Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Bolt v Phelps
Just saw this poll on ESPN's website where like 80% of the people rank Phelps above Bolt as the athlete of the Olympics. Of course all 100% of them are American!
I wonder how many Americans knew about Mark Spitz, say, 3 months before this Olympics. Expand that poll to the world outside the US and the number would be even smaller. At the same time ask the world outside about Carl Lewis- the answer is bound to be resoundingly in the affirmative.
Likewise 20 years from now way more people will remember Usain Bolt than Michael Phelps. Of course it helps if you are a champion sprinter called Bolt.
Why?
At the end of the day swimming is primarily a rich (OK well off) white person's sport. Once you take Australia and the US out of the equation how many other nations won medals? Not many. How many were non-white? Even fewer (that Algerian guy really stood out, didn't he?) Even the Zimbabwean swimmer is white.
Many other Olympic sports are the prerogative of rich white people- dressage, sailing, modern pentathlon, ballroom dancing (what? ballroom dancing isn't a sport? could've sworn it was, along with trampolining and rhythmic gymnastics )
The majority of people in the world have limited, if any access to swimming pools, everyone has taken part in a running race at some point in their life.
And that is the reason why people remember Lewis and will remember Bolt- running fast is the most elemental of athletic activities. It's the simplest competition, no equipment needed, just some open ground.
[I'd classify long jump and javelin as the other two "elemental" athletic activities.
The high jump is not a skill required very often, we are more likely to face a requirement to jump across a gap than over a wall (we will clamber over it)
The shot and discuss require peculiar motions to be successful, the javelin is simple. Just run and throw- the exact motion that a child is bound to execute if you ask him to throw something as far as he can ]
Sorry Michael, you are undoubtedly the greatest swimmer ever, arguably the greatest Olympian, but definitely not in the same bracket as Bolt when it comes to identification.
Btw, does anyone remember a guy called Alexander Dityatin? Won 8 medals at a single Olympics (not all gold). No. Why? He won them in gymnastics- another sport like swimming that enables an Olympian to win multiple medals more easily than athletics. Or how about Larissa Latynina who won 18 medals across 3 Olympics (again, in gymnastics)
I wonder how many Americans knew about Mark Spitz, say, 3 months before this Olympics. Expand that poll to the world outside the US and the number would be even smaller. At the same time ask the world outside about Carl Lewis- the answer is bound to be resoundingly in the affirmative.
Likewise 20 years from now way more people will remember Usain Bolt than Michael Phelps. Of course it helps if you are a champion sprinter called Bolt.
Why?
At the end of the day swimming is primarily a rich (OK well off) white person's sport. Once you take Australia and the US out of the equation how many other nations won medals? Not many. How many were non-white? Even fewer (that Algerian guy really stood out, didn't he?) Even the Zimbabwean swimmer is white.
Many other Olympic sports are the prerogative of rich white people- dressage, sailing, modern pentathlon, ballroom dancing (what? ballroom dancing isn't a sport? could've sworn it was, along with trampolining and rhythmic gymnastics )
The majority of people in the world have limited, if any access to swimming pools, everyone has taken part in a running race at some point in their life.
And that is the reason why people remember Lewis and will remember Bolt- running fast is the most elemental of athletic activities. It's the simplest competition, no equipment needed, just some open ground.
[I'd classify long jump and javelin as the other two "elemental" athletic activities.
The high jump is not a skill required very often, we are more likely to face a requirement to jump across a gap than over a wall (we will clamber over it)
The shot and discuss require peculiar motions to be successful, the javelin is simple. Just run and throw- the exact motion that a child is bound to execute if you ask him to throw something as far as he can ]
Sorry Michael, you are undoubtedly the greatest swimmer ever, arguably the greatest Olympian, but definitely not in the same bracket as Bolt when it comes to identification.
Btw, does anyone remember a guy called Alexander Dityatin? Won 8 medals at a single Olympics (not all gold). No. Why? He won them in gymnastics- another sport like swimming that enables an Olympian to win multiple medals more easily than athletics. Or how about Larissa Latynina who won 18 medals across 3 Olympics (again, in gymnastics)
