Bolt sets two world records in sprints and wins two gold medals and wins first two Gold Medals in sprints for Jamaican men ever at any Olympic games.
100m he sets 9.69 seconds.
200m he sets 19.30 seconds beating MJ's record by 0.02 second.

Phelps is great for swimming but track and field is far more exciting than watching a swimmer do laps of a swimming pool. 8 Gold medals is a great achievement. But I am no fan of swimming.

Nastia Liukin...Misty May in the rain.

Phelps.

Obviously.

He's hotter :P

Bolt, as a entertainer. I just thought he was an arrogant twat until last night's 200m........just wow! I still think he's an arrogant twat but damn he's good. And the time was 19.30, adjusted for the headwind i think.

Chris Hoy.

Out of those two, Bolt because his two medals require as much training as Phelps' eight (since all the swiming sports require similar skills) and his attitude upon winning is better.

You honestly think running 100m vs. 200m uses more varied skills than a butterfly stroke vs. a backstroke vs. a breaststroke (I can't remember all the strokes Phelps uses)?

I'm not knocking Bolt, he's a phenomenal athlete, just like Phelps (and honestly, I think I prefer watching his over-the-top winning routine over Phelps' more reserved take on winning). But running is running, especially when it's narrowed to only sprints. Swimming uses all sorts of different techniques and turns in the various events.

No, they're about equal in my opinion. You are free to disagree, obviously.

I just don't understand your thinking... Swimming even uses different starts depending on the stroke. Then the swimmers are forced to use different turns at the wall, not to mention an entirely different method of propulsion for each race. As crazy-talented as Bolt is, the 100 vs. 200 is still "pick up left foot, move forward, pick up right foot, move forward, repeat". The only real difference is the turn in the 200.

If Bolt also ran the 400 and dominated, I would be more inclined to agree with you. Right now, he's a sprint specialist while Phelps won a more diversified set of events.

BTW, did anyone see the open water swimming? Holy Christ, two hours in the water? Are those people insane?

I had a girl who spent over 2 hours in my bathtub, but that was lye.  Still, pretty impressive I thought.

I give that post a 9.7.