[ritchiebaby]

Now it's got to be Usain Bolt. He has a 100% record at the Olympics. 9 events in 3 Olympics and 9 Gold Medals. That's not taking anything away from anyone else, but until someone has more than 9 with a 100% record, he'll get my vote.

[St Charles Owl]

Right, here I go being controversial again and I know I will be inviting everyone to have a pop at me! However, here goes. Why does everyone twitter on about Usain Bolt being the greatest Olympian? Yes, he's fantastic and he has achieved much but, surely, we have got to admire endurance athletes more? The likes of Mo Farah, Bradley Wiggins, Steve Redgrave, Jess Ennis. How they have the cheek to behave like they're knackered after running a few 100m races amazes me. I know they put in a lot of training in the 4 years in between but, come on, get real! The other day the 3 heptathlon medallists had a selfie with Usain Bolt, like he was the hero. He should have been bowing down to all the heptathletes, even the one that came last!

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And, as an add on, look at the effort Andy Murray and Del Potro put in FIGHTING for a gold medal. Now, that was a real contest.

Not sure its fair to dismiss an athlete whose chosen event is a short one.  Irrespective of the sport, the effort, training and ability that all athletes have to put in to perform at this level is amazing!!  Also often an athlete really has limited choice as to their chosen sport, its often about how easy it is to enter a sport as a kid and then there are the physical attributes that lend themselves to one sport or another.  A lot of poorer countries do well in running sports because there is little barrier to entry for a sport like that, but rowing is a sport dominated by athletes who go to better schools in Western countries because of the cost barrier to entry.  Physically Usain Bolt was never going to be a distance runner due to his size, short distances with his stride length and physique was a natural fit, likewise Mo Farah is ideally suited physically for distance running.

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Now it's got to be Usain Bolt. He has a 100% record at the Olympics. 9 events in 3 Olympics and 9 Gold Medals. That's not taking anything away from anyone else, but until someone has more than 9 with a 100% record, he'll get my vote.

Got to admit, his record is outstanding. I went for Redgrave earlier, but Bolt has achieved the triple Gold at 3 Olympics in a sport that is exceptionally competitive and has so little room for any error, so yes he has to be right up there. Phelps too has done amazing things at these games also in a sport where age usually has a greater effect, and he too has done it across multiple Olympics.

Maybe though we need to also look beyond the athletes who win all the time and look at an athlete that has performed at the top level for many years. Step forward Oksana Aleksandrovna Chusovitina!! She is the 41 year old gymnast who was appearing in her 7th Olympics, a feat in itself, but to still be reaching Olympic finals in an event totally suited to younger, more agile athletes, is amazing in itself. She is also no slouch, she has a Gold and Silver medal to her name from previous Olympics. She was 17 when she won a Gold medal at the 1992 Barcelona games and then won a silver at the 2008 Beijing games. That Gold was won 5 years before current champion Simone Biles was even born, yet she is still competing!!!

[Devongone]

You won't like my greatest Olympians but they are Tommie Smith, John Carlos and Cassius Clay because they used their sporting success to help to change the world. Though Smith and Carlos looked sinister on the podium and were ostracized for their beliefs they demonstrated that their achievements on track could not be divorced from life outside sport.

The world has now changed so much that a black man like Usain Bolt can be universally loved for the joy he brings to his races. We have come so far that a stick-thin black man who arrived as an eight-year-old with not much more than an infectious smile can be acclaimed across the country as the soon-to-be Sir Mo.

Sir Steve Redgrave also deserves consideration for having to put up with John Inverdale for more than 2 weeks .... but he's used to doing the same thing over and over, rowing. And Phelps ...... well isn't there a clutch of medals available if you are good? If you could do up 200 meters very fast at three different strokes you'd have at least thirteen individual medals available to you at one Olympics. Usain Bolt has just three ......

[ritchiebaby]

Sir Steve Redgrave also deserves consideration for having to put up with John Inverdale for more than 2 weeks

Totally agree, Devongone.