[Cerek]

Originally Posted by Memnoch If I had to choose between the two, I would go for Bolt. Even though he won less medals, it's usually easier to get a bagful in swimming compared to athletics. Not to diminish the epic achievement from Phelps - if it was easy to get 8 golds in the Olympics other people would have done it too. The best Ian Thorpe could do was win 3 golds and 2 silvers in one Olympics, Phelps won 5 in Athens and 8 here. He's very versatile and can swim all the different strokes equally well I think. But Bolt was like a THUNDERBOLT out of the blue. I hadn't even really heard of him till this Olympics. Plus running the 100m and 200m - two vastly different events - and blowing his competitors away was unforgettable. Plus he has a cool name. Bolt bolts away with the gold!

They are both in the very elite of their class - they aren't just excellent athletes, they are literally in a class by themselves in their respective fields. The same as Tiger Woods, MJ and a select few others.

I remembered seeing the qualifying heat for the 200m that Variol mentioned. It was just CRAZY! Bolt is just jogging along while his competitor is obviously running much harder. I don't know that the other guy was going completely flat out either, but he was definitely running with a lot more effort than Bolt.

And is there a more perfect name for a the fastest man on the planet than "Bolt"?