17 August, 2008

Eight Golden Performances

  1. 4x100 Individual Medley
  2. 4x100 Freestyle Relay
  3. 200 Freestyle
  4. 200 Butterfly
  5. 4x200 Freestyle Relay
  6. 200 Individual Medley
  7. 100 Butterfly
  8. 4x100 Medley Relay

Personally, I find Phelps' record of 14 career gold medals more impressive. The two top performances in Olympic history belong to Phelps with 8 and Spitz with 7.  To beat 14 in two Olympics would require something like an 8 and 7 performance. Or, in other words, two of the best four performances ever. To do it in three Olympics would be something like 5-5-5. There haven't been that many people who have won 5 in a games, and to do it three times seems impossible. I'm not sure his career record will ever be broken, except by him if he returns in 2012 and can pick up a couple more.

Oh, and hats off to Natalie Coughlin who's had nearly as incredible performance as Michael Phelps.  She won 6 golds in Beijing and 5 in Athens, acquiring the second most medals (to Phelps) in both games.

No comments:

Post a Comment