Eighth wonder of the world

[El Supremo]

8 for 8!

[joeybee12]

1. Greatest Olympian ever!

He was up near the top after 2004...how can anyone argue he's not the best now?

[Upton]

3. He may be the greatest swimmer but greatest Olympian?

not IMO. It is much easier to run up your medal count in swimming, it's no coincidence that another swimmer held the previous record.

[joeybee12]

4. Sorry, no doubt in my mind...

...the longevity is the factor...brilliant in 2 Olympics.

[Upton]

5. Plenty of doubt in my mind

in particular his so called 1/100 of a second victory over Cavic in the butterfly event. The official timeskeeper of the event was Omega, guess who Omega's official spokesman is?....none other than Michael Phelps.

Take a look at this photo, you tell me who is touching first?

[joeybee12]

8. Phelps won that race...

...no doubt whatsoever, none, nada, zilch.

[michreject]

17. How many did Olga Korbut partake in?

And win? She dominated her sport for yers and inspired many more to take up gymnastics.

[Wetzelbill]

2. I can't think of anything that really describes how great he is

I am humbled watching him.

[underpants]

6. I hate to say this-as great as that achievement was he got out shined last night by Bolt

Holy F*$%!!!! that was amazing

[Awsi Dooger]

11. No doubt about it

Bolt was freakish. I can't think of anything remotely comparable.

Also, as great as Phelps was, Eric Heiden's feat is more remarkable, IMO. He beat the specialists in every distance from the 500 sprint to the 10,000. That would be like Phelps winning 5 distances ranging from 50 meters to the 10,000.

What a front loaded Olympics, from a USA standpoint. Get ready for plenty of basketball and beach volleyball. The track and field team is bombing in almost every event. No survivors to the 1500 final. I knew Lagat was a joke with that stretch running style. Other than the men's 400 there aren't many races with clear cut USA advantage. Perhaps the relays and 400 hurdles.

NBC might want to show Phelps replays all week. Get him in the open water events.

[underpants]

12. Thanks for that SPOILER alert

Just kidding

Lagat barely got out of the prelims after getting blocked in TWICE. The other guy (looks like a 800 runner) must not have done well either.

I really feel for Dana Kastor-she had a lot riding on her and to have a foot break at the 5K mark (literally where 3M was spray painted) was heartbreaking. I know because I just found out that I have a stress fracture so my November marathon is OVER. She really was set up to have a great run. That Romanian ran a GREAT race though.


Aside from the achievement of Bolt the sheer joy on the face of the girl (who came out of NOWHERE at the Jamaican trials) was the highlight of the Olumpics so far.

[Awsi Dooger]

16. I watched the 1500 semis before posting

It was on NBC late last night, the regular prime time show. Lagat thought he qualified. He was talking to Bob Neumeyer (sp?) acting like he made the finals, and was happy with the improvement from first heat to semi. Then they showed the field for the finals and Lagat missed by 2/100.

Now the best American hope in the 110 hurdles, silver medalist from '04, is also out, failing to finish his heat. This is the worst start to the second week I can remember. And the boxing team is pathetic, only one medal contender. They really need to change the amateur boxing format, back to 3 rounds and subjective scoring. I can't even watch the current set up, which came about after the Roy Jones travesty in '88.

I was very happy the Romanian woman held on in the marathon. It ended up only a 22 second gap after she led by basically a minute for the last half of the race. I almost always root for the front runner, the one who did all the work for the bulk of the event. And I'll never forget in '84 after the final day of the Los Angeles Olympics I was eating at a McDonald's not far from the USC campus about an hour after the closing ceremony. Next thing I knew there was commotion in the McDonald's. Turned out the winner of the men's marathon from earlier that day was in the restaurant and many people had recognized him, primarily the foreigners. He could have sat down next to me and I wouldn't have had a clue.

Best of luck with the stress fracture. My younger sister and her husband are suddenly fixated on running and training for marathons, half marathons, and in his case even a triathlon. Every time I ask for birthday or Christmas gift ideas, the response is something to do with that pursuit.

My problem with NBC's coverage is too much of it is predictable, if you sit back and analyze. For example, yesterday afternoon I was watching all the rowing finals. Tim Ryan is the lead commentator. They showed the women's and men's, back to back leading up to the 8s. After the men's 4s they jumped smack to the men's 8s. I was wondering what the hell happened to the women's 8s? It was obviously the USA's best teams, women's and men's 8s. The men got the bronze. Then it hit me. Duh. They're not showing the women's 8s because the Americans win the gold medal and they are saving that for prime time. Sure enough. Not exactly much suspense.

[Redbear]

7. I think Jesse Owens is the greatest Olympian ever

followed closely by Jim Thorpe

[thewiseguy]

9. You are absolutely correct about Jesse Owens

[Upton]

14. Agree completely

Jesse Owens and his achievements at the 1936 Berlin Olympics transcended sports and are still celebrated 70 years later. Will anybody even know the name of Michael Phelps 70 years from now?

[Scurrilous]

15. Michael Phelps?

Wasn't he in the Mommas and the Poppas?

[thewiseguy]

10. If it was not for Jason's heroics Phelps would not have 8 gold medals

Plus I am still not certain about the 200M butterfly race. I really do believe the other guy finished first. Third, Mark Spitz only competed in 7 events and broke the record 7 times and won the gold 7 times.

Last, as someone else mentioned upthread you can accumulate a bunch of medals as a swimmer in Olympics. That does not mean you are the greatest Olympian!

[Goblinmonger]

13. As to the 200M Fly

when the Servian coaches watched the 1/10000 pictures of the finish, THEY withdrew the challenge and said Phelps won. That's all I need.

[joeybee12]

18. Good for them! I can't fault them for filing a protest when

something is that close.