In addition to loving sports, I also love history. I have a Masters in American History from George Mason University (Go Patriots!). When these two passions come together, it normally makes me very happy. Not today though. Here's why.
ESPN came out today with its list of the 30 Greatest Summer Olympians of All Time. They seem to only include Americans in the list, but I digress. Guess who is Number 1? That's right, Michael Phelps. Hooray Phelps! He can swim! He is a mer-man and has won a ton of gold medals. He really is a phenom in the pool. There is no denying that.
He isn't the best Summer Olympian of all time.
He isn't.
I'm serious.
Stop seething and listen to me.
Michael Phelps has won all of his races. He got his 8 Golds thanks to a teammate owning the final leg of a relay. It was like he won more medals than most of the other countries in the Olympics. He has beaten Lotche. He has beaten Thorpe. He has lived up to the hype and the expectations. But there is one foe that he has never had to face: Adolf Hitler.
Jesse Owens is, without question, the Greatest Summer Olympian of All Time. He went into Germany in 1936 for the Berlin Olympics and changed the world. He, in the mind of the Nazi leaders and Nazi propagandists, was an inferior species of human; an ape who could not compete at the same level as their Aryan athletes. Owens marched into the stadium overseen by the personification of evil with an entire country looking down on him. All Owens did in the face of hate and racism was win 4 Gold Medals- the 100 meter, 200 meter, 4x100 meter relay, and the long jump.
He struck a blow to the psyche of the Nazi party and its leader, while showing the world that hate and prejudice based on skin color was completely unjustified. The true shame of the entire situation is that Owens experienced the same hate upon arriving back in the United States. He didn't get a trip to the White House. He has to ride in the freight elevator at the Waldorf-Astoria up to a reception in his honor. Still, his legacy has endured. He is one of the few athletes you will ever see in a history textbook, because his performance at the 1936 Games were that impressive. What does Phelps have that can compare to that?
Phelps, along with all those medals, has a DWI conviction, and likes weed almost as much as he loves Subway sandwiches.
So excuse me for pointing out that he isn't the greatest. He can be the most dominant. He can be the most decorated. But I will choose an American Hero who exemplified true greatness as my #1. Jesse Owens is the Greatest Summer Olympian of All Time.
methinks maybe he likes subways sandwiches so much BECAUSE he likes weed...
ReplyDeleteAlso, i think that perhaps there is a semantic issue here... are we talking about greatest Olympian, or greatest Olympic athlete?
If we are talking about greatest Olympian, then surely Owens owns the title - his performance in the face of overwhelming obstacles personifies the Citius Altius Fortius motto of the Olympics in both mind and body.
If we are talking about greatest Olympic athlete - a judgement on athletics alone, without societal context - then Phelps is definitely in the picture.