Throwdowns > Forfeited

williewilliejuan said 08/14, 11:50 AM
Not to take anything away from what Bolt has accomplished, but Phelps has been more accomplished over the last two Olympics. Let's start with the fact that the London Games was Phelps' third Olympics, compared to just the second for Bolt. If Bolt repeats his accomplishments in Rio, then we can have a true "apples to apples" comparison between the two.

Second, let's dispatch with the notion that the fact that Bolt hasn't lost any races makes him more dominant. He only competed in three races in each Olympics, one of which each year required help from teammates. Phelps competed in 14 races between the two Olympics, 11 of which were individual events. It's more impressive to take a silver or bronze in an event that isn't your strong suit than fail to even try.

Phelps competed in more events, at more distances and across more different disciplines than Bolt. Bolt just ran forward for either 100 or 200 meters. Phelps swam races at 100, 200 and 400 meters. He swam the butterfly, freestyle, and (in the IM) backstroke and breaststroke. That would be the equivalent of Bolt running 100 meters forward, backward, sideways and skipping.

Phelps was more dominant.

williewilliejuan said 08/14, 11:22 PM
Let's start with the corrections and move forward from there. You say that Phelps doesn't swim all of the disciplines. That is incorrect. Three of Phelps' golds in the past two Olympics have been in the IM, which requires him to swim all of the disciplines. You also say that other events in which Bolt can compete do not exist. Also incorrect. The 400m is categorized as a sprint, so Bolt could've competed in two additional events within his discipline in each Olympics. He chose not to.

You point to Bolt winning gold in back-to-back Olympics as a sign of his dominance. You know what's more impressive? Winning your third straight gold medal. Phelps did just that in four different events in 2012 (100 butterfly, 200 IM, 4 x 200 free, and 4 x 100 medley).

Bolt's 6 track and field golds over two Olympics isn't unprecedented. Carl Lewis won 6 golds (seven total medals) in 1984 and 1988. The 12 gold medals Phelps has won over the past two Olympics alone are more medals (of any color) than any other swimmer in history has won. In the 2012 Olympics, Phelps won his 18th gold medal and 22nd total medal. That's double the amount of medals any swimmer has ever won. That's dominance.