OT: Phelps or Bolt?

Submitted by goblue1213 on
So, with the Olympics wrapping up I had a discussion with a buddy about who is he more dominant Olympian. Michael Phelps the man who holds record for most individual gold medals in a career and also in a single Olympics. Usain Bolt the man who for 3 stright Olympics has won the "triple" by sweeping the 100m, 200m, and 4x100 relay. He is undefeated in Olympic finals. So, what is the boards opinion? My vote goes to Bolt. Undefeated is undefeated in the Olympics.
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pescadero

August 22nd, 2016 at 3:31 PM ^

"Bolt is insanely good at doing one thing, but he'd lose almost every competition you care to put him in against Phelps."

 

Bolt played a lot of cricket and has played some pickup games with professional players,  as well as playing soccer as a kid.

Bolt has the 6th fastest youth 400m time ever recorded.

 

I'm guessing Bolt beats Phelps at basically every running sport and field event.

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bluenoteSA80

August 22nd, 2016 at 1:36 PM ^

Based on that reasoning, what's the point of the hurdles in track? The steeplechase? Racewalking? Why would anyone put hurdles in the way of sprinters? Why would you want to jump over a big hurdle and into water, getting your shoes all wet while trying to go fast? Why would anyone walk fast when they could just run?

Usain Bolt is the dominant sprinter of this era, that is unquestioned. However, by his own admission, he won't run the 400m because "training for it hurts too much." He'd probably be a threat to win that event, but elected not to do so. Michael Phelps didn't shy away from any event he felt he could be competitive in. Yes, he had more events than Bolt to choose from, but that's part of what makes him more well-rounded as an athlete.

Here's the kicker....Bolt is only in a tie for most track and field golds of all time. Phelps stands alone in total swimming golds by a huge margin. 

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Goggles Paisano

August 22nd, 2016 at 5:40 AM ^

Both are phenominal athletes but I have to say that I am more interested in Bolt.  There is something....I'm not sure of the right word to use here....along the lines of appealing/incredible/just flat out primal to be the fastest man ever to live.  For me, running fast trumps swimming fast so my vote goes to Bolt.  

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ak47

August 21st, 2016 at 10:47 PM ^

Bolt could have won medals in the 400 and 800, he just never tried. If he ran the 400 he also could have run the 4x400 and had another chance at gold. There is also long jump which sprinters have done in the past and 110 m hurdles all available for bolt to have tried. Him not pushing himself beyond one skill isn't a reason to knock phelps. Track has plenty of opportunities to win medals, hell bolt used to run the 400 as a teenager.

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Yo_Blue

August 22nd, 2016 at 8:48 AM ^

You don't know that he could have held his own at longer distances against runners who train specifically for that.  He would probably do well, but you can't say for certainty.  Phelps never tried to race longer distances.  There's a reason for that.

On the other hand, Phelps has won with different strokes which is just as tough as swimming or running longer distances in this age of specialization.

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CarlosSpicyweiner21

August 22nd, 2016 at 10:42 AM ^

So by his not doing it he shows he is a lesser athlete than Phelps right? Phelps maybe didn't want to do some evenst, but said I want to be known as the best Oympian ever, so he did them all.

Bolt could ahve done them and as some say won them, but he didn't because it was too hard. Maybe he doesn't win Gold 3 years if he throws in the 400M and another relay. 

Phelps did them all and won them all. We can't give Bolt credit on coulda woulda.

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East German Judge

August 21st, 2016 at 10:58 PM ^

Phelps - as he has won gold in 100m, 200m AND 400m events, Bolt in only 100m and 200m.  He has never wanted to do 400m as he didn't want to train that hard for that - per NBC telecast.

In addition, he has done it over a longer span of time and let alone using various different strokes and events and the IM which is somewhat like a mini-decathlon. 

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FreddieMercuryHayes

August 21st, 2016 at 9:18 PM ^

Would he? Perhaps, perhaps not. Perhaps he's so dominate in his selected events because he only runs two distances. His events are less diverse. Allyson Felix is the most decorated female female track and field Olympian because she runs the 100, 200, and 400. But she hasn't won gold every time. Why isn't she in this conversation.



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rainingmaize

August 21st, 2016 at 9:50 PM ^

Do you not consider putting hurdles and even water pits on a track as inefficiant obstacles? Bolt can only dominate in the sprinting events. Phelps dominated in both inefficient or not efficient events ranging in distances from 50 meters to 400 meters.

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feanor

August 21st, 2016 at 9:10 PM ^

Bolt. Everyone has run a sprint. The percentage of the world's population running vs. swimming makes Bolt much more impressive than Phelps. Also Bolt hasn't lost a sprint in 9 years(one DQ for a false start). He has been much more dominant in his events.

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getsome

August 21st, 2016 at 9:44 PM ^

not to mention hes often laughing and pointing at opponents or just coasting down the stretch while still posting crazy victories.

both are freaks though.  2 all timers.  its just so tough to compare - as harbaugh would say, someone will be diminished.  id prob say bolt simply bc hes more entertaining, not that hes a better olympian than phelps

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rainingmaize

August 21st, 2016 at 10:01 PM ^

I've done both competitive swimming and track and have seen new athletes try both without prior experience. On day 1, everyone is able to run a 100 meter sprint. Maybe not fast, but they are able to complete it. I did hs swimming when its popularity exploded after Phelps' 2008 Olympics. We doubled the size of the team at one point because we got a lot of athletes who knew how to swim and thought that was good enough. We got a variety of athletes ranging from football players, cross country runners, track stars, baseball players, ect. On day one, I would estimate about 75 percent of the new swimmers were not able to complete one 50 meter lap without needing to pull on the lane lines for assistance. Swimming by it's nature is a much more intensive activity on the body then running.

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Indonacious

August 21st, 2016 at 10:06 PM ^

Mere completion of a task at a more basic level doesn't make being able to do it at a world class level any easier or harder. In football terms, we could all probably complete an off tackle run, run a post route, make a block (all with varying degrees of competency) but doing those at an world class level is what we are talking about here.

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pescadero

August 22nd, 2016 at 3:41 PM ^

"Swimming by it's nature is a much more intensive activity on the body then running."

While swimming is more difficult for a given speed/distance due to the resistance of water.... I'd say the big difference in your experience is:

 

Almost everyone has been running since they were 2 years old.

 

A kid showing up for their first 100m has 10-12 years experience running, and a few hours a day for those years.

A kid trying out for the swim team likely has only a couple years of swimming experience, and probably only a couple hours per WEEK for those years.

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ak47

August 21st, 2016 at 10:51 PM ^

This is such a terrible argument to make at elite levels. Are the accomplishments of Messi and Ronaldo greater than the accomplishments of Brady because more people play soccer in the world. What about cricket? More people play cricket than football growing up. Sprinting at the Olympics has been dominated by the United states until recently when it has been dominated by bolt. China, japan, most of Europe and Australia put out more elite swimmers than sprinters. Middle distant and long distance and field might be a different story but when it comes to sprinting it isn't that spread out in terms of elite talent.

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dmac24

August 21st, 2016 at 9:08 PM ^

Hard to compare. Phelps has far more opportunities to win that many events. If there were 3 different types of the 100m in track as there are in swimming, would Bolt master them to the tune of 23 gold medals? I'd say so, but it's like asking who's better, Jordan or Gretzky.

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pescadero

August 22nd, 2016 at 3:52 PM ^

I don't know if he'd win today - but he doesn't start as slowly as people seem to think....

In both the 2008 and 2009 world record 100m races by Bolt he ran the first 60m faster than the current 60m world record.


In 2008 he ran 6.32 for the first 60m, in 2009 he ran 6.31 for the first 60m - the world record is 6.39.

 

Bolt also has run the fastest 150m ever, and the second fastest 300m ever.

 

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MichiganExile

August 21st, 2016 at 9:17 PM ^

Phelps has a more impressive resume, mostly due to the number of events in which he can compete. Bolt is better compared to his peers in the few events (relative to Phelps) that he does compete. 

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