The Disappointment of Greatness

When Phelps didn’t medal in the 400 Meter IM, the first time he failed to medal since the 200 Olympics when he was 15, I couldn’t help but feel disappointment.  This disappointment wasn’t because Phelps was an American and that is one less medal for the American side, but that we wouldn’t see greatness.  If Phelps had a dominating Olympics he had the chance to go down in history as the greatest Olympian of all time.  Right now he is probably the greatest Olympic swimmer but you can still make an argument for Mark Spitz.  Now in all likelihood Phelps won’t be able to distinguish himself from the pack of great Olympians and will always be remembered as an all-time great instead of the greatest.  As a fan of sports outside of your own team winning a championship is to see elite levels of achievement.  This is why week after week I want to see Tiger Woods win because he isn’t the greatest athlete I have ever seen and I want to see the return of the athlete I once knew.  I want to witness greatness, that’s why Roger Federer is so special he is the greatest tennis player ever and watching a player like him is amazing.

Now this Olympics changes from Michael Phelps elevation to the coming out party for Ryan Lochte.  He has an opportunity to position himself in the Pantheon of great athletes and in the league of Phelps and Mark Spitz as the greatest swimmers in Olympic history.  This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for Lochte and personally I will be hoping he pulls it off.  He came to London in better shape and more driven than Phelps and hopefully he will be rewarded for his efforts.

This is actually the same reason that I want Usian Bolt to win in this year’s Olympics because of the opportunity for greatness.  If he wins in both events this year than he has a strong case as the greatest Track star of all time.  He has the same opportunity that Phelps had and actually still has this year and that is to elevate oneself from one level of an elite athlete to another entirely.  I want to see that happen because greatness is unique, it isn’t something that we can see whenever we want, it takes special athletes to achieve it.  That’s the reason I want to see athletes like Phelps, Bolt, and Woods succeed, and is why I can appreciate what Lebron James has done.  These athletes either have, are, or have the opportunity to transcend the sports.

Stay Hungry My Friends