Nightline's Daily Line

Enough already about Michael Phelps. Why do Americans have to glorify and edify people as the greatest, the prettiest, the sexiest, etc? Michael Phelps is an exceptional athlete but there are lots of others who have been exceptional. Why do we have to be bombarded with Phelps to the extent that others become non-existent? Who cares what he eats, what size shoe he wears ...? That kind of worshipful attention is unnerving and disgusting. How long will it be before he's declared to be the world's most eligible bachelor and also handsome - neither of which is true.

Definitely, Michael Phelps is the greatest Olympian of all time. Gold medals are the gold standard, and by that standard, he's the best.

Have we forgotten Jim Thorpe?

Phelps is genuinely a world-class athlete. Kudos to him on that score. However, given his less-than-attractive looks, underwhelming social graces and awkward behavior, I would hardly describe him as an American hero. To be a hero requires more than just prowess in the swimming pool. I just hope that he is not chosen to be the next "Bachelor." Just watch those 25 women fawn all over him - Yuck!!!!!!

ZEUS was, is, and will always be the greatest Olympian of all time ever since he overthrew Kronos and the Titans in an epic battle of the immortals. Don't EVER forget it!

How can you really compare a Jesse Owens, Jim Thorpe, Mark Spitz, Carl Lewis, Michael Phelps, Alexander Karelin? They all dominated in their sport, in their time. It's like apples and oranges - give them the credit they deserve without denigrating their accomplishments by artificial comparisons...

would just like 2 say , it makes me sick how we have changed the odds, in what we do,2 win gold, i like 2 c, the boy do it with the tight swin sute, 2 help him some smother through the water,
they should not b allowed, and he should lose all his medals.

ron

It would be hard to compare apples and oranges. But Michael Phelps is the greatest olympian of the modern time. And in my opionion, He is the grestest olympian in my life. He deserves all the attention and all the spot light that we as Americans can give him. People like him make me proud to be an Ameriacan. Go team USA.

He might be the greatest swimmer. But how well does he perform in the decathalon? Answer that and we can better answer the question.

Our congratulations are to his mother, who upon learning that Michael was hyperactive as a child chose NOT to medicate him as many parents do.
She, in lieu of medications, enrolled Michael in a swimming program to counteract his extra energy. She was a single mother of three children but still made sure that he got to all his swimming lessons and practices and a star was born!!! Best wishes Phelps family, Reese and Sally Orlosky, Florida

If medal count is the measure of a great olympian then Ukrainian born Larissa Semyonovna Latynina with 18 medals (9G,5S,4B0 would be the greatest.

Jim Thorpe in 1912 won the Pentathlon and the Decathlon.

Michael Phelps is a great athlete of our time no doubt about that but I guess there were other great Olympians. I want to bring here my all time favourite Abebe Bekila, Ethiopian marathon runner who won a gold medal and set a world record while running barefoot at the 1960 Olympic games in Rome, then bested his own record at the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo. He was the first athlete to win two Olympics marathons.

He has broken world and Olympic records and inspired many who struggle as he did growing up.
He is a great athlete and an enormous boost to the sport of swimming as well as the 2008 Olympics .I am proud he represents America!I sit glued to the television to see his remarkable feats night after night and to me he is the world's greatest Olympian!
He will be remembered long after he has retired and long into the chronicles of Olympic history books.

Greatest Olympian for swimming? yes! Greatest Olympian all around? no!Theres a difference between the two. I dont believe there will ever be an all around Olympian regardless as to how many Gold medals won. I mean one Olympian athlete cannot do all other sports. Greatest Olympian for the individual sport or team. If you look at track and field there is events like the Decathlon, Pentathlon, but each has its set events. I mean you dont have these athletes doing everything including the 800m, 1500m, 5000m, 10,000m etc... As to where swimming events are pretty much unlimited. correct me if im wrong. i have limited knowledge of swimming. If you ask "the majority of people" would believe there should be a limit as to how many events can be done, just as in track and field distance events etc.... I believe it will all change in the coming Olympics.. Congrats to ALL OLYMPIANS!!

Beyond a doubt he is the greatest! He isn't even done yet this year and will be back for more in 4 more years. It has to be grueling and so hard on the body to be swimming this much, so hard, and breaking records every time (yes his teammates helped him for sure). Phelps is the greatest Olympian and yes he is a role model and hero as well. Go Phelps!!

Fred:

The winner of the decathalon is widely considered to be the best athlete in the world. It covers a wide variety of events.

Is he great? Most definitely. Is he the greatest? All I know is that he is in some great company.

My vote is Jesus Christ, only because he walked on water wearing a robe. Can Michael Phelps top that or for that matter, can anybody?

Since when is Jesus an Olympian? Phelps isn't a holy one, but he is the best Olympian, a role model, a hero and much more! GO phelps!

he great in what he does! but do you know the history of what jesse owens did?

when you hv hitler shut up by one man thats great. still proud of mike.

dear Judith -- for gosh sakes, since when does an American hero have to be "attractive" or handsome? Are you actually saying that an unattractive person can not be a hero? It is deeds, my dear, not words or looks, that make a hero.

Now, if you are asking if Phelps will get a lot of ad endorsements from this, I'd say probably yes. But I don't think he is that marketable, and he certainly couldn't host Saturday Night Live. Plus, just like any reasonably popular athletes at the Olympics, the media has done its usual job of ridiculously overexposing Phelps, to the point that we are just sick of hearing his name anymore. If I have to see that stupid relay win one more time.....it was sheer luck, either the Americans or French could have touched first, so enough already, you got the gold, life goes on!

since when does being a hero require good looks and being graceful? i was raised to believe it was about heart and integrity! i think any of the athletes are heros just for the ambition of going for it!!!!!

Phelps is also a convicted underage drinker and drunk driver. I am sick and tired of hearing about this GD idiot.

The Russians are slaughtering people in Georgia and the lead off story last night was this guys diet! WTF!?!

What's next? A story about the huge crap he takes?

Phelps is an accomplished swimmer but why does the MSM ignore other Americans representing our country? The media seek to diminish previous olympians in order to make him a hero. Give him his due but stop the gushing.

He's a fantastic Olympian but let's not go overboard on this. There have been other fantastic Olympians who simply don't have eight events to win in their particular disciplines. Some of the great speed skaters or cross-country skiers in history, every bit as good athletes as Michael Phelps, instantly come to mind.

Why include Muhammad Ali?

I agree with Vivi, the number of available events are extreme in swimming. But let us also include the Winter Olympics and cross-country skier Björn Dæhlie who holds several all-time Winter Olympics records. Competing in the 1990s, he is still the only winter athlete to win eight gold medals, the only one to win twelve total medals and the only one to earn nine medals in individual events. He is also the only man to win six gold medals in individual events. And mind you, these events lasts for grueling hours and he himself lasted through 3 olympic games from -92 to 98. A strong contender for the title indeed.

Motivated, exceptionally gifted, physically equipped for his sport and lucky....yes. But the Greatest Olympian Ever....well, why would that have to be an American? We don't usually celebrate or even recognize the achievements of athletes from other countries. It seems inconceiveable to us that we aren't always "the best", "the biggest", the "brightest star in the pantheon" and that doesn't sit too well with the rest of the world.

Teresa Edwards, Team USA basketball guard, is the greatest Olympian in my opinion. She won four Olympic gold medals (and one bronze) between 1984 and 2000.

Swimmers can win lots of medals in lots of races. Basketball players win only one, in the final game(s).

My vote for greatest Olympian, albeit based on just one Olympic Games, would be speed skater Eric Heiden. In 1980 he won five gold medals in his sport, which would be impressive enough, but he won every distance from the shortest, 500 meters, to the longest, the grueling 10K. What other Olympian in any sport with such a range of distances ever won gold in all of them? Olympic champion sprinters do not even compete in distance events, let alone win them, and vice versa. But Eric Heiden's unprecedented feat, like the five interlocking Olympic rings, extended to all five of his sport's events!

Every athlete who is lucky enough,and gifted enough,and can represent there country at the Olympic-Games is a great olympian.No matter how many Medals they bring home,if any.

Because ranking is used to assign the medals, you can't compare athletes by the number of medals won. The competing athletes available have a lot to do with the number of medals won.

Ranking is a poor ray to measure anything.