The path to superstardom in the Olympics is vastly different than the path in most professional sports.
In professional sports, superstardom comes over long periods of time. Gaudy career numbers take…wait for it…careers worth of time to accomplish. Even young superstars such as the NBA’s LeBron James must prove themselves over the course of years at the highest level. They must win the big games, consistently, year in and year out.
But the Olympics are different. Athletes spend years behind the scenes training and preparing. Sure, they compete in that time frame, but most Olympic sports don’t fall into our mainstream psyche, so their athletic prowess tends to sneak up on us only every four years.
Michael Phelps rise has been like this. Yes, we knew he was good. But this good? I mean, six races, six gold medals, six world records.
Sure, it seems we always have one of these athletes at every Olympics, the one that is going for 5 or 6 or 8 gold medals. Marion Jones tried in Sydney, but fell short (besides, she was on the juice).
Phelps, meanwhile, is completing his mission in dominating fashion. So much so, that I would argue that he deserves to be in the discussion for the greatest American athlete of all time. For a while now my stance has been that Lance Armstrong has been the greatest American athlete ever. To come back from cancer and win 7 straight Tour de France is quite possibly the most consistent and sustained domination of a sport.
Phelps, meanwhile, has taken his domination and packed it into a much shorter time frame. And to me, that’s what makes it even more remarkable, that he can be so physically dominating so many days and so many races in a row. Sure, Lance won seven Tours, but he didn’t win consecutive stages in world record time the way that Phelps has.
I’m not saying I’m 100% behind Phelps as the greatest American athlete ever. But he’s definitely in the discussion for me, along with Lance Armstrong and Tiger Woods.
Sound off. Who’s your pick for best American athlete ever? Is Phelps in the discussion for you?
