Bolt vs. Phelps - Who’s Better?
Chad Klassen
Love of Sports Correspondent
For the first time since Carl Lewis at the 1984 Summer Games, someone’s bringing home double gold from the Olympics in both the 100 and 200-meter competitions.
That man, my friends, is none other than Usain “Lightning” Bolt, who once again completely destroyed the field in the 200-meter final Wednesday.
But what Lewis failed to accomplish in Los Angeles, Bolt did in Beijing: breaking both world records in the process.
Unlike what we’ve seen from the Jamaican sprinter in these Games thus far, he actually sprinted all the way until the end and put on a show for the ages inside the Bird’s Nest.
As he often does, Bolt was lightning quick out of the blocks and easily made up the stagger by the turn. But the fastest man really put on the afterburners in the last 50 meters to cross in 19.30, fast enough to claim the new world record previously held by Michael Johnson, whose mark of 19.32 had stood for 12 years after being set at the 1996 Games in Atlanta.
This was a much different approach to his sprint in the 100 final, where he cruised to the finish line while banging his chest like King Kong to show his complete dominance and let everyone who doesn’t know that he’s the best in track.
As much as spectators and fellow competitors may have been questioning his sportsmanship at the Olympics, where it’s all supposed to be about competition and humanity, Bolt put his head down and went for it all in trying to surpass Johnson’s record.
You could see him gritting his teeth near the finish as he dug for every last ounce of energy. His facial expressions indicated how badly he wanted not only to win the double gold, but also to capture the record as well.
Johnson, who’s been watching all the track events in Beijing as a commentator for BBC, had said nobody could ever break his mark, even the Jamaican speedster. You’d have to think his comments were an extra source of motivation for Bolt in pushing himself to the limits near the end, not just coasting to the win, as he could’ve easily done again.
In the back of Bolt’s mind, he wanted to make Johnson eat crow in the Bird’s Nest. Some, like IOC President Jacque Rogge, may not have liked his showboating in the 100-meter final, but he’s got all the right in world to do it since he’s the fastest man on the planet.
These were two of the greatest performances I’ve ever seen on the track, and they’ll be etched in my mind forever. Like Phelps’ spectacle of eight gold medals in the pool, they’re the kind of memorable moments in Olympic history that are hard to forget. Remember that Bolt and his Jamaican teammates still have the 4x100 relay to run too. Watch out for more highlights!
Bolt vs. Phelps: Who’s the Better Athlete?
It’s always hard to compare the greatness of athletes competing in different sports by merely matching up their achievements. This is especially true if you start to debate over who’s the superior athlete between the two men who have made the most headlines at the Beijing Olympics.
Who’s the greatest? Usain Bolt or Michael Phelps?
If argued merely based on how many Olympic gold medals one has won, Phelps has got the title, hands down. But it’s not that simple.
The thing is track and swimming are so different from one another. On the one hand, swimming has several different strokes, and within each discipline there are varying distances at which swimmers can compete, thus creating more opportunities to win medals.
You can’t really do that kind of thing in track. Other than maybe the hurdle events, it’s one motion that involves pumping your arms and legs. You can certainly compete in multiple short or long-distance events, but it can’t compare to the pool.
Not only are both sports quite distinct in their own right, the events in which Phelps and Bolt compete point to two different types of athletes. It’s fair to argue the American was built more for endurance, explaining why he was able to swim 17 races and win the eight gold medals, while the Jamacian sprinter is built more for speed and quick bursts.
That said, the edge slightly goes to Phelps. Ever since Mark Spitz took home his seven gold medals in Munich, it seemingly set the standard for greatness in the pool. While under tremendous pressure to come through in Beijing, Phelps was able to surpass the cherished mark Spitz set. It was a standard by which great Olympians were measured, and Phelps broke the barrier.
If you put Bolt under the same standard of excellence, you have to look at the four gold medals both Lewis and Jesse Owens earned in 1984 and 1936, respectively. Bolt will likely win three gold medals when the Games are finished, especially considering Jamaica’s favored in the 4x100 relay, but he’d probably have to win yet another piece of golden hardware to overtake Phelps.
Either way, Phelps and Bolt are both shockingly tremendous athletes, and both have been the top two stories of the Olympics for a reason. But based on what he did in the pool, the American swimming phenom will be remembered longer when we look back at the great Olympic moments of 2008.
So, who do you think it is? The Baltimore Bullet in the pool, or the Lightning Bolt on the track?
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Comments
Leonard Plater on 08/22 at 07:14 PM
Phelps v’s Bolt - Obviously we are just comparing what has occurred in Beijing because Phelps has been at the top of his sport for arguably 6-7 years. He has competed at two Olympics and won 14 Gold and 2 Bronze. Arguably he should be spoken in the same realm as Tiger Woods and Roger Federer - Bolt has achieved alot in Beijing but he should not be included with these greats (just yet). If it is just Beijing then we are trying to compare 8 (eight) Gold and 7 World Records and 1 Olympic Record against 3 Gold and 3 World Records - is there any comparison? For the record there have been 3 other athletes whom have won 3 gold medals as well so to say Bolts efforts exceed these and are to be considered equal or greater than 8 gold is hard to fathom. Maybe its because Phelps is from USA and not new Zealand or Togo or we come to expect this of him why we belittle his efforts and drop him down to a level when 3 Gold is equal to or better than 8. I could go on for ever saying why I believe Phelps achievements at Beijing far exceed all others at Beijing and for that matter any other Olympics and why he is the greatest Olympian. I would hasten to add that I doubt very much we will every see anyone repeat or better his achievements and should someone even come close it is likely to be in Gymnastics for men - Phelps for me by a country mile.
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