Serena Williams Greatness: 'Female' Has Nothing To Do With I

[Velvetshady]

I'd replace Phelps with Evgeni Plushenko and re-order the lot but I'm not very in the know on the world of swimming--is Phelps that big of a name outside of the US? (He's a semi-local boy, I admit I know of him for smoking pot and partying too much). And Plushenko may lose out on the #4--know when to walk away part.

[IIOY]

I wonder how many female athletes would be on that list if women had always had the access to sports that men have enjoyed.

[emilyj]

I wouldn't put Plushenko on there at all. I would keep Phelps. He's currently the person who has won the most Olympic medals ever.

I wish they hadn't included career money. In addition to all the other shit women deal with in sports, it's a well known fact that prize money doesn't equal what the men get. As an example, the WaPo reported after the women's world cup this year, "The female players who were just crowned the best in the world brought home $2 million, a tiny fraction of the $35 million the German men's team pocketed for winning the World Cup in Brazil last year. It was even significantly less than the $9 million the U.S. men's team took home for getting knocked out in the round of 16."

If you're talking about athleticism, talk about that. Don't tie money to it as a measure of success. That starts it from an unequal, biased point.

[charminglife]

The writer's list of what makes athletes great is predisposed to favoring men over women with the inclusion of the 2nd mark of greatness (transcending beyond the world of sports) This is so much harder for women. There's less media coverage of athletic accomplishments, so fewer endorsements and opportunities to become a household name.

How many people (in the real world, not CEP) know who Katie Ledecky is? At 18 she's one of the most accomplished swimmers ever. She holds the world record in the 1500, 800 and 400 free, and at the world championships earlier this month won gold in the 200, 400, 800 and 1500 free. She's primarily a distance swimmer and won the gold in what's really a sprinters event. She has the 5 fastest times ever in the 1500 free. She's taken 18 seconds off the previous world record time. Her accomplishments were barely news. What chance does she have to become a household name?

[Velvetshady]

Aug 19, 2015 10:18:24 GMT -5 emilyj said:

I wouldn't put Plushenko on there at all. I would keep Phelps. He's currently the person who has won the most Olympic medals ever.

I wish they hadn't included career money. In addition to all the other shit women deal with in sports, it's a well known fact that prize money doesn't equal what the men get. As an example, the WaPo reported after the women's world cup this year, "The female players who were just crowned the best in the world brought home $2 million, a tiny fraction of the $35 million the German men's team pocketed for winning the World Cup in Brazil last year. It was even significantly less than the $9 million the U.S. men's team took home for getting knocked out in the round of 16."

If you're talking about athleticism, talk about that. Don't tie money to it as a measure of success. That starts it from an unequal, biased point.

See, I have a problem with using total number of Olympic medals as a measure. Not saying the medals don't matter but for Plushenko to match Phelps' total number, he'd have to compete at the top of his sport for 240+ years. Phelps got eight medals in one Olympics. Bolt got three medals in one Olympics. Plushenko could only get one per most times he competed--the team medal has only been around one year (and he i*s* tied for most won in skating). In theory, a tennis player *could* get three medals in one year (singles, doubles, mixed doubles) but I don't know as if anyone in the current era has even tried for all three in one year--and Serena is the only current player I think would have a chance to medal in all three if she tried (Martina probably would/could have if tennis was in the Olympics in her day).

My gut reaction reading this was that I think Plushenko has transcended sport globally more than Phelps, but again, swimming is not my thing and I think *I'm* mostly aware of Phelps outside of Olympic years because he's local (and gets in trouble). I would have expected Plushenko, didn't expect Phelps. The rest I just nodded in complete agreement.

I do totally agree on not using earnings as a measure. Not only because of the obvious disparity between men/women, but the is also a huge difference in money available between different sports.