Comparing Olympians is hard. Michael Phelps has more medals than

Jul 3, 2024
9:35:41am

Mister P Truly Addicted User

Anyone in history. Does that make him the greatest athlete of all time?

For example, compare the 50 meter swim to a decathlon. The events are not equal.

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Mister P

Bio page: Mister P
Joined: Sep 16, 2005
Last login: Jul 5, 2024
Total posts: 63,100 (1,687 FO)

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Messages

Author

Time

For those touting Biles, who is remarkable,

Archaea

Jul 3, 9:31am

Didn’t Biles wet the bed at the last Olympics and let down the team and the

Magneto

Jul 3, 9:34am

No. She did not let anyone down.

Mister P

Jul 3, 9:36am

Call it what it is. She dropped out of the what, final round? That’s a let down.

Dr MoBYU

Jul 3, 9:40am

There is plenty of info out there on what happened to her at the last Olympics.

NC CougarBear

Jul 3, 10:29am

Go ahead and point out where I dump on her. And where I’m wrong.

Dr MoBYU

Jul 3, 1:04pm

You can respect her and recognize her amazing accomplishments but also recognize she did, in fact, let people down.

Tokolosh

Jul 3, 9:41am

And this Olympics is her redemption

Archaea

Jul 3, 9:45am

Huh?

rivercitycoug

Jul 3, 9:49am

I have zero issue with her having a panic or anxiety attack and her making

Alan Schaefer

Jul 3, 9:50am

I guess I liken it to an injury. She was well prepped and deserving, but

Mister P

Jul 3, 9:54am

You seriously think that it was all just a coincidence? Come on man.

Alan Schaefer

Jul 3, 9:58am

You thought she conspired to have a bad performance? For what?

Mister P

Jul 3, 10:05am

You think the pressure of the world’s biggest stage had nothing to do with the mental difficulties that arose? It was

mvtoro

Jul 3, 10:15am

Uh. No…. Of course not. Not sure how that conclusion entered into

Alan Schaefer

Jul 3, 10:21am

Not sure if we’ll ever know the “real” reason she quit on her team. The GOAT

Magneto

Jul 3, 10:15am

Flo-Jo should at least be mentioned too.

Courtimedes

Jul 3, 9:34am

Comparing Olympians is hard. Michael Phelps has more medals than

Mister P

Jul 3, 9:35am

But Phelps was great in fly, free and IM.

Archaea

Jul 3, 9:38am

Another example would be gymnastics.

Mister P

Jul 3, 9:40am

Yeah & the thing about gymnastics is that the window for excellence is so short

runnincoug

Jul 3, 9:47am

The window of excellence has been closed

Archaea

Jul 3, 9:49am

For gymnastics it's also about changing bodies. It's easier for 16 year olds

runnincoug

Jul 3, 10:30am

TNT: How many dominant women are you talking about? Where can one meet them?

Ted Lasso

Jul 3, 9:36am

RE: TNT: How many dominant women are you talking about? Where can one meet

Mister P

Jul 3, 9:38am

It's not recency bias. Biles has dominated a full sport for close to a decade. It's a sport that's

CSoul

Jul 3, 9:37am

JJK was a heptathlete and long jump specialist.

Archaea

Jul 3, 9:40am

I don't buy this. I'd wager there are many more people competitively swimming

Chucky Nuggies

Jul 3, 9:49am

Yeah I'm confused by that comment.

JuicyJam

Jul 3, 9:50am

Yes. Gymnastics is a sport for the elite

Archaea

Jul 3, 9:51am

Not in each individual event. Everyone does the same events in gymnastics. And popularity

CSoul

Jul 3, 9:57am

Are you talking about tv viewership as opposed to participation?

Archaea

Jul 3, 10:02am

It's both. I don't think this is hard to understand. All participation isn't created equal. Track and swimming and

CSoul

Jul 3, 10:12am

You are working too hard and wrong about swimmers.

Archaea

Jul 3, 10:22am

You are talking to Americans here so why are we switching to talk about global participation? Also my daughter is

CSoul

Jul 3, 10:25am

Starting good.

Archaea

Jul 3, 10:34am

Ok. In America there are way more children and adults in competitive swimming than gymnastics. There are 4x as many

mvtoro

Jul 3, 10:44am

Yet most of those swimmers would also say Biles vs Ledecky. Again, it's not looked at the same and

CSoul

Jul 3, 11:18am

I shouldn't have gotten into this argument. It's dumb and I don't really care. I like all the

CSoul

Jul 3, 11:28am

What data do you have that most start at 10-11?

Archaea

Jul 3, 11:32am

For most of our local clubs they don't have any competitive swimming until 8 at the earliest

CSoul

Jul 3, 11:37am

We probably took swimming too seriously too early because

Archaea

Jul 3, 2:26pm

No, I wasn’t a swimmer. Just saying the idea that there are “way more” gymnasts competing than swimmers isn’t remotely

mvtoro

Jul 3, 11:35am

I was touting the fact that she's 4'8" and jumped 12 ft in the air. I can't think of another human achieving that kind

Supercoug

Jul 3, 9:45am

She is very remarkable but there are other remarkable

Archaea

Jul 3, 9:47am

Agree, and watching Ledecky absolutely torch her competition is really fun, but I think people see somebody swimming,

RoaroftheCougartails

Jul 3, 10:03am

Possibly but as a former swimmer people are deluding themselves

Archaea

Jul 3, 10:05am

True, but not everybody is a former swimmer. I'll even say most former athletes or people who still work out would

RoaroftheCougartails

Jul 3, 10:14am

Well I did gymnastics as a youth and know I couldn’t

Archaea

Jul 3, 10:23am

Kinda. Those floors have springs. Still amazing but...

Mister P

Jul 3, 9:48am

On a trampoline, yes.

Longseason

Jul 3, 9:48am

She does seem to get noticeably higher, but how does that compare to the other

JuicyJam

Jul 3, 9:56am

It's this, not only does she dominate her sport, she is doing things that nobody else can do. Incredibly athletic things

RoaroftheCougartails

Jul 3, 10:01am

But more incredible than JJK, Shiffrin, Ledecky or Serena Williams?

Archaea

Jul 3, 10:03am

I am a huge Serena fan. GOAT in my book. But even watching her serve in her prime doesn't bring the same wow or flash

RoaroftheCougartails

Jul 3, 10:22am

Wilt then Jordan.

Archaea

Jul 3, 10:25am

I'd like to see how caitlyn jenner would fare against fellow modern women

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