Michael Phelps's achievements in Beijing have reignited the argument as to who is the greatest Olympian. Who gets your vote? (Summer Olympics only, since 1896.)
| SWIMMING: Mark Spitz - won 9 gold medals, including a (formerly) record 7 in 1972 (when many fewer were available than the 34 on offer in 2008), setting a world record in each | | 0% |
 |
| Michael Phelps - has won a record 14 gold medals, including a record-breaking 8 in Beijing |  | 6% |
|
| ATHLETICS: Paavo Nurmi - won 9 middle & long distance gold medals from 1920-28, plus 3 silver medals, and might have won more in 1932 had he been eligible to compete |  | 11% |
|
| Jesse Owens - won 4 gold medals ((100m, 200m, long jump, sprint relay) in 1936 at 'Hitler's Olympics' in Berlin | | 6% |
|
| Emil Zatopek - won gold medals in 1952 at 5000m, 10000m and the marathon (which he only decided to run at the last minute), plus gold and silver in 1948 | | 0% |
|
| Fanny Blankers-Koen - won 4 gold medals in 1948, and only the rules prevented her from competing in more events, such as the long and high jumps, for both of which she held the world record | | 0% |
|
| Al Oerter - won 4 gold medals in discus from 1956 to 1968 and is one of only three people to win an individual Olympic gold medal at four consecutive games | | 0% |
|
| Ed Moses - unbeaten from 1977 to 1987 in the 400m hurdles, and was (almost certainly) only denied three consecutive gold medals by the US boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics | | 0% |
|
| Daley Thompson - one of only two men ever to win two Olympic decathlons (1980 and 1984), setting a world record in the second | | 0% |
|
| Jackie Joyner-Kersee - won the heptathlon gold medal in 1988 and 1992 (and silver in 1984) and still holds the world record, and also won the long jump gold in 1988 | | 0% |
|
| Carl Lewis - won 9 gold medals from 1984 to 1996, including 4 (100m, 200m, long jump, sprint relay) in 1984, and is one of only three people to win an individual Olympic gold medal at four consecutive games | | 6% |
|
| Jan Zelezny - one silver and 3 golds in the javelin from 1988 to 2000 | | 0% |
|
| Michael Johnson - won 400m gold in 1996 and 2000 (only man ever to retain that title), and also won 200m gold in 1996, shattering the world record in 19.32 seconds | | 0% |
|
| ROWING: Steve Redgrave - won gold medals at each of 5 Olympics from 1984 to 2000, plus a bronze in 1984 | | 33% |
|
| Matthew Pinsent - won gold medals at each of 4 Olympics from 1992 to 2004, and never lost an Olympic race | | 6% |
|
| Elisabeta Lipa - won gold medals at 5 Olympic Games in rowing between 1984 and 2004, plus silver and bronze in 1988 and silver in 1992 | | 11% |
|
| OTHER: Paul Elvstrom (sailing) - the third man to have won four consecutive individual Olympic gold medals (1948 to 1960), one in the Firefly class and three in the Finn class | | 0% |
|
| Aladar Gerevich (fencing: sabre) - won gold medals at a record 6 Olympics between 1932 and 1960 (7 total golds), the last aged 50, and holds the record for time between gold medals (28 years) | | 0% |
|
| Larissa Latynina (gymnastics) - only female athlete to have won 9 Olympic gold medals, between 1956 and 1964, and also won 5 silver and 4 bronze, making a record total of 18 | | 0% |
|
| Nadia Elena Comaneci (gymnastics) - awarded the first ever 'perfect 10', then awarded 6 more en route to 4 gold medals in 1976, aged 14, and won another gold in 1980 | | 0% |
|
| Birgit Fischer (kayaking) - won 8 gold medals at a record 6 different Olympics from 1980 to 2004 (missed the 1984 games because of the Eastern Bloc boycott), plus four silver medals, and holds the women's record for time between gold medals (24 years) | | 11% |
|
| Eric 'the eel' Moussambani (doggy-paddle) (video, in case you missed it) | | 11% |
|
| Other (please comment below) | | 0% |
