22 golds?!?! How is that allowed?

[thesheriff]

Headlines this morning that Phelps streaked away to his 22nd Summer Olympic gold. Congrats to the man , but seriously, how can one man win that many golds? The next most prolific is a Soviet gymnast with less than half as many on 9 golds.

This makes it clear to me that swimming has a privilege that other sports don't. The multitude of events don't differ nearly enough to make them specific to particular athletes. Should it be feasible for the top swimmers to enter as many as 8 different events as win gold, as Phelps did in '08. Phelps' medal count alone would have put a country in the top 10 on the medals table that year. Phelps isn't the only one either. 10 male and 5 female swimmers throughout history have one at least 5 gold medals.

True, athletes in other sports aren't limited to entering other sports by anything except their own abilities. But in swimming the 4 strokes, the multiple distances, the relays and the medley mean one swimmer has a chance to enter a host of events and sometimes even compete in several on the same night.

Surely this distorts medal tables and goes a long way to deciding the overall medal standings at the Olympic games. I'm wondering why they don't reduce the number of swimming events, making them more specialized and bringing them in line with other sports. That might make the Games fairer for athletes and for the competing countries.

 

[stokie_93]

Headlines this morning that Phelps streaked away to his 22nd Summer Olympic gold. Congrats to the man , but seriously, how can one man win that many golds? The next most prolific is a Soviet gymnast with less than half as many on 9 golds.

This makes it clear to me that swimming has a privilege that other sports don't. The multitude of events don't differ nearly enough to make them specific to particular athletes. Should it be feasible for the top swimmers to enter as many as 8 different events as win gold, as Phelps did in '08. Phelps' medal count alone would have put a country in the top 10 on the medals table that year. Phelps isn't the only one either. 10 male and 5 female swimmers throughout history have one at least 5 gold medals.

True, athletes in other sports aren't limited to entering other sports by anything except their own abilities. But in swimming the 4 strokes, the multiple distances, the relays and the medley mean one swimmer has a chance to enter a host of events and sometimes even compete in several on the same night.

Surely this distorts medal tables and goes a long way to deciding the overall medal standings at the Olympic games. I'm wondering why they don't reduce the number of swimming events, making them more specialized and bringing them in line with other sports. That might make the Games fairer for athletes and for the competing countries.

that surely shows how good he is though! Other swimmers get the same chance and are no way near him.

He could probably win more if he gave other strokes a go

My Dad & I were debating whether he'd win with my dad saying he's past it but I told him he'd breeze it but Dad thought Le Clos would win.

Le Clos wasn't even close to him and seemed so phased by Phelps being back his performance was awful. The bloke is just in a different league.

 

[thesheriff]

that surely shows how good he is though! Other swimmers get the same chance and are no way near him.

He could probably win more if he gave other strokes a go

My Dad & I were debating whether he'd win with my dad saying he's past it but I told him he'd breeze it but Dad thought Le Clos would win.

Le Clos wasn't even close to him and seemed so phased by Phelps being back his performance was awful. The bloke is just in a different league.

Yeah he is obvs a league above. My point is that I think that it could never be feasible for other legendary Olympians; Bolt, Redgrave etc. to win 8 golds in a games or 22 in their career.

 

[Beezerk]

Yeah he is obvs a league above. My point is that I think that it could never be feasible for other legendary Olympians; Bolt, Redgrave etc. to win 8 golds in a games or 22 in their career.

Not really sure that's a feasible argument.
Maybe they should invent 100M cartwheels and 200M wheelbarrow races to give Bolt more chances of winning gold?

 

[stokie_93]

Yeah he is obvs a league above. My point is that I think that it could never be feasible for other legendary Olympians; Bolt, Redgrave etc. to win 8 golds in a games or 22 in their career.

Bolt could easily do 100M, 200M, 110M Hurdles, 200M Hurdles, 400M and then all the relays along with that so it could be feasible if he wanted it to be.

 

[freddielong]

Bolt could easily do 100M, 200M, 110M Hurdles, 200M Hurdles, 400M and then all the relays along with that so it could be feasible if he wanted it to be.

Or if they had more events that were more or less the same the 75 meters, 100 meters 125 meters the 100 yards the 150 meters like they appear to do in swimming

 

[thesheriff]

Or if they had more events that were more or less the same the 75 meters, 100 meters 125 meters the 100 yards the 150 meters like they appear to do in swimming

This

 

[thesheriff]

Not really sure that's a feasible argument.
Maybe they should invent 100M cartwheels and 200M wheelbarrow races to give Bolt more chances of winning gold?

Or maybe they should reduce the number of swimming events to even it out?

 

[stokie_93]

Or if they had more events that were more or less the same the 75 meters, 100 meters 125 meters the 100 yards the 150 meters like they appear to do in swimming

Swimming has 50, 100, 200, 400 and 1500.

Running has 60 (not sure if that's in olympics), 100, 200, 400, 800, 1500, 5000 & 10,000.

Try again.

 

[Deleted member 15344]

Why is there a problem ?

Surely we should just celebrate a fantastic achievement from one of the greatest sportsman that we have seen

Why instead of congratulating such an amazing feat people instead look to ways to stop it happening ?!

 

[ColchesterFC]

Swimming has 50, 100, 200, 400 and 1500.

Running has 60 (not sure if that's in olympics), 100, 200, 400, 800, 1500, 5000 & 10,000.

Try again.

Does swimming have each of those distances for each of the four different strokes? Whereas running just has do it as fast as possible in any style.

 

[User62651]

Absolutely agree with OP, said in another post that swimming should not be split into strokes, you should just swim the fastest way you can which would be true 'freestyle', end of, swimming other slower strokes is pointless, if a shark is on your tail what'cha gonna do - hmmm crawl or butterfly? Far too many strokes and distances, one event blending into the next.

 

[stokie_93]

Absolutely agree with OP, said in another post that swimming should not be split into strokes, you should just swim the fastest way you can which would be true 'freestyle', end of, swimming other slower strokes is pointless, if a shark is on your tail what'cha gonna do - hmmm crawl or butterfly? Far too many strokes and distances, one event blending into the next.

Don't be dim. Does that mean Usain Bolt can run just as well in 10,000 than the 100?

Maybe whilst we're at it we should cross weight divisions in the boxing as well?

 

[jp5]

Sure there is disparity to other sports with regards to the potential number of medals on offer, but why is that an issue?

Each sports person can only be judged in their own field, and Phelps is undoubtedly the greatest. Number of medals vs other sports irrelevant really.

Just enjoy the variety on display (and have a go swimming butterfly next time at the pool!).

 

[thesheriff]

Don't be dim. Does that mean Usain Bolt can run just as well in 10,000 than the 100?

Maybe whilst we're at it we should cross weight divisions in the boxing as well?

I don't see a boxer entering multiple weight divisions at the same games???

 

[Hobbit]

So why isn't there a long line stretching back into history of swimmers who've got a massive string of medals? The guys is amazing. Why not celebrate that instead of criticising the sport?

Or maybe just 1x 100m race, any stroke, and in athletes 1x100m, no hurdles or steeplechase?

Negative or what!

 

[User62651]

Don't be dim. Does that mean Usain Bolt can run just as well in 10,000 than the 100?

Maybe whilst we're at it we should cross weight divisions in the boxing as well?

Well boxers fight at one weight only for one medal chance.....which is good, so no I wouldn't cross weight divisions. Or maybe that's dim too despite not saying how many swimming events I'd reduce by?

 

[guest100718]

Bolt should try his hand at long jump like sprinters used to.

 

[Fyldewhite]

It's just the way it is. Swimming historically has been split into strokes and distance unlike running where you just go as fast as you can. The only alternative is to make swimming the same which means Backstroke, butterfly and breaststroke become a thing of the past. Other sports are also unequal like this too. Currently it just makes comparisons between sports meaningless in terms of number of golds, but does that matter? The concept of the "Greatest Olympian" is just a bit silly tbh but it gives the media something to talk about.

 

[thesheriff]

Swimming has 50, 100, 200, 400 and 1500.

Running has 60 (not sure if that's in olympics), 100, 200, 400, 800, 1500, 5000 & 10,000.

Try again.

The different running discipline are specific enough that a competitor is unlikely to compete across more than two. Not the same in swimming.

Try again