

Regardless of whether the skills overlap (100 fly and 200 fly overlap only as much as the 100 dash and 200 dash do), I think what's being overlooked is the sheer magnitude of swimming that many races in so few days, and that pushes Phelps over the top for me. Bolt had to run something like 7 races over the course of 5 days? Phelps had to swim 17, and he set world records in 7 out of his 8 events.

If swim meets were set up where Phelps could get the kind of rest between his races that Bolt did between his, Phelps likely could've won 9 or 10 golds in Beijing.

So again, MAYBE you could argue that any 2 of Bolt's performances overtake any 2 of Phelps' (althought I might still disagree), but as a body of work, the impressiveness of Phelps' schedule is what does it for me.

Look, there are arguments to be made both ways no doubt, I think it's silly that anyone is "sure" that one is more impressive than the other. Bolt was named international athlete of the year over Phelps in a close race as well, so it's not some exotic opinion to think of Bolt is the more impressive.

I'm just of the opinion that there is more elite talent at the top of sprinting than there is in swimming.

And again, it's splitting hairs, as both are current top 5 athletes in the world.

I'd say Federer, Woods, Bolt, Phelps, (________)argue away with a 5th, but in no particular order for the world's greatest athletes right now.

[This message has been edited by J Peterman (edited 8/23/2009 1:45p).]

J Peterman - It seems likely that right now - Bolt is more dominant over the rest of world in his two events than Phelps is in his best two events.

But Bolt would not win the 400, or hurdles. Well at least he has never tried so we will never know. Carl Lewis may have been a better all around track athlete, though less dominating.

Phelps isn't just excelling in his events. He has been world's best in 5 different individual events over many years.

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[This message has been edited by TXAggie2011 (edited 8/23/2009 6:11p).]

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to win gold in the 100/200 in the same competition, much less set WR's in both.

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NINE different track athletes have won the 200m Gold to go along with the 100m or 400m Gold.

NINE TIMES in about 30 Olympic Games.


Usain Bolt won Gold in both and Dix won Bronze in both in 2008.

Justin Gatlin win Gold in the 100 and Bronze in the 200 in 2004.

Ato Boldon won Silver in the 100 and Bronze in the 200 in 2000.

Ato Boldon won Bronze in both and Frankie Fredericks won Silver in both in 1996.

Frankie Fredericks did the same thing in 1992.


And the list goes on of being able to be very, very, very elite in both on down past Carl Lewis taking both Golds to Bobby Joe Morrow winning both Golds in 1956 alongside Thane Baker taking Silver and Bronze to Jesse Owens taking both Golds in 1932.



The WR thing and the way they've been set is very impressive, but Gold in both is, by itself, not comparable to what Phelps did.

[This message has been edited by TXAggie2011 (edited 8/23/2009 6:29p).]

and swimming expanded the total number of events GREATLY about 50 years ago.

With the insane amount events, you would have seen dominant swimmers take tons of gold way back when as well.

I didn't say 200/400, I said 100/200, much less WR's n both.

5 have done it since Owens, and only 2 in the same time frame that swimming expanded their event totals greatly.

Again, I think the depth of elite sprinting talent is greater than elite swimming talent. I think the way Bolt has been shattering these records in the Olympics and World's stands out. I think him winning the 100/200 gold, setting WR's in both, and destroying the competition, is unbelievable.

Not to take anything away from Phelps. I've said it multiple times, this is like splitting hairs.

And again, Bolt being "more impressive" than Phelps has been and is a completely valid argument. Arguments can be made both ways, but I dont think this is just some easy, clear cut fact that Phelps is more impressive.

[This message has been edited by J Peterman (edited 8/23/2009 6:38p).]

I think Bolt could train in the long jump and set world records in that within a couple years.

Until Bolt does what you say - it doesn't mean a thing. Most in the swimming world think Phelps could own the 400M freestyle record too. And possibly 200M backstroke (he has beaten Aaron Peirsol several times at this distance). But it's a moot point until he does it.

Bolt is amazing no doubt.