Michael Phelps (USA)

CNN

Michael Phelps is the greatest Olympian of all time - Michael Farber - SI.com

It's beyond dispute: Phelps is the greatest Olympian of all time

Guardian (UK newspaper)

London 2012: Michael Phelps becomes the greatest Olympian | Sport | The Guardian

Twenty years after he first began to swim in suburban Baltimore, as a seven-year-old boy whose mother thought a pool might be the one place where he could conquer his chaotic excess of energy, Michael Phelps officially became the greatest Olympian in history.

London 2012: Michael Phelps becomes the greatest Olympian | Sport | The Guardian

London 2012: Michael Phelps has officially become the greatest Olympian every after winning his 19th medal in the 4x200m relay.

London 2012: Michael Phelps becomes the greatest Olympian | Sport | The Guardian

London 2012: Michael Phelps becomes the greatest Olympian

CNN Blogs

If Michael Phelps were a country… – This Just In - CNN.com Blogs

He wraps up a career as the most decorated Olympian ever, perhaps the greatest ever.

Bjorn Daehlie (Norway)

CNN

Michael Phelps cements legacy as one of all-time Olympic greats ...

Some might argue for Bjorn Daehlie, the Norwegian cross-country skier.

CNN Blogs

If Michael Phelps were a country… – This Just In - CNN.com Blogs

Some might argue for Bjorn Daehlie, the Norwegian cross-country skier.

notas.net76.net

Las ultimas Noticias | La prueba que necesitaba el periodismo

Some might argue for Bjorn Daehlie, the Norwegian cross-country skier.

hd5000.com

Everyone can stop feeling sorry for Jordyn Wieber now #Jordyn ...

Some might argue for Bjorn Daehlie, the Norwegian cross-country skier.

Larisa Latynina (Soviet Union)

CNN

Michael Phelps cements legacy as one of all-time Olympic greats ...

And there's gymnast Larisa Latynina, whose 18 medals are now second all time.

CNN Blogs

This Just In - CNN.com Blogs

And there's gymnast Larisa Latynina, whose 18 medals are now second all time.

01 – August – 2012 – This Just In - CNN.com Blogs

And there's gymnast Larisa Latynina, whose 18 medals are now second all time.

If Michael Phelps were a country… – This Just In - CNN.com Blogs

And there's gymnast Larisa Latynina, whose 18 medals are now second all time.

If Michael Phelps were a country… – This Just In - CNN.com Blogs

And there's gymnast Larisa Latynina, whose 18 medals are now second all time.

CNN news blog editor Mallory Simon – This Just In - CNN.com Blogs

And there's gymnast Larisa Latynina, whose 18 medals are now second all time.

Olympics – This Just In - CNN.com Blogs

And there's gymnast Larisa Latynina, whose 18 medals are now second all time.

notas.net76.net

Las ultimas Noticias | La prueba que necesitaba el periodismo

And there’s gymnast Larisa Latynina, whose 18 medals are now second all time.

hd5000.com

If Michael Phelps were a country… #Michael Phelps |

And there’s gymnast Larisa Latynina, whose 18 medals are now second all time.

Birgit Fischer (Germany)

BBC News

BBC Sport - Is Michael Phelps the greatest Olympian of all time?

Germany's Birgit Fischer won a remarkable eight, over six different Olympic Games, even having missed the Los Angeles Games entirely because of the Eastern Bloc boycott.

neogaf.com

Michael Phelps Becomes Most Decorated Olympian of All Time - Page ...

Germany's Birgit Fischer won a remarkable eight, over six different Olympic Games, even having missed the Los Angeles Games entirely because of the Eastern Bloc boycott.

maxyzone.blogspot.com

Maxy Zone

Germany's Birgit Fischer won a remarkable eight, over six different Olympic Games, even having missed the Los Angeles Games entirely because of the Eastern Bloc boycott.

Jesse Owens (USA)

BBC News

BBC Sport - Is Michael Phelps the greatest Olympian of all time?

Jesse Owens would surely have added to his four golds - and three Olympic records - from Berlin had a crass ban from US authorities and the global Armageddon of World War II not intervened.

Sebastian Coe (Olympic athlete)

Sebastian Coe says Michael Phelps ‘up there’ but not the greatest Olympian of all - The Washington Post

He also mentioned Jesse Owens, who won four gold medals at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, and Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci, who achieved a perfect score at the 1976 Montreal Games.

Steve Redgrave (United Kingdom)

BBC News

BBC Sport - Is Michael Phelps the greatest Olympian of all time?

Sir Steve Redgrave won five golds over five Olympics.

Sebastian Coe (Olympic athlete)

Sebastian Coe says Michael Phelps ‘up there’ but not the greatest Olympian of all - The Washington Post

Coe offered up two British athletes — five-time gold medalist rower Steve Redgrave and two-time decathlon champion Daley Thompson.

Emile Zatopek (Czechoslovakia)

BBC News

BBC Sport - Is Michael Phelps the greatest Olympian of all time?

There is Emile Zatopek, winning gold in London and three more in Helsinki including, famously, the marathon in his first ever attempt at the distance, and Daley Thompson, champion in the hardest event of all on two epoch-making occasions.

Aladar Gerevich (Hungary)

BBC News

BBC Sport - Is Michael Phelps the greatest Olympian of all time?

Hungarian fencer Aladar Gerevich won a little historical legroom of his own by taking medals in the same event six times.

Al Oerter (USA)

BBC News

BBC Sport - Is Michael Phelps the greatest Olympian of all time?

And what of Al Oerter, winner of discus gold at four successive Games despite a car crash that nearly killed him, a man so obsessed with medals that when his doctor told him to retire on medical grounds he replied: "This is the Olympics - you die before you quit."

Paavo Nurmi (Finland)

BBC News

BBC Sport - Is Michael Phelps the greatest Olympian of all time?

So too would distance running pioneer Paavo Nurmi, winner of nine golds and three silvers between 1920 and 1928, who was excluded by officials from the 10,000m in Paris for health reasons and then banned from the 1932 Olympics for receiving a small amount of money in travel expenses.

Ray Ewry (USA)

BBC News

BBC Sport - Is Michael Phelps the greatest Olympian of all time?

There is Ray Ewry - three golds in Paris in 1900, three more in St Louis four years later, two more in 1908 - having overcome polio and a childhood confined to a wheelchair.

Usain Bolt (Jamaica)

BBC News

BBC Sport - Is Michael Phelps the greatest Olympian of all time?

And there is Usain Bolt, the golden streak behind two of the most staggering performances in Olympic history and with the opportunity for more before this fortnight is out.

Carl Lewis (USA)

CNN Blogs

If Michael Phelps were a country… – This Just In - CNN.com Blogs

Some commentators will argue the cases of track and field's Carl Lewis, who missed an Olympics because of a U.S. boycott, or distance runner Paavo Nurmi, who won 12 medals.