Hayden Meikle
Sports editor
Greatest Olympian: Michael Phelps (swimming).
Come on. This is even a debate?
Phelps is No 1 because the numbers say so. No fewer than 22 medals, including 18 gold.
He's the boss, man.
Beyond the numbers, consider these points: 1. Swimming is a glamour sport that EVERY country takes seriously. 2. He's been off-the-scale dominant for nearly a decade. 3. He's humble, and is obviously motivated by more than fame and money. 4.
He's from Baltimore, home of the great television show The Wire.
Oh, and now is probably the ideal opportunity to remind you the ODT sports editor hung out with Phelps at Moana Pool way back in 2003.
Steve Hepburn
Rugby writer
Greatest Olympian: Nadia Comaneci (gymnastics)
The young Romanian owned the Montreal Olympics with her brilliant routines, earning the first maximum 10 mark handed out. Forget about medals - it is all about impact. Her brilliance and sheer skills catapulted her sport into the public eye. Then she did it again four years later.
Comaneci is the only person to receive the Olympic Order twice. And she has appeared in The Simpsons.
Alistair McMurran
Sports reporter
Greatest Olympian: Sir Steve Redgrave (rowing)
The Englishman is the greatest because he won gold medals at five consecutive Olympic Games from 1984 to 2000. He was the first British athlete to win five Olympic golds.
Redgrave won his first gold medal in the coxed four in Los Angeles in 1984 and his fifth in the coxless four in Sydney in 2000. He won the coxless pair in Seoul in 1988, Barcelona in 1992 and Atlanta in 1996.
His efforts in the last three Olympics were made more significant because he battled against severe illness. He was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis in 1992 and with diabetes in 1997.
Adrian Seconi
Sports reporter
Greatest Olympian: Jesse Owens (athletics)
For Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany, the 1936 Berlin Olympics were the perfect stage to promote their repulsive race-based politics and the so-called supremacy of the Aryan race.
Instead, African-American sprinter Jesse Owens made a mockery of Nazi propaganda, winning the 100m, 200m and long jump and helping win the 4x100m relay.
His efforts remained unequalled until Carl Lewis matched the feat at the 1984 Olympics. But more importantly, Owens' efforts inspired people during a very dark time in human history.
The Indianapolis Star yesterday reported International Society of Olympic Historians president David Wallechinsky had identified his five greatest Olympians.
- Paavo Nurmi, Finland runner.
- Carl Lewis, American sprinter and long jumper.
- Emil Zatopek, Czech runner.
- Birgit Fischer, German kayaker.
- Michael Phelps, American swimmer.
Who do you consider to be the greatest Olympian?
Vote in our poll here
