The best thing about any Summer Olympics is that the events take place at the most ideal time of the year. On television, there are no meaningful games. The pennant races in Major League Baseball have yet to heat up. The National Basketball Association (NBA) and the National Hockey League (NHL) are currently on hiatus. With the Euros and the Copa America, the football season has come to a conclusion. Meanwhile, the Summer Olympics provide us with a few days of sports that we basically ignore except for a few days every four years. Gold medals are given out for the first place, silver medals for second place, and bronze medals for third place in each Olympic event. This custom dates back to 1904. While some games identify the Summer Olympics as the top-tier tournament for their event, some games have a separate top-tier tournament of their own and don’t consider the Olympics as a serious event for their game.
In many individual sports, winning an Olympic gold medal is the pinnacle achievement, but there are many exceptions, such as tennis, where winning a Grand Slam tournament is considered a greater accomplishment, or road cycling, where everyone wants to finish a major 3-week tour or World Cup in the first place. Grand Slam victories are more valuable in tennis. In team sports, however, winning their respective world cups or regional cups is considered a greater accomplishment. Fans of football and basketball, for example, maybe unable to identify the Olympic Games' finals, but will undoubtedly recall which team won the most recent FIFA World Cup, NBA championship, and so on. Football has persuaded the Olympics to include a U23 category in the programme. Though there are occasional exceptions, winning the Olympics in water polo and hockey is the pinnacle of a player's career.
Due to these reasons, games like basketball, football, tennis don’t take Olympics as a serious competition and teams often don’t field their best lineup for the mega event, unlike other sports. However, looking at the past century of the Olympics Games, the mega event has paved way for future superstars in making and has been a big stepping stone in their career. Some greatest sportspersons of all time have finished on the podium at the Olympics. From Michael Jordan to LeBron James, Lionel Messi to Neymar, Roger Federer to Rafael Nadal, Usain Bolt to Michael Phelps, the Olympics has been a stepping stone for future superstars.
Michael Jordan vs. LeBron James is a never-ending debate among NBA fans today. Jordan retired for the third and last time two months before the Cleveland Cavaliers selected James as the No. 1 overall pick in 2003, therefore the two never met on the court. For the greater part of four decades, they've dominated NBA discourse. However, there is one point on which everyone can agree. LeBron James and Michael Jordan are two of the greatest basketball players of all time. There's a parallel between the two: Two gold medals at the Olympics. Both have two Olympic gold medals, one with the United States and the other with the United Kingdom.
Lionel Messi of FC Barcelona and the Argentina national team's most valued achievement, according to his own admission, is the Olympic gold medal he won in the Beijing 2008 Games. The Argentine great has won the UEFA Champions League four times, La Liga ten times, the Ballon d'Or six times, the FIFA U-20 World Cup once, and the Copa America once. On the other hand, until Rio 2016, when an inspired Neymar lead the Selecao to a long-awaited victory against Germany in the final, Olympic football gold had eluded Brazil. This was Brazil's first Olympic gold medal. Two of the best players in the history of the game have won the prestigious Gold.
After Andre Agassi, Nadal is the only men's singles tennis player to have won all four major slams as well as the Olympic gold. At the 2016 Rio Olympics, he added a second Olympic gold to his Beijing 2008 medal by winning the yellow metal in the men's doubles event. Roger Federer, on the other hand, has yet to earn an Olympic gold medal in the men's singles tournament, despite winning silver in the London Olympics. In 2008, he won gold in men's doubles, but only silver in men's singles in 2012. Andy Murray is a two-time Olympic gold medalist, having won two gold medals in a row between 2012 and 2016. Agassi, Nadal and Federer are among the all-time greats in Tennis and they have all tasted success in the Olympics.
Simply put, Usain Bolt has been the face of the last three Olympic Games. Bolt became the first man since American Carl Lewis in 1984 to win both the 100m and 200m in Beijing in 2008. When he duplicated the feat in London – and then swept all before him for the third time in Rio – he became the only man to complete the sprint double twice. He has been dubbed the greatest athlete in the history of athletics and the Olympics. Michael Phelps is widely regarded as the greatest Olympian of all time. Some may argue that Usain Bolt has a point to make. But there is a clear champion when it comes to the sheer amount of medals won: Michael Phelps. Phelps has a total of 28 medals, including 23 gold medals, which is more than double the number of his closest competitors.
Indian Hockey legend Dhyan Chand is touted as the greatest hockey player of all time and it was the Olympics that made him a world-beater. Dhyan Chand, a star of the Indian hockey squad that dominated the sport in the years leading up to World War II, was instrumental in India's three straight Olympic gold medals in 1928, 1932, and 1936. Dhyan Chand got the nicknames 'Hockey Wizard' and 'The Magician' for his mastery of the game and stunning ball control. Another hockey legend, Jamie Dwyer has also tasted success in the Olympics.
Coming to volleyball, the Olympics has also been a launchpad for several top volleyball players of all time. Brazilian volleyball legend, Giba is regarded as the best player in the history of the sport alongside Karch Kiraly. Giba earned gold with the Brazilian team in the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, silver at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, and silver at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, where he served as captain. Karch Kiraly, on the other hand, was a key member of the United States National Team that won gold medals at the 1984 and 1988 Olympic Games. He went on to win the gold medal in beach volleyball at the 1996 Olympic Games, which was the first time the sport had been included in the Olympics. He is the only male or female volleyball player to have won Olympic gold medals in both indoor and beach volleyball.
These are some of the examples of how important the Olympics has been for sportspersons from different disciplines. Several sportspersons have won the Olympics in their youth days and went on to become all-time greats in their sport, while others have won the prestigious Gold medal in their peak. So, the myth revolving around ‘the Olympics not being a serious tournament’ has no truth in it. It's part of the Olympics' allure. Everyone interprets it differently. The Olympics are the best if sports were the first reality television. Every night, the world's greatest athletes compete for the highest award in their respective sports.
