Is Michael Phelps the Greatest Olympian Ever?

The Olympic games have been in existence dating back to the times of Ancient Greece, and have become an increasingly global event since. The games gained their resurgence in the 1800's in Europe and have since seen the birth of the IOC in 1896, which catapulted the games into what they are today. With such a long history, there is a lot of talk of who the best Olympian of all time is. With such an extensive history surrounding the Olympics, that's a loaded question, but based on the growth of the games, the top athlete has to come from a recent games. Now for those who should warrant consideration:

Michael Phelps: We all know about Michael Phelps. He is far and above the most dominant swimmer we have ever seen and holds the most medals of any Olympian ever with 18 gold and 22 overall. In 2008, he turned in one of the most impressive performances anyone will ever see with a sweep of his events for 8 gold medals, and this year he earned 4 gold and 2 silver. What's most impressive is how dynamic he is. He isn't just specializing in one race in the butterfly, but multiple distances and races. He holds the world record for the 100 and 200 fly, as well as part of the record for the 400 individual medley, the most difficult event in swimming. It's unlikely we will ever see another swimmer as captivating as Michael Phelps.

Carl Lewis: As a track and field competitor, the argument for Carl Lewis is that there is a bigger talent pool than any other sport, because anybody can run and jump. Certain other sports offer more opportunities for people of affluent backgrounds. All other factors aside, Carl Lewis was named "Olympian of the Century" by Sports Illustrated magazine, and "Sportsman of the Century" by the IOC (Courtesy of Wikipedia). He competed in three Olympic games from 1984 to 1996, winning 9 gold medals and 1 silver medal. One could argue he was every bit is as dynamic as Michael Phelps, as he competed in the 100, 200, and Long Jump. For a sport that favors people in their youth, Lewis had an impressive 12 year run, including 65 straight victories in the long jump. In a sport where people are becoming increasingly athletic, his times being able to compare to Olympians of today make him all the more credible.

Muhammad Ali: It would be offensive to all athletes to not include Muhammad Ali in this conversation. I don't need to go over all his accolades for people to realize how polarizing he was. The only knock on Muhammad Ali in relation to the greatest Olympians is that he only competed in one Olympics. But as one of the greatest athletes ever, it's not difficult to forecast that he would have dominated more than one Olympic Games.

Usain Bolt: This is the second Olympic Games for Usain Bolt, and he is challenging Michael Phelps strongly for the biggest story of the 2012 games. Bolt's events are the 100 meter and 200 meter sprints. He currently holds the world record in both events, and has yet to lose a final in the last two Olympics, with the 200 meters still to be determined. What makes Bolt so impressive is that he is competing against the best competition that sprinting has ever seen with a bigger talent pool, and that he seems to do it with ease. Some have called him the greatest sprinter of all time, and it's hard to disagree. If he can win gold in 2016 at age 29, he may just be the greatest Olympian ever.

Nadia Comaneci: Comaneci comes from a long list of Romanian gymnasts. As many gymnasts do, she started early. She is known as the first person in modern Olympics history to have been awarded a perfect ten, in the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal. Oh, she was fourteen at the time. She only competed in two Olympics, but in a sport where there is so little margin for error, her dominance is baffling. She won 3 gold medals in the 76' games and 2 more in Moscow in 80'. She is the youngest gymnast to earn the marks that she did, even though there are now restrictions that prohibit gymnasts under the age of 16 from competing in the Olympics. Considering how largely favored Mckayla Maroney was to win her event in this year's games, only to win the silver medal, Nadia Comaneci deserves massive amounts of credit for her composure and control of gymnastics for two straight Olympics.

To pick one over the other in this case is nearly impossible. Each of these athletes has been monumentally successful in their respective sport, and really it's hard to argue against making a case for any of them. It's likely that 100 years from now many of these athletes will be a distant memory as well, but to me, I'm going to give Michael Phelps the title of the Greatest Olympian of all time, for reasons of quality AND quantity. He dominated so many diverse events for such a long time, and he has the hardware to prove it. What I will state is this, he isn't the greatest by a long shot.