
Michael Phelps, the billion dollar man?  - pavel
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSPEK5905620080814
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mynameishere
_who is now the most successful Olympian with 11 gold medals_

This kills me. Swimming has an inordinate amount of medals considering the
skill set require (viz, propelling oneself through water)

<http://www.nbcolympics.com/resultsandschedules/index.html>

34 medals for swimming--ie, 34 medals for one particular skill. The equally
grueling weightlifting category has 15, and for individuals it is much smaller
due to weight classes. The much... _much_...more varied gymnastics has only 14
medals.

ED: I might be reading that thing wrong. I'm assuming that the number in the
gold medal picture is the number of medals awarded, but it says "Final(s)
held". Same thing?

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mattmaroon
Well, all swimming is not the same. Different strokes use different muscle
groups, which is why even Phelps has some weaknesses.

It is stacked in the swimmer's favor though. They and runners have the easiest
time collecting medals, whereas a basketball player pretty much has one
available.

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mattmaroon
He left a lot of money on the table by not waiting until now to pen his
autobiography. He might have gotten and advance similar to Bill Clinton's if
he auctioned it off right after Beijing.

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timr
That'll probably be the peak, too...six months after the olympics, and he'll
be a tired brand. Olympians don't have a long shelf life.

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akd
If I said "Nadia" would you know who I was talking about?

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shard
I had to google that. Were you trying to argue for or against his point?

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siculars
I used to be a swimmer and can certainly say, as many others have, that he is
the best swimmer of all time. As for how he ranks with athletes from other
sports, that is another question. I would say he would rank quite favorably in
any ranking of best athletes regardless of discipline.

As for making some coin, I wouldn't worry about that. I'm sure he has more
than enough already. Athletes like him don't do it for the money. They don't
even do it to beat the rest. They do it to beat themselves.

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yagibear
Hacker news?

