Who is the Greatest Summer Olympian of All Time?

By Nick Powell
One of the fiercest debates in the world of sports journalism is this one, who is the greatest Olympian of all time? Down the years there are several greats that have staked their claim to be one the names considered but two men have once again produced incredible performances at these Olympics to spark the argument again. 

I am of course talking about Usain Bolt and Michael Phelps. Stars of 2008, Legends of 2012 and now heroes of 2016. These two men have dominated their sports over the last decade, but have especially turned up with sensational performances for the greatest show on earth. 

There are a number of important areas to consider when deciding who is the greatest, some in the athletes' control, others perhaps not. Whilst numbers of gold medals are important, they are not necessarily the number one factor in deciding who is the greatest. If it was all about the stats, Michael Phelps' 23 golds would take him clear of anyone. 

This article will analyse six of the best athletes on a number of categories before deciding the man or woman that should be considered the greatest Olympian of all time

Jesse Owens
Jesse Owens made his name at the 1936 Summer Olympics. Owens's success at the games represented a counter to Adolf Hitler, who was using the games to show the world a resurgent Nazi Germany. He and other government officials had high hopes that German athletes would dominate the games with victories. Meanwhile, Nazi propaganda promoted concepts of "Aryan racial superiority" and depicted others, including those of African descent, as inferior. Owens countered this by winning four gold medals. Ironically after winning the long jump he credited his achievement to the technical advice he received from Lutz Long, the German competitor whom he defeated. It has been found since then that Hitler did indeed congratulate and shake hands with Owens. Perhaps that is even more incredible; a racist, anti-semitic, expansionist, homophobic tyrant couldn't help but be impressed by the achievements of the African-American.

Longevity: He didn't have a long career, but that was because the next two Olympics were cancelled due to the Second World War. It is therefore difficult to put a number on this category. (N/A)
Variety: Four different events, including one field event, Jesse Owens was not short of talent in the Athletics arena, he was so far clear of the field at that time that he was able to compete in a wide variety of events, dominating all four (8/10)
Adversity and Impact: As mentioned earlier, his incredible win helped silence (or at least nullify) the Aryan Supremacy theme of the games. He earned the respect of Hitler and millions of Germans who were racist, summing up the extraordinary nature of the achievement. His legacy lives on to show that anyone, can do anything, anywhere. (8/10)
Dominance and Style: He won 4 golds and by some distance, the dignity and confidence he conducted throughout in the face of what was a hostile environment showed his class. Perhaps not a maverick, and he ultimately faded from the limelight, but he did his talking on the track (8/10)

Avg: 8/10

Nadia Comeneci

At the age of 14, Comăneci became one of the stars of the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal. During the team compulsory portion of the competition on July 18, her routine on the uneven bars was awarded a perfect ten. It was the first time in modern Olympic gymnastics history that the score had ever been awarded, she would go on to do it 7 times. Her spectacular performances earned her gold in the All-Around, Balance Beam and Uneven Bars and she carried her Romanian team to a silver in the Team event. She added a bronze in the floor to become the most successful gymnast at the 1976 games with 5 medals. She is credited with raising the profile of gymnastics and popularising the sport around the world. 

Longevity: Comeneci took part in just two Olympics, retiring at the age of just 19, so in this department she perhaps falls short, but it is worth remembering that in gymnastics, especially for women at that time, a long career was not really an option. Having said that, Larisa Latynina retired at 32 after 3 Olympics and 4 World Championships. So Comaneci can't be marked too highly on this one (7/10)
Variety: Comaneci deserves credit on this one by nature of winning a gold and silver in the all around event and winning golds in three other individual events showed her ability to compete at the top level all other the floor. (8/10)
Adversity and Impact: A communist country that you aren't allowed to leave is not the nicest place to grow up, and she came from a very poor background. Her love of gymnastics spurned her through her early years and helped lead her to that incredible string of successes. Her youth is also extraordinary, 14 years of age and an Olympic Champion, it was simply incredible. The impact she had on gymnastics in the world was dramatic and she has established herself as a household name, even today. (8/10)
Dominance and Style: While she didn't win everything, in the large number of events she did win she absolutely dominated and managed to record 7 10/10 scores, when it was previously seen as simply impossible to score over 9.95. Style is the name of the game in gymnastics, and she sure did have it. Almost perfect 10 for this category. (9/10)

Avg: 8/10 

Carl Lewis

Despite being embroiled in controversy over failed drugs tests during US team trials for the 1988 Olympics, Lewis’ stunning career demands an enormous amount of respect. He won four gold medals and was undefeated for over a decade in his favoured event, long jump, while he also managed to set world records over distances between 100m and 4x100m with the American relay team. His performance in 1984 is the most notable achievement, as he stood out from the crowd with a stunning four golds, matching the achievement of Jesse Owens. After running only the fourth sub 10s 100m in history to take gold by 0.2 seconds, he only needed one jump of six to ease to Long Jump victory. The third fastest time in the 200m at that time helped him ease to a third, and he sercured his fourth gold after a world record relay performance from the USA. He was not done there however, as he defended two of his three individual titles in Seoul four years later. His 9.92 ran in the final would ultimately go on to be the new World record as Ben Johnson's previous two world records were wiped out for his steroid use. Lewis didn't stop there however, retaining the long jump gold and falling just short of another 200m gold medal. After an amazing 1991, he headed to Barcelona the following year in a bit of a mess. He was nowhere near qualification in the 100m and 200m and just scraped into the long jump and relay team, but like all great Olympians, he stepped up when it mattered. At the Games in Barcelona, Lewis jumped to victory by three centre metres before an incredible anchor leg which was at the time, the fastest ever in the 4x100m final as part of the world record 37.40. After qualifying for the long jump for a fifth time, he earned his 8th and final gold to write his name into the history books.

Longevity: Five games, four in which he won golds in, its fair to say that Carl Lewis is in a cracking position in this category. He shined mostly at 1984, but was definitely not a one games wonder, amazingly he is older than Comeneci, but retired 16 years after she did. He would have been in 5 Olympics, had it not been for the US boycott of 1980, that's ridiculous, near perfect you could say. (9/10)

Variety: The modern day Jesse Owens, an even more incredible achievement as it was in a much more competitive era, his incredible variety in the modern generation is quite unique and means that the man from Birmingham Alabama edges Owens (9/10)

Adversity and Impact: Lewis went through a seriously torrid time after his 1984 wins. Somewhat harshly he was seen as arrogant and unpleasant, which was true but it is often required for top athletes to succeed. His was less of a Daley Thompson and more of a Usain Bolt. Furthermore he had to fight rumours he was homosexual, which might have led to his split from Nike. He won the 1988 gold less than a year after losing his father, and kept going even when he fell away at the biggest events. However he failed to make such a great impact on the sport due to that unpopularity allowing with his doping allegations (8/10)

Dominance and Style: He did dominate the sport in 1984, but was fortunate in that Soviet and East German athletes were not included in those games. He did dominate throughout in the Long Jump, but didn't really in the other events. In terms of style, he lacked it somewhat mis-judging the cool confidence which came across as arrogant so he's not scoring highly here unfortunately (6/10)

Avg: 8/10

Sir Steve Redgrave 

I just couldn't resist, a Briton had to make it somehow. But Sir Steve Redgrave does seriously deserve his place. Five gold medals across 16 years in an endurance sport. Immediately after winning the 1996 Olympic Gold Medal, he stated if anyone found him close to a rowing boat again they could shoot him, yet he did it again. Redgrave did win all of his events in team but it was in 96' that he and Pinsent managed to grab team GB's only gold medal in those games. He didn't come from a rough background, but he wasn't spoon fed his success and didn't get a short cut through a private school. To this day he has held numerous world records and still holds an Olympic record. His personal effort makes an even larger picture of Sir Steve possible. This also help to include him among the ranks of the “best-of-the-best” among historic Olympic figures. While his Olympic and athletic prowess is beyond question, his personal endeavors are even more impressive. He continues to raise large amounts of money for charity, raising most of the money for children’s charities (most notably raising 1.8 million pounds in 3 London Marathons between 2002 and 2006). He has his own charitable organizations which he promotes selflessly. He is very active not only in the world of sports, but the business world as well. His continued efforts beyond his sports ability alone truly separate Sir Steve from other, more common heroes.

Longevity: Redgrave’s effort of five appearances at the Olympics is unmatched by any other endurance athlete. There's simply no question about this one (10/10)

Variety: Less impressive for Redgrave, although he did change it up a little bit, winning golds in three different events and a bronze in another so it would be harsh to seriously punish the Brit in this department (7/10)

Adversity and Impact: It doesn't seem like Redgrave didn't have to face anything like the adversity that the top three did, but having to train for 20 years at the intensity that he did is adversity in itself. It is also important to not forget his diagnoses with Ulcerative Colitis in 1992 and Type 2 diabetes in 1997. His impact on British Sport and rowing in particular, was massive. Since then, British rowing has began to dominate again, and since that Olympics in which he won the only gold, the total has increased year on year. Britain have risen from 36th, to potentially 2nd in the medals table this year. He acts as a role model for all Olympians and was named as the 36th in the greatest Britons of all time in a BBC poll. It's fair enough to say he has had a great impact (10/10)

Dominance and Style: In terms of rowing, he is the most successful male Olympian in the history of the sport. Redgrave was never a maverick but he handled himself with humility and class throughout, and while he did not always win by a massive margin, he always won, and at that time, Team GB would have taken any kind of victory (9/10)

Avg: (9/10)

Usain Bolt

Insane Bolt. How much introduction does this man need really? If you don't already know (if you don't know then this isn't the website for you) Bolt gained worldwide popularity for his double sprint victory at the 2008 Beijing Olympics in world record times. He later became the first man at the Olympic Games to win six gold medals for sprinting. He was the first to win consecutive Olympic 100 m and 200 m titles (2008 and 2012). At the 2016 Summer Olympics he became the first track athlete in Olympic history to win three gold medals in one discipline, with his win in the 100 m sprint. Tonight, he goes for gold in the 200m. The Jamaican will face a brutal challenge from Andre de Grasse, but he is confident that he will take the gold medal (as ever) and is even hoping to break his world record of 19.19 seconds by running sub-19 seconds. He has had overwhelming success outside the Olympics, crucially defeating Justin Gatlin is last year's World Championships to "save athletics". Bolt has always done it in such class, and smashed the World record repeatedly, he can single handedly draw crowds to stadiums and will be hugely missed as he runs his last individual Olympic race tonight. The Jamaican, who will retire in 2017, will surely be the greatest athlete of all time if he runs sub-19 in his last ever major 200m race.  

Longevity: Three Olympics is not bad for a sprinter, to achieve perfection in all of those is even better. Bolt could go on for longer, but he entered as the greatest and wants to leave the greatest. I also wouldn't completely rule out the Jamaican having one last hurrah in Jamaica, but if we are just going off three Olympics, he can't get full marks (9/10)
Variety: Lewis was the last man, in 1984, to win the double of the 100 and 200 metres golds. If Bolt does it three times, it is fair to say that that counts for an equal amount of variety than winning three different individual events once. Bolt gets to match Lewis on this one. (9/10)
Adversity and Impact: A simple upbringing was what Bolt had, the funny thing is his sprinting was first spotted when he was fast-bowling for his local cricket team. Before people start talking about Jamaicans being naturally quick, Bolt and Asafa Powell were really the first Jamaicans to dominate sprinting at the top level. In terms of his impact, Bolt has saved the reputation of Athletics. He has repeatedly been in fields where 5 or 6 of his adversaries have had doping convictions yet he has never doped. He is a physical freak of nature, which means he has cleanly set the World and Olympic records of his sport and thus given huge legitimacy to his events, in the face of cheating left, right and centre. He has also grown the 100m back where it belongs, the biggest Olympic event. It did fade as records were unchallenged and athletes failed to dominate, but Bolt has taken it back to the top through his sheer personality. (10/10) 
Domination and Style: Can we give 11/10? His dominance is too great for words, if he does win an eighth gold tonight, and potentially even a ninth later in this competition, and gets anywhere near another world record in those events, he will surely enter sporting immortality, and has to be considered as one of the most dominant Olympians of all time. 4 world records and a further Olympic one, in just 7 events. It's just incredible. That leads onto the style too. Take Beijing 2008. He broke the world record, practically jogging the last 20 metres, beating his chest. Who knows how much he could have broken it by if he had run his hardest? This is what the great man made of it:

"I was slowing down long before the finish and wasn't tired at all. I could have gone back to the start and done it all over again."

It sums the man up, and he would romp to 200m and 4x100m world records at that games too before retaining them with ease at London 2012. Let's not also neglect to mention his amazing personality. A charmer, a joker, he barely takes his races seriously. Usain Bolt is the most dominant and stylish athlete of anyone in this group and earns himself a perfect 10 (10/10). 

Avg: (9.5/10) 

Michael Phelps

That leaves Michael Phelps, and a showdown between him and Bolt for greatest Olympian ever. No matter how one looks at it, Michael Phelps is far and away the most decorated Olympian of all-time. The American holds the all-time records for Olympic gold medals (23), Olympic gold medals in individual events (13), and Olympic medals in individual events (16). In winning eight gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Games, Phelps broke fellow American swimmer Mark Spitz's record of seven first-place finishes at any single Olympic Games. Five of those victories were in individual events, tying the single Games record. In the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Phelps won four golds and two silver medals, making him the most successful athlete of the Games for the third Olympics in a row. He made it to a fifth games this summer where he added 5 more golds and a silver to firmly keep his grip on being the most coveted Olympian in history. He has finally called time on his special career, with a medley relay gold after a stunning butterfly leg.  

Longevity: 5 games, 4 in which that he was the most successful Olympian at the games, it's not difficult to decide on this man's score. We thought it was over 2012, but in 2014, he came back for more. Phelps has worked so hard (as all swimmers do) in the last two years and has earned his reward in 2016. You look at the great swimmers, Spitz, Thorpe, Addlington. None of them have managed more than 2 games. Easy decision (10/10)

Variety: Swimming is tough to measure for variety. But if anyone deserves a high mark here it is Phelps. His sheer domination in both the Butterfly and Freestyle and his wins in the medley show he has plenty of variety. Not even Spitz did individual medleys. Without a doubt one of swimming's most diverse athletes ever.  (10/10)

Impact and Adversity: Divorced parents and ADHD meant he didn't have the easiest start in life, but if anything it pushed the legend into swimming. Like Redgrave it is important to note that there is adversity in the sheer brutality of his training, and this guy has been a professional swimmer for 17 of his 31 years on this earth. In terms of his impact, he has grown swimming. His philanthropic work has been brilliant too and he has inspired million of people worldwide to take up the sport. He cannot score ten here however, for two drink driving offences in Maryland and being caught with a bong in 2009. I'm afraid to say that kind of behaviour means he has to lose a couple of points here and will need 10 from 10 in the last category to match Bolt (8/10)

Domination and Style: We'll kick off with style, and Phelps has got it in abundance. He looks cool as a cucumber as he prepares for a race and knows the line between confidence and arrogance when he celebrates. He has also lets not forget, done it all clean. Not a taint on his record, further establishing his class and super-human status. So that leaves dominance. Surely he is going to get full marks for this? I'm going to be super harsh and say no. Here's why. 23 golds is spectacular but he has lost races and has had to rely on others at times. To get 10 is this category, you need to be someone who is simply unbeatable. Phelps has benefitted from the amount of events he can participate in, which other athletes in other sports can't. Bolt has yet to be beaten (he probably will tonight now) and Phelps has. He has won SO many, but it is not impossible in a sport like this and the fact is his medal total is probably not even as impressive as his variety. He has been incredible, but not quite Bolt incredible so he can't match the Jamaican with perfection. (9.5/10)

Avg: 9.375

It's quite embarrassing for a 17 year old who has achieved next to nothing in his life to be questioning Phelps' dominance. But in my humble opinion, he just isn't as great as Bolt. For me, Bolt is the greatest Olympian of all time, it's close, but Bolt just delivers and delivers and delivers perfection. He is the greatest of all time, in the greatest Olympic sport, and is the man that everyone watches, cares about and crucially, wants to win. How often is it that someone so dominant can be so loved by so many? So Usain Bolt is the greatest summer Olympian of all time. Let's hope he can win tonight to ensure this article doesn't backfire horrendously. 

Come on Usain, don't ruin this article