no_quiero wrote:

And to loote, if he thinks in 36 years only carl lewis came close to breaking the record of Spitz is ludicrous. what about Kristin otto from East Germany who won 6 golds in six events in 1988 in swimming or Vitali Scherbo of Unified Team who won 6 golds in1992 Barcelona olympics in gymnastics.

I am not just saying Carl Lewis came close to breaking the record but he was one of the most consistent athletes (in terms of performance in more than just one Olympic) among very, very few others. He shined in three Olympics mind you: 1984, '88 and '92. Look at Phelps now: 2004, 2008 and he is not finished yet. And you compare them with Otto and Vitali who performed well in just one Olympic and couldn't even come close to winning in others? hahaha....Okay Otto couldn't participate in '84 because of the political situation in Germany back then but still that's like comparing Holland with Brazil in soccer and India/Sri-Lanka with Australia in cricket hahahaha

And like some of the other people said, it's not just the number of golds that has made Phelps stand in the competition for the greatest Olympian of all time. His consistency, determination, discipline...fan following (reason that made more people watch the Olympic games) and all also made the difference.