CARL LEWIS


JESSE OWENS



MICHAEL PHELPS
BEIJING, China – Well, the curtain has come down on the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

Now, there is controversy.

Is Michael Phelps the greatest Olympian of all-time?

After witnessing the former University of Michigan swimmer implement the impossible – Phelps won an incredible eight gold medals – some are anointing him as the greatest Olympian and athlete of all-time.

“An extraordinary chapter in Olympic history has been written here in Beijing by one of the greatest athletes of all-time,” U.S. Olympic Committee Chairman Peter Ueberroth said.

Concurred U.S. Olympic Committee CEO Jim Scherr: “It is fitting that at one of the most significant events of our generation, we have witnessed one of the greatest performances in Olympic history. Michael’s record-breaking performance during these Games will inspire millions of people around the world to reach for their goals and aspire to greatness.”

Without question, Phelps’ display in Bejing is one of the greatest efforts extended in Olympic history. However, I think Carl Lewis, Jesse Owens and Lasse Viren of Finland winning back-to-back golds in track and field are bigger accomplishments.

Lewis is the only sprinter in Olympic history to win back-to-back gold medals in the 100 meters. That’s right, he is the only man to ever do it, and, he probably would have won three consecutive gold medals in the 100 if the U.S. had not boycotted the 1980 Olympics during the Cold War.

Even with the boycott, Lewis still won four consecutive long jump gold medals (1984, 1988, 1992 and 1996). No other athlete, male or female, has ever won more than one gold medal in the event.

Viren won both the 5,000- and 10,000-meter in the same Olympics (1972 and 1976). Can you wrap your mind around a runner enduring all the Olympic preliminaries, then going out and running over three miles at top speed and come right back and blaze over six miles?

The Olympic competition in both events is ridiculous. That’s why running and winning both events in the same Olympics has only happened twice – by Viren.

Owens simply created the standard that Lewis matched, winning three track golds and the long jump in 1936. The backdrop with World War II eminent, and Hitler running amok in Europe, Owens’ victory dispelled Germany’s master-race theory.

Also, I give high marks to the decathlon winners. Only two men have ever won back-to-back decathlons – USA’s Bob Mathias (1948 and 1952) and Britain’s Daley Thompson (1980 and 1984).

There is absolutely no single Olympic competition that demands more of its participants than the decathlon.

A couple women are on my personal radar, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, who went back-to-back in the heptathlon (1988 and 1992) while adding a long jump gold (1988), and Wilma Rudolph, who became the first female track athlete to get three gold medals (1960) in the 100, 200 and 4x100 relay.

I’m not discounting Phelps’ incredible Olympic performances. Because here in Beijing he broke world records and edged out competitors by the distance of a finger nail.

The former Wolverine was the darling of these Olympic Games, and he earned that honor.

But the greatest Olympic athlete of all-time? I do not think so.

Yes, he is the most decorated U.S. athlete ever, having won 16 Olympic medals (second to URS gymnast Larissa Latynina’s 18). His 14 career gold medals is an Olympic record and his eight medals won at a single Games ties the record held by Aleksandr Dityatin, gymnastics, URS, 1980, and by Phelps in 2004.

How can I argue with those numbers?

Well, looking through the Olympic record book, as far back as 1960 when U.S. swimmer Don Schollander garnered four gold medals, swimmers – and sometimes gymnasts – have taken home the most golds.

Following Schollander’s lead, Mark Spitz grabbed seven golds (1972), Matt Bondi won five (1988), and now Phelps has the treasured eight.

Ever heard of U.S. swimmers Jenny Thompson and Amy van Dyken? They have eight and six gold medals, respectively.

The reason I’m all over track and field is because an athlete goes out and tries to move his or her body as fast as is humanly possible. But sometimes the body cannot endure the strain and the muscles turn into piano strings and snap like twigs.

Look at China’s Liu Xiang, and the USA’s Terrence Trammell and Tyson Gay. They all went down with muscle injuries and could not compete in Beijing.

The track is unforgiving. That’s why only Lewis and Michael Johnson have ever repeated in the sprints.

Johnson won back-to-back 400-meters (1996 and 2000). He also is the only runner ever to double gold at 200 and 400 in the same Olympics (1996).

I really admire Phelps and his accomplishments. He is a tireless worker dedicated to his craft and has that special competitive spirit that all the great ones possess. He simply electrified the 2008 Beijing Games.

It’s just that I’ve never seen a swimmer laid out on the side of the pool. They rarely get hurt. Plus, once a person learns to swim a certain event, many of the techniques and skill sets are basically the same.

Yes, Phelps is one of the greatest Olympians ever, but the men and women on the track have the hardest obstacle to hurdle – the body.

There is empirical data that denotes, track and field athletes do not repeat as champions, because God has put limits on the body that the essence of track and field – sprinting and jumping – test to its complete limit.

My greatest is Lewis, with Owens and Viren a close second.

Leland Stein can be heard on WGPR radio (107.5) every Sunday from 11 p.m. to midnight. He can be reached at lelstein3@aol.com.