After two entertaining weeks of watching 10,960 olympians (6098 men, 4862 women) from 205 countries compete in the London Summer Olympics, there were two men who stood out. Two men that have become household names in millions of homes around the world, and two men that completely represent what the games are all about.

These two men are named Usain Bolt and Michael Phelps, and in their respective sport they have managed to absolutely dominate. Below is a debate about which athlete was more dominant during the games. Decide which side you agree with then vote on the poll below the article, because the writer that gets the most views will make $5.

[one_half] Written By: Jacob Frankel

The headline on ESPN after the 400IM was, “Passing on the torch.” Ryan Lochte, supposedly the next great swimmer, had won gold while Phelps had failed to medal. Well, as most of us know by know, Phelps certainly was not passing on the torch. Phelps then rattled off six straight medals, four of them gold. More importantly, he had no clear challenger on his for gold medals. Call me when Usain Bolt wins four gold medals in one Olympiad. Oh yeah, here is the part where you say that there is a gazillion swimming events and Bolt can only participate in three events. He could have entered in more than two individual events. Why couldn’t he have trained for and participated in the 400 or 800 meter races? You see, domination is completely controlling a sport and this is what Phelps has done with swimming. He won medals using different strokes going different distances. Why does Bolt not have to have this kind of versatility?

Dominate- have a commanding influence on; exercise control over. When you think of swimming, you think of one man, Michael Phelps. On the contrary, when track comes to mind, a couple names may pop up. Usain Bolt and Mo Farah are the most prominent names. Phelps had a strangle hold over the sport of swimming. For Phelps it seems it was big news when he lost but it just seemed normal when he won. He was expected to win. I was stunned when Phelps lost to Lochte on the first day. I knew Lochte was had beaten Phelps in trials, but after I saw what Phelps did in Bejing, I did not think he could lose. I had a different attitude with Bolt. This summers 100M field was legitimately the greatest ever. I would not have been as shocked if Yohan Blake or Tyson Gay had won.

This summer, Phelps also broke the Medals record. Even more astounding is that he has as many golds as the previous overall medals record. Again, one might think this is because of all the swimming events and Bolt would have the record if there were this many track events. There are that many track events though; Bolt can not participate in them because he is a sprinter. The thing is, Phelps is swimming a different style (stroke) almost every race, why can’t Bolt run a different style.

It is obvious that these are two of the greatest athletes that have ever and pick between them is extremely hard. In the end though, Bolt won three medals, an extremely impressive feat by any means but also a feat that many other Olympians accomplished. Phelps won six Medals is the singularly most recognizable athlete in his sport. That is domination.

Quick, Flash, Don’t bilnk because he will more than likely fly right by you. Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt is undoubtedly the fastest man in the world. And at the 2012 London Olympic Games, he surely proved his point.

Bolt ran three races at the olympics. The 100-meter dash, 200-meter dash and the 4×100-meter relay. Three crazy fast events, in which you have to have not only speed but endurance as well. Oh and by the way, Bolt won GOLD in all three of those events. There is no doubt that he was the best olympian this year at the 2012 games. Let’s break it down.

Mind you, he won all of these events that he ran in for the second year in a row. There aren’t any other olympians in the field this year that can say they won ALL of their events for the second year in a row. Not even the great Michael Phelps.

In the 100-meter dash, which was supposed to be this year, the fastest field ever and that Bolt might actually have some competition in this even. He went into the final with his fellow countryman beating him at the World Championships. And what does Bolt do in the Olympics? Oh he just goes and eats McDonalds before the final, and then set an Olympic Record blowing past the competition. He actually had time to look around towards the end and see if anybody was even near him (Which there usually isn’t).

What other olympian can go to McDonals, right before their final and still set an olympic record and win gold. Not many…

Int he 200-meter race, a race that Bolt says is his premier event, he wiped away all competitors as it wasn’t even close. Bolt cruised past his own countryman and everybody else to win that event, and after that, you had to figure that he was the greatest sprinter of all-time.

But then came the 4×100-meter relay. And event that is based on your team’s success and not indiviual. Though Jamaica had a good team, they actually weren’t the favorites according to reports. The Americans were!!! So Bolt just being the fastest man in the world does, runs the anchor leg (the most important as you are the last runner) and opens up a lead that would lead Jamaica to a world record in the event.

Now my opponent is probaly going to say that Michael Phelps set the record for most medals in an olympians career and that is great. But is regards to who was the best olympian of the 2012 London Games. That doesn’t really help Phelps here. See Phelps by his standards and those who are fans of the US Swimming Team, Phelps had a down year.

Let’s see, yes Phelps did win 4 Golds and 2 Silvers, but in one event, he didnt even medal!!! He started off the Olympics slow and slowly gained momentum towards the end. Bolt won all of his races, in dominating fashion. Phelps only did that in one event. So in terms of all-time, Phelps may have an arguement. But for this 2012 games, Bolt is clearly the number one man.

So overall, Bolt set one Olympic Record, a world record and won three gold medals in his only three events. I don’t see any other Olympian of these 2012 London Games that even comes close to the performances that Usain Bolt had. [/one_half_last]