Who is the best athlete at the Olympics - Phelps or Bolt?

[ZFR]

Originally Posted by Yorick I would say the winner of the DECATHLON is the greatest athlete of the olympics. The Swimming medely is only 4 swimming strokes, whereas the Decathlete must be a sprinter, hurdler, jumper, middle distrance runner etc. As a close second, or even equal with the decathlon, I would place the winner of the TRIATHLON, (swim, cycle, run) next, as this too, is a much bigger examination of an athletes all-round abilities than just running, just swimming etc. Thirdly I would place the winner of the modern pentathlon.

That's like saying bard is the best class because he can cast spells, fight and steal.

I don't see how being a jack of all trades means being best. I'm much more inclined to agree with what Cerek wrote above.

And one more thing, multiple posting is considered poor etiquette. Anyway, I won't mention this again; it was already pointed out to you by others few times before.

[Firestormalpha]

Well, unlike the bard, a decathelet can do all those thing well. At least in BG a bard is not so much.

[Variol (Farseer) Elmwood]

Well, if you're "running" solo, you may want a rounded character. In a party, that can change.

[ZFR]

Originally Posted by Firestormalpha Well, unlike the bard, a decathelet can do all those thing well. At least in BG a bard is not so much.

Not as well as the champions in these events.

[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!

[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"?

[Variol (Farseer) Elmwood]

And! lest we forget; The Great One!

Yups, to me there's lots of heart wrenching, tear jerking moments to be had. I'm not at all talking about just Canada for me. Any athlete that excels at this level is worthy of praise.

[Yorick]

Originally Posted by ZFR That's like saying bard is the best class because he can cast spells, fight and steal. I don't see how being a jack of all trades means being best. I'm much more inclined to agree with what Cerek wrote above.

Comparing a Decathlete to role-playing guidelines for a game's balance is beside the point.

My point is, the decathlon is a more complete examination of a persons athletic ability, and thus a better gauge of how athletic the person is.
The decathlete is not a "jack of all trades", the decathlon is a trade itself, and to succeed in that trade, you need either the greatest variety of athletic skills to succeed, or to be sufficiently good in a couple to "blow the other contestants out of the water".

And one more thing, multiple posting is considered poor etiquette. Anyway, I won't mention this again; it was already pointed out to you by others few times before.

It's also considered etiquette to not derail a friendly thread, and take stuff like this to p/m.

[Yorick]

According to this website, Usain Bolt is the undisputed athletics king: (remembering that swimming is not athletics of course.)

http://au.sports.yahoo.com/olympics/...ng-track-field

Three finals. Three golds. Three world records. Jamaican Usain Bolt is the undisputed athletics king of the Beijing Games. The 22-year-old set an unprecedented three world records in snaring three gold medals - the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay. "I wouldn't say I'm a phenomenon, I'm just a great athlete," Bolt says. Bolt's feats surpassed every other track and field competitor in Beijing, with honourable mentions to Ethiopia's distance running sensations Kenenisa Bekele, who claimed gold in the men's 5000m and 10,000m, and Tirunesh Dibaba, who completed the golden double in the same women's events. Americans LaShawn Merritt (400m, 4x400m relay) and Angelo Taylor (400m hurdles, 4x400m relay) were the only other double gold medallists in Beijing. Bolt set world records of 9.69 seconds and 19.30 in the 100m and 200m respectively. He then ran the third leg in Jamaica's 4x100m relay squad that won gold in 37.10 - breaking the United States' 15-year-old world record. Bolt was involved in setting three of five athletics world records in Beijing. Russian starlet Elena Isinbaeva set her 24th world record in the pole vault at Beijing's awesome National Stadium, clearing 5.05m in a golden effort. And her compatriot Gulnara Galkina-Samitova set a world benchmark of eight minutes 58.81 seconds in her runaway triumph in the women's 3000m steeplechase. Some 18 Olympic athletics records were set at these Games, including Australian Steve Hooker's stirring pole vault triumph when he cleared 5.96m. Australia finished equal eighth on the athletics medal table, with Hooker's gold, Sally McLellan's 100m hurdles silver and walker Jared Tallent's stunning 50km walk silver and 20km walk bronze - the first Australian man to win two medals at the same Olympics for more than 100 years. Australia's tally was identical to that of Great Britain. The United States headed the tally with 23 medals (seven gold, nine silver and seven bronze), followed by Russia (six gold, five silver, seven bronze). Bolt highlighted Jamaica's 11 medals (six gold, five silver, seven bronze) which led to an overall fourth ranking, with Kenya next with 13 medals including five golds. Bolt said the key to his success was a relaxed mindset. "It might change my life, but I won't change," the Jamaican said. "I try and stay relaxed by messing around and not thinking too much about the race. "I don't allow people to put pressure on me. You might not be focused enough. When I enjoy myself I stay focused. "I'll still enjoy myself, I'm still young. I'll still train hard. I'll try to keep on top for as long as I can. "Running is enjoyable - you have to enjoy what you do. "It's a job for us athletes, it's like working. To not enjoy it, it doesn't make sense. "I enjoy it, I love it. Sometimes you think about quitting at training because that's hard. "But it also makes success more great when you work hard for it." Bekele's gold in the 5000m and 10,000m was the first such men's double since compatriot Miruts Yifter's feat over the same events at the 1980 Moscow Games. The world record holder over both distances, Bekele described his double as "my best best accomplishment for sure". "I did that for the people of Ethiopia," he said. Bekele and compatriot Dibaba joined Americans Merritt and Taylor as dual athletics gold medallists. Merritt was victorious in the men's 400m, usurping countryman and favourite Jeremy Wariner, and was also a member of the United States' successful 4x400m relay team. Taylor was also a member of that relay and won the 400m hurdles. Jamaica emerged as the unrivalled sprinting nation, Bolt's individual and relay golds matched in the women's 100m by Shelly-Ann Fraser and 200m by Veronica Campbell-Brown. China's expectations of 110m hurdler Liu Xiang repeating his success in Athens four years ago were dashed when the national hero failed to race in his event because of a bone spur near his Achilles tendon. His withdrawal on the starter's line was surreal, silencing the 91,000-strong crowd and prompting national mourning. The host nation won just two athletics medals, both bronze - to Chunxiu Zhou in the women's marathon and Wenxiu Zhang in the women's hammer throw. The Beijing Olympics were also notable for the demise of once great athletic power Germany, which won just the solitary bronze, in the women's javelin to Christina Obergfoll.

[Unglaublich Verwustung]

And these are the best words out of all of it, which we should all try to apply

...it's like working. To not enjoy it, it doesn't make sense.