Is Michael Phelps the Greatest Olympian Ever?

Since 1896, the Olympic games have given us some of the greatest athletes ever to grace the earth. Legends have been made, legacy's created, and record after record after record broken.

Some past great Olympians include Sergei Bubka, Larissa Latynina, Paavo Nurmi, Mark Spitz, Carl Lewis, and Sir Steve Redgrave. And today, after winning yet another gold and breaking yet another World Record, Michael Phelps, at just 23 years old, has joined that elite group.

His gold medal today is his ninth in his Olympic career. That is equal to the most gold medals anyone has ever gotten, and Phelps has still got five more events where he is expected to get gold in.

Four years ago, the then 19-year-old was going for the seemingly impossible—to beat Mark Spitz's record of seven gold medals in one Olympics. He achieved six golds and two bronze medals.

However, the two medals he won bronze in at Athens, he has already won golds in at Beijing. So far from being impossible, Phelps breaking Spitz's record is now probable.

In all three events he has taken part in so far he, with the help of his teammates in one case, has broken the world record on his way to the gold.

This means that in seven of the eight events he is participating in, he holds the world record for. His dominance of the sport outweighs even that of Tiger Woods.

And with more golds expected, and more medals an almost certainty, Phelps looks to blow all the other great Olympians out of the water in terms of the medal count. And the scary thing is, at only 23, he may well have another Olympics in him.

Mark Spitz may have to move over as the greatest swimmer of all time, especially if Phelps can complete this phenomenal feat.

I for one am rooting for him, as I think most of the world is. An eight gold medal haul would, for me, catapult him to the top of that list of greatest ever Olympians.

Come on Phelps!