From John Niyo, Detroit News:
Indeed, by breaking Mark Spitz's record of seven gold medals at a
single Olympics, Michael Phelps certainly laid claim to throne in his sport,
and his celebrity status and crossover appeal has only just begun to
raise the profile for swimming in the U.S.
Sunday's win gives
him 14 gold medals in his Olympic career, and 16 overall -- both the
most in history. He had a hand in setting seven world records at this
meet. He picked up a $1 million bonus from Speedo for matching Spitz's
36-year-old mark, and he'll reap untold millions in the weeks and
months to come as his agent cashes in on Phelps' international fame.
Great stuff, to be sure. But the greatest?
Not yet. Phelps, in my book of lists, supplants all but Carl Lewis as the best the Olympics has ever seen.
Lewis
gets the nod, if only for longevity's sake, winning nine gold medals
over four Olympics. (It would've been five -- and probably 10 gold --
if not for that U.S. boycott of the 1980 Moscow Games.) And should
Phelps return and win even more medals at the 2012 London Olympics, as
he intends to do, well, then I don't think there'll be much left to
argue.
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