Who is the greatest Olympian of all time?
Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian of all time is retiring and Usain Bolt, the greatest sprinter of all time, won his unprecedented third gold in a row for the 100 meter dash. I started thinking about who the greatest Olympian of all time is when an Bomani Jones, who hosts a talk show called "The Right Time" he said that if Bolt wins the 100 Meter, 200 Meter, and 4x100 Meter relay, he would consider Bolt the greatest Olympian of all time over Michael Phelps who many now consider the greatest Olympian of all time. I'm here to definitively answer this question of who is the greatest Olympian of all time.
The answer the question of the greatest Olympian is: Nobody.
Sorry for fans of Phelps and Bolt but comparing all time great Olympians is impossible, even if you're trying to judge which athlete was more dominant. How do you gauge that dominance? No swimmer or other Olympians have ever won more medals than Michael Phelps, but no sprinters have ever won three gold medals in the 100 meter dash. Which feat is more special? To which do you give more weight? When do you factor in that sprinters have far less of a shelf life than swimmers? What about gymnasts who have even less of a shelf life than track athletes? Where do we rank Mary Lou Retton or Simone Biles, who are among the greatest Gymnast ever. Where do we rank them? What about Florence Griffith-Joyner who has held the record for the women's 100 meter and 200 meter for almost 30 years, does the fact that her record still stands give her more weight than other Olympians? What of Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh-Jennings, the greatest beach volleyball team of all time whose dominance was unprecedented in Olympic history. These are just a couple of athletes that could be considered the greatest Olympians of all time and for ease and expediency's sake, I chose famous American Olympians who immediately came to mind.
There are countless others and after thinking and comparing all of these world class athletes I've come to the conclusion that you just simply cannot compare them at all. They're incomparable; each sport has it's own set of criteria for what makes you legendary and when attempting to compare the variables, all are so different and so diverse, such as the number of Olympic events and how long an athlete's prime can last in a given event. You see, there can be no answer to the question of who is the greatest Olympian of all of time.
