Is Phelps the best of all time?

     Remember all that candy that came from China that had lead in it? Kinda makes you wonder if the Chinese heard that Michael Phelps had a sweet tooth or something.
     Even before Phelps, the early star of the ongoing Olympics, had won his fifth gold medal of the week on Wednesday and 11th overall in three Olympic Games and become the most decorated Olympic athlete ever, people already were comparing him with Mark Spitz, whose record he broke. Spitz shared the title of winningest Olympic athlete with U.S. track star Carl Lewis, Finnish runner Paavo Nurmi and Soviet gymnast Larysa Latynina, and still holds the record for earning seven golds in a single games appearance. Phelps is expected to
better that as well this week, as he is the favorite in the 200-meter individual medley on Friday, 100-meter butterfly, and 4x100 medley relay on Sunday.
     Will this make him the greatest Olympic athlete ever? Arguments came swift and hard. On ESPN on Wednesday, panelists argued for Phelps, Spitz and Lewis, each receiving strong arguments. In recent interviews, Spitz himself has given Phelps the nod, almost appearing happy to give up the title and all the attention that has gone with it.
     Of course, such comparisons are entirely subjective; too many variables and differences come into play.
     For example, it might seem easy at first to match Phelps and Spitz against each other, since they swam many of the same events. However, competitive swimming is much different now than it was 36 years ago when Spitz won his seven golds in Munich. Great strides have been made in training techniques and diet, recovery and apparel. Heck, even the chemical composition of the water is different, and much
attention is paid to how the body drags through the water.
     Phelps dives into the pool wearing a skullcap and special full-body suit that slides through the water so easily that other countries tried to have it banned because they said it gave the American team an unfair advantage. Any exposed skin is shaved in order to reduce drag even further. Spitz, on the other hand, raced without covering his collar-length hair, and didn't shave his body - he even had a thick mustache, which today's swimmers would never dream of wearing.
     Other factors need to be considered for other sports, perhaps beyond medals. Those factors could well include success, longevity and versatility. But even then the apples don't match the oranges.
     Swimming and track events, for example, feature both individual and relay events, making it easy for top athletes to pick up two medals for each of their specialties. It's quite common, for example, for a top sprinter to qualify in the 100- and 200-meter sprints, as well as the relays for each. That's a chance for a quick four medals.
     Is it fair to compare this against someone who chooses a specialized sport that doesn't translate into opportunities in other events, such as the discus? And how about events such as the decathlon and heptathlon, in which athletes must master 10 and seven events,
respectively, for one single medal?
     Those sports have had their great champions, such as Bob Mathias and Daley Thompson, who won the decathlon twice each. Certainly, Jackie Joyner Kersee deserves consideration for making it to the medal stand in four consecutive Olympics, competing in both the heptathlon and long jump, even if she didn't always win the gold. Al Oerter also was able to dominate the discus event through four Games -- that's two golden decades.
     Lewis does deserve special consideration, since he could well have won more medals. He starred in four Olympics himself, but had qualified for a fifth team -- the team that was held back during the boycott of the 1980 Moscow Games.
     So the comparisons will never be fair, nor the opinions unanimous. Still, sport is all about winning, about being better than the other guy. So such arguments will always be made, just like those comparing Barry Bonds to Hank Aaron and Tony Romo to Brett Favre.
     At the same time, sportsmanship focuses on the celebration of the sport itself, of appreciating the effort of the vanquished as well as the victor.
     So for now let's just sit back and enjoy the events, even if our favorites don't get the gold or break those records. In our own hearts, we all know who's really the best, even if other folks don't necessarily see things our way.

Carlos Rodriguez is opinion editor of The Brownsville Herald. Reach him at (956) 982-6681, or by e-mail at crodriguez@brownsvilleherald.com.