Michael Phelps is great, but he is NOT the greatest Olympian ever| THE HERD

Is Michael Phelps the greatest Olympian ever? Nick Wright and Colin Cowherd debate.

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[justincolon]

It is easy in Olympic terms to be the greatest FREE STYLE swimmer

It is not easy to be the greatest all around swimmer.

It's not a discussion. He is the G.O.A.T. because he can actually do it all

[MrColeemon]

he's joking right. each swimming event takes different techniques you have to master. phelps can swim 8 different events and has won gold in each of them. 22 gold medals so far with one more to possibly win tomorrow night. 26 total Olympic medals so far. he's the greatest Olympian ever. it's not even a debate.

[cooklear]

I lost brain cells when he said "It's a NICH sport"...

[misty]

Don't even compare anyone to phelps

[longjohnsilverthorne]

greatest athlete ever - obviously not.
greatest Olympian ever - a very good case could be made.
greatest swimmer ever - no debate

[alvesbest]

They don't realize that swimming is an extremely difficult sport and you can't swim all strokes perfectly!

[quannarula]

Greatest swimmer of all time no doubt about it

[RiverS]

That’s cap.
Most runners only qualify for one event, as most swimmers only qualify for one event also, but Michael is just so good that he can qualify for 5 and do 3 relays. Swimming different strokes is like running either the 100m hurdles or the 100m dash, they are completely different and you need different skills for each of them. If a runner wins in the 100m dash, and also wins in the mile, are you going to discredit his gold medal? No. He clearly dose not know anything bout swimming.

[jesusthroughmary]

Michael Phelps has 28 Olympic medals (23 gold, 3 silver, 2 bronze). The second-most decorated Olympic swimmer, depending on how you want to view it, is either Mark Spitz (11 total medals, 9 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze) or Ryan Lochte (12 total medals, 6 gold, 3 silver, 3 bronze). The second most decorated Olympian, period, is gymnast Larissa Latynina (18 total medals, 9 gold, 5 silver, 4 bronze).

Looking only at individual medals, Phelps is still the all-time leader in both golds (13) and total medals (16). Nobody else has more than eight golds. The next swimmer on the list has five golds and seven total medals; the next male swimmer on the list is again either Spitz with four golds or Lochte with seven medals.

It's not because he's a swimmer, folks.

[FLEETWOOD]

the "run backwards" analogy is hogwash... because those different events Phelps participate in are very different from one another and he has to go through qualifying in each of those.. Michael Johnson won the 200 meters and the 400 meters... why didn't he participate in the 100 meters?...since running is running.... for Phelps to dominate three olympics is crazy...

[Picobozo]

This is profoundly ignorant. Each Stroke and each distance of each stroke takes a completely different set of skills and preparation. Phelps does the equivalent of being the best at throwing discuss, hammer throw, javelin, shotput, and polevault. I'm with Colin more times then not, but this time you guys completely missed the mark.

[cp]

Phelps could have won 2x if they wouldn't limit swimmers to 8 per.

[ajsvista]

0:32 "What if in the 100-yard dash, or the 100-meter dash, where Usain Bolt is dominant, he got to run it, and then they're like, 'Hey, you can win another gold running it backwards. Then you can win a gold skipping it.' How many golds would Usain Bolt have?"

[declanmellett]

This is absolute BS. This guy obviously knows nothing about swimming or Michael Phelps
At 0:37 Nick Wright makes the argument that Usain Bolt could have won more gold medals if he was allowed to run the 100m skipping or backwards.Come on, this was a complete insult to everyone's intelligence. A more correct analogy would be that Michael Phelps is equal to someone who can win GOLD in the 100m, 200m, decathlon, shot put, javelin, 4x100, 4x400, and 110m hurdles. This is because Michael Phelps was proficient in the butterfly, IM, distance and middle distance freestyle, backstroke, and relay events (At all different distances). You might say swimming is swimming, but track+field is track+field He also makes the argument that there are completely different rules from track and field. This could not be farther from the truth. In track if you ENTER 8 EVENTS, and then WIN GOLD in all of them, then you receive 8 GOLD MEDALS. So no, Usain Bolt is nowhere near Michael Phelps' level.
Another reason is that Michael Phelps went to his first Olympics at AGE 15. A few months later, he broke his first world record at AGE 15. Think not even being halfway through high school, and being the greatest ever in the 200 Butterfly. Usain Bolt can't say that. Michael Phelps went to his last Olympics at age 33. If my math is right, Michael Phelps attended 5 DIFFERENT OLYMPIC GAMES. Over these games he won 28 medals, 23 of which were gold. He won 8 of those in one Olympics.
The other guy then went on to say at 2:10 that it is not a fair contest because not everyone swims and a load of nonsense. This only makes Michael Phelps greater because he is the best in a sport that no one pays attention to. Who would have thought that such an unpopular sport could house the greatest athlete of all time?
Then Nick went on to talk about Carl Lewis. CARL LEWIS GOT BUSTED FOR STEROIDS! Nick said that he won the gold in the long jump at age 35. Well Phelps won 5 and a silver at age 31 after coming out of retirement for 2 years which anyone would agree is more impressive. He also said that he qualified for the Olympics 16 years after qualifying the first time. Well guess what, SO DID PHELPS. And as I said before he won 5 GOLD MEDALS
In conclusion Phelps is the greatest these two men are the worst.

[rigelgutierrez]

This is what happens when you are forced to comment about a sport you know nothing about. People laugh at you

[chrisBDS]

also, do you realize runners have 100m, 200m, 100m relay, 200m relay, 110 hurdles, etc. you have many chances to win it too. each swimming style is different mechanically...thats why its always dumb to do a greatest of all time between sports. its very difficult between eras

[auswillis]

If Swimmers have the most opportunities then why does the second most Gold medals Swimmer have only 9?

[edparker]

Do they know that their "greatest" Olympian, Carl Lewis, got busted for steroids?

[Butterboi]

Came in initially disagreeing, but they made some great points

[johneber]

"He qualifies and wins gold 16 years later" was a point in favor of Carl Lewis. Kind of sounds like a point about Phelps in the 200 fly!