daniel

no, i’m sorry but a 14 time gold medalist is a greater Olympian than a two time gold medalist. michael phelps showed his incredible class by winning heat after heat of swimming without tiring and having just hours inbetween. He had a lot more races than bolt did. Usain bolt is not greater than Michael phelps.

Clifford, Seattle WA

I haven’t seen the 200m finals race yet because of the STUPID way NBC is covering the Beijing Olympics. However, I sincerely hope Usain Bolt isn’t taking any type of performance enhancing drugs. I know he as been tested several times during this Olympics and all results were negative.

I thought Michael Johnson’s 200m record of 19.32s would stand for 20 – 30 years! My only word to describe Usain Bolt’s speed is… AWESOME!!! Thanks Usain for giving the world a double dose of Track & Field history!

Doretha Wynter

I am very proud of Usain he showed that he is made of the right stuff. Two world records in these two premium sprint event is just …I can’t even find words to express it. Big up Usian you have made Jamaicans proud.
ONE LOVE!!!!!!s

Steve

I grew up on the other side of the rain forested hills separating Trelawney and St Elizabeth, in Jamaica. The closest thing we have to swimming pools are the pools that form in the streams cascading from these hills. We don’t have access to the resources that most developed nations take for granted. This makes Usain’s triumph that much sweeter.

bryan

I enjoy these types of debates, because the answers are both difficult and pointless. And totally entertaining!

I made a site about this very debate:

http://www.squidoo.com/michael.....usain-bolt

It’s got a lot of info about their respective Olympic performances and a place for people to debate who was better. I hope you’ll stop by and tell us what you think!

bryan

Steve

i think whoever wrote this was smoking something! sorry buddy, but Phelps is BY FAR the greater Olympian. As mentioned earlier, Bolt didn’t have to compete near as much as Phelps. Also, Bolt is probably on some kind of performance enhancing substance, whether he admits it or not. I understand that he has been tested more than most other athletes and that he has volunteered for the in the past, but you don’t just randomly decide you’re going to stop running over 10-sec in the 100m to sub 10-sec. Come on folks, he’s on something. Phelps his far greater than Bolt will ever be! You can’t neglect a 14-time gold medalist!

GL

Usain can be called the fastest man on earth. As qreat as Phelps is, he is not the fastest man in water. He was lucky to win the 100m butterfly and we won’t medal in the other 3 styles in 100m. When Phelps can at least medal (preferably gold) in the 100m free, he will have more respect.

So, the edge goes to Usain Bolt.

Bimibatoo

Bolt’s antics at the end of the 100 meter were a disgrace to the sport. Who runs a race like that and then shows off like a goon at the end? Bolt deserves no reward for that behavior. That kind of blatant arrogance is unacceptable. To have such great talent, then run only part of the race and show off like that at the end is beyond belief.

LanceArmstrong

Clifford sed:
“However, I sincerely hope Usain Bolt isn’t taking any type of performance enhancing drugs. I know he as been tested several times during this Olympics and all results were negative.”

This comment shows the usual ignorance w.r.t. drugs. Performance enhancing drugs can only be proven max. 48 hours after intake but can have effects up to 9 months thereafter. Thus Bolt or Phelps could have been drugging for months before the Olympics and stopped taking drugs 2 days before Beijing and nobody would know.

Jamaica is not part of the Commonwealth and thus not under NADA regulations, which would ensure some form of limited testing during training. In addition Jamaica does not have the lab facilities, finances or expertise to properly check drugs. In the US drug tests are announced up front rendering them essentially useless. Only a few European countries’ IOC committees decided to explicitly send clean teams. Germany was one such team and did remarkably well. In a drug-free Olympics Germany would surely have taken 1st or 2nd place.

Specialists in Germany say there are 25 substances which currently cannot be tested for. Considering all this it’s obvious Phelps and Bolt were not clean.

Considering the circumstances one would have to take Bolt and Phelps by their word, a hopelessly naive thing to do in competitive sports. I cannot understand that so many people are still ignorant about drugs. It’s the media which is suppressing all this information in order to keep the Olympics semi-legit, keep the dollar rolling, and prevent the invariable anti-climax which would set in if we had a drug-free Olympics.

Steve

re: GL

until Bolt wins 14 gold medals, dont even mention anything about him being the greatest of all time. as a matter of fact, he doesnt even belong in this article. Bolt isn’t even comparable to Phelps, this is completely stupid!

Jado

Bolt is way better, sure Phelps won more but records are broken in swimming everyday. And he didnt blow away any records.

corpulent

“His marks don’t depend on the technological upgrade of a pool or a swimming outfit”

Yep…sure makes sense when you hear runners say of the track in Bejing “This is the fastest track we’ve ever run on”. Of course his world records were dependent on technological improvements. Ask him to go run the same 100M’s on a track that’s 50 years old. Not going to happen.

That being said – they are both incredible athletes. You are comparing apples to oranges here. Why try to figure out who is the better athlete? They both shattered records, they both won gold, they are both head and shoulders above most other athletes.

Ali

No one knows how one will react when one achieve a big accomplishment as Usain Bolt did, I would probably get so excited after winning that I would strip myself naked on those tracks.
Take one a look at the puma logo on his shirt he is a panther, “you go lightening Bolt, you are the best of the best…

wiseone1243

Bolts record breaking performances, first in the 100m only running hard for 90m with no wind, and in the 200m, breaking a record that was .3 seconds faster than any other previously ran time in the 200 with a .9 wind in his face…. were simply unbelievable. I’ve never seen anything like it in my life. Usain is the King of Beijing…. 3 golds and 3 world records, blowing away the field in each event.

Phelps may have won 8 gold, but he barely won a few of his races and has so many events. If there was a 100m and 200m run backwards, sideways, crawl, etc maybe Bolt could win that many medals.

Bolts complete and utter dominance of the rest of the field made it look like a man racing against boys. The field in track is deeper than swimming to boot. Bolt all the way.