During the Olympics all we heard was how Michael Phelps was the “greatest Olympian ever”. I found that ludicrous. To me, the number of medals was simply a side effect of the number of races he could enter. If they had a 100 meter, a 101 meter race and 102 meter race, I wouldn’’t be impressed that he won them all. While he did swim 4 different strokes, he didn’t race the shortest races or the longer swimming races. In essence, he was neither the best sprinter nor the best distance swimmer. And, of course, some of the events were team events.

Another possible choice might be Lance Armstrong. I am a fan of Lance’, and in many ways he comes close. Once again, I must admit that the Tour is ultimately a team event. This doesn’’t disqualify him, but he is protected during the race so that he can use his speed and hill climbing power when needed in the portions of the race where drafting (riding behind someone for an assist) is not allowed (time trialing) or useful (climbing the Alps). Obviously he has amazing endurance and certainly can do well without drafting (second place recently in an endurance mountain bike race against the best in the world).

Some might also argue that the flaw with both these candidates is that there is “no defense”. A sport like boxing makes a good argument that the best athlete is left standing. Other than split decisions, there is no argument who was the greatest. But the same can be said for a race where the stop watch is the final arbiter. However, in the case of the boxer, or perhaps even the football player, I still think they fail on the basis of relying on a limited skill, rather than being a well rounded athlete, whose abilities transfer beyond their sport. This disqualifies others such as Tiger Woods as well.

Bo Jackson comes to mind as a viable option. I don’’t know about his abilities in terms of endurance, but I wouldn’’t count him out. Certainly a decathlete also has many of the attributes I value. And I must say I’’m amazed by the incredible abilities of gymnasts. However, in the long run, I am going to vote for the winners of the Ironman triathlon. I must admit I’m partial to this from my own experiences, but having done several I can appreciate more what the elite triathlete can do. Ironically, when I was in college I roomed with the runners. I was accustomed to playing baseball, hockey, soccer, etc., so I would occasionally poke fun at them, inferring that running was not a sport. I’’ve changed my tune a bit.

Of course, Lance actually began as a triathlete, and many believe he could come back and win the Ironman World Championship, but it is quite unlikely (top ten, probably). That is what is amazing about the elite triathlete. They can ride almost as well as professional cyclists (some have been), can swim with the best (some have been Olympians), and some can still get off the bike and run a 2:40 marathon. Lance would beat them on the bike, but he realizes he wouldn’’t make up enough time to counter his loss in the swim and run. These guys go at a top pace in three separate sports for eight hours. It is pretty amazing.

To those who say it is not a contact sport, feel free to try the mass swim start at a large competitive race. Also, the conditions on any day can be grueling. You don’’t get that in a dome. You also fight issues of getting enough nutrients, you don’’t get a break between shifts, or for television timeouts and no one can help you in any way. There’s no coach telling you what to do. And in a true triathlon, there is not drafting on the bike. What I find amazing is that these great athletes get such little respect. While TV has finally embraced broadcasting the World Championship, it is more about the human interest stories than the winners. Don’’t get me wrong, the human interest stories are great. I’’ve met several of these amazing people over the years and they are truly inspiring, but when the newspaper can’’t even run an article on the major races instead of game 112 of 162 in the baseball season, I don’’t know what they are smoking.

They say your favorite stories are whatever you were reading when you were 13. And come to think of it, I still think “Tarzan of the Apes” was a great book (despite the movies destroying it). But I’’ve grown some new tastes, and the same is true in admiring an athlete. Growing up, I would have probably said Pele or Wayne Gretzky, but today the winner of the Ironman World Championship gets my nod. What do you think?