Should Michael Phelps compete again in 2012?

**CVT** · August 18th, 2008 01:22 PM

I believe he should. And Matt Biondi, on our - wife and myself- personal conversation with him a few days ago in the Beijing Olympics, also thinks so.

By that time in 2012, Phelps would be 27 years old. Matt Biondi, a multi-medalled US Olympian swimmer himself, last participated in the 1992 Olympics when he was 27 years old. (OT- I am sure Matt is also happy today for M. Phelps as he was rooting for him to break Mark Spitz' record, which by the way was a burden to Matt during his Olympic swimming days....

)

6610:secret:

**uls** · August 18th, 2008 01:37 PM

yes he should compete again.

bata pa sya.

**1D4LV** · August 18th, 2008 05:54 PM

imho, he had set the standards already, i think he should retire, enjoy his millions and have a life.

based on my readings on his bio, 14 years old pa lang sya, puro training na.

**1D4LV** · August 18th, 2008 05:56 PM

imho, he had set the standards already, i think he should retire, enjoy his millions and have a life.

based on my readings on his bio, 14 years old pa lang sya, puro training na.

**XTO** · August 18th, 2008 07:59 PM

at the age of 27 in london? no but it really depends on the world championships' time prior to that. if he realizes and proved that he cannot match or duplicate the winning times i think he will so his feat will stay unscathed.

**Jun aka Pekto** · August 18th, 2008 09:37 PM

Originally Posted by boybi

Do you think Michael Phelps should retire from the Olympics after Beijing 2008?

You heard from the man himself, "Records were made to be broken". He's not done until he says he's done.

It's too premature to say he's the greatest athlete of our time. But, consider his accomplishments with this one Olympics:

- Gold in 8 out of 8 events. Sweep.

-7 of those 8 events resulted in new world records. Those who say he had it easy are on drugs. It's not like he waltzed into the 8 golds. Not with 7 new world records. He had stiff competition which included himself.

- He has 14 golds in two Olympiads. He's probably good for at least 2 more Olympics although I don't expect him to duplicate his feat in Beijing. I do expect him to have the most Olympic gold medals of any individual athlete when he retires. Only then will I decide if he's the greatest athlete of our time.

**cutedoc** · August 18th, 2008 10:48 PM

retire while on top, ang galing swimming lang ang naaabutan ko sakto puro ke phleps pa, ang ganda ng moments niya, with her mom and all.

**iho250** · August 19th, 2008 02:31 AM

why not compete? he's still young

**daimengrui** · August 19th, 2008 08:59 AM

Originally Posted by empy

the BS that i hear too is that it's easier for Phelps because swimming takes less toll on one's body. track and field is supposedly much more difficult.

such garbage. well, what about the gymnastics all-around competition and the decathlon? multiple grueling events back-to-back-to-back. so forget Carl Lewis, the best Olympic athletes should be Bruce Jenner and Nadia Comaneci!

the point is - compare each athlete to the competition he has. is Tiger Woods less dominant than Michael Jordan because his sport is "less physically demanding"? is less great?

Actually the measure of an athletes greatness is usually counted in the degree of his impact to the sport. In such a comparison the only big advantage Phleps have against Carl Lewis is his relative impact on the sport of swimming and how he electrified the US population to the sport. If you watched Fox news/ CNN everybody was glued to the TV because of him and everybody wanted to get into the water. Carl Lewis has none of that impact the way Phelps have. Tiger woods is another story but history will tell us his impact was not that all that big.

Only Michael Jordan in my book is the better athlete than Phelps. Because of his relative big impact on basketball to the US and the world. When he left the NBA there was a huge void that couldn't be filled for some years and even until now.

It's no use comparing apples with oranges but you can compare them by how far an apple exceeded the expectations vs other apples against how far an orange has exceeded expectations against other oranges. In that sense you get the impact of the athlete to the Sport, the Community, the Nation and the World.

Michael Phelps is great on several accounts. Swimming is an indirect competitive sport. You do not really compete against other swimmers you compete for lap TIME. 7 world records fell in his hands in one Olympic Games to say he hasn't so much competition is idiotic we all know when swimmers race they couldn't care less looking at their opponents -- simply a waste of time. What they do compete for is the fastest swim time and as much as possible break WR because thats the only way you can be sure of a win.

Second he can win individually and win and also win as a team. He is a team player and that is a hallmark of a great athlete. Being able to work in a team.

**empy** · August 19th, 2008 09:10 AM

^wait, i don't get if you are agreeing or disagreeing with me...i think we are saying the same thing. or at least agreeing that he deserves consideration among the all-time greats