PHELPS IS NOT THE GREATEST OLYMPIAN EVER

I got more medals than Snow White got dwarfs

Michael Phelps winning eight gold medals in a single Olympics? An amazing accomplishment.

But does Phelps deserve the title of "Greatest Olympian Ever" for winning the most gold medals in a single Olympics?

Not in my book.

From my amateur armchair vantage point, swimmers are the only category of athletes to realistically have a chance of winning eight medals in a single Olympics.

A quick scan of the official website suggests that it would be far more impressive for an athlete in any other sport to achieve eight gold medals -- especially since most sports don't even get eight different events. Even with Phelps dominating, swimmers still comprise the largest group of multiple medal winners thus far in the 2008 Olympics.

Male swimmers can compete in 17 different events. Sure, the skills involved vary, but they all consist of swimming. Thus, Michael Phelps can cherry-pick from 17 different options and select the eight he is most likely to win.

In contrast, male runners -- who seem to have the second highest number of choices -- only have nine events in which they can compete. (Track and field, or "Athletics," has about 23 events for men, but those events are split into javelin throw, pole vault, etc.)

Other examples: male gymnasts can pick from eight events. Female shooters can win, at most, seven. Tennis players can choose from two.

Plus, there's the fact that the physics of aquatics and the mechanics of the human body allow swimmers to jump from one event to the next in ways that weightlifters, boxers, wrestlers, pitchers, and handballers cannot.

Thus, is it really fair to say that Michael Phelps is a "greater" athlete than Rafael Nadal, Kobe Bryant, Katerina Emmons, Yang Wei, or to use historical examples -- Carl Lewis?

The comparison only seems valid if, for example, Rafa had the chance to compete in 17 different tennis events and chose his best eight. Surely, Nadal would take gold medals in five-set singles, three-set singles, ground strokes, clay courts, first serves, second serves, backhands, and the 10-meter topspin.

So call me a hater, but I think it's more appropriate to call Michael Phelps the greatest swimmer in the history of Olympic swimmers.

Given that gymnasts have far fewer events in which they can compete, I say it's more apropos to proclaim Larissa Latynina the greatest Olympian ever.

(I'm sure that other pundits are pointing out similar sentiments, but I'm too lazy to check. Also, I spent five minutes researching, so don't hold me accountable. Finally, I'm happy to concede that I am jealous of Michael Phelps' abs.)

--Junichi