Dubai: Leonidas of Rhodes’s last Olympiad was in 152 BC. Michael Phelps said goodbye to the swimming pool two days ago at the Rio Olympics.
Leonidas earned 12 olive wreaths for winning foot races in four Olympiads — from 164 BC to 152 BC. There was no gold, silver or bronze medals — you ran your heart and gut out for an olive crown. It took 2,168 years to break that record. Phelps has 13 individual gold medals.
We know Michael Phelps. He stands 6 feet four inches tall. His arm span is 6 feet 7 inches. His lung capacity is 12 litres, twice an average male’s. His torso is long and thin, his legs are short, creating less drag in the water. His feet are size 14 and his ankles flex. His feet become like flippers and his large hands turn into paddles. Talent, hard work and a body created for swimming have won Phelps 23 gold, three silver and two bronze — a total of 28 medals, making him the most decorated Olympian.
Infographic: Phelps breaks record set in 152BC
Before him Leonidas was king. Leonidas won the stadion, diaulos and hoplitodromos foot races at four Olympiads. An athlete who won three events at a single Olympics was known as a triastes, or tripler, according to the BBC. There were seven athletes who achieved that feat. Leonidas is the only one to have achieved the feat four times.
Leonidas was 36 when he left the arena. Phelps was 31 when he swam his last race and rescued the US relay team in the 4x100-metre medley race, swimming his favourite butterfly stroke.
Leonidas ran the stadion and diaulos in the nude and hoplitodromos was a test of a man’s capability in sprinting with heavy armour — a helmet, breastplate, shin armour and a shield made from bronze and wood. The race would be held in 40 degrees Celsius heat, according to the BBC. Phelps donned a tech suit or jammer and dived into an Olympic pool — 50 metres long, 25 metres wide, between 7 and 10 feet deep. The water temperature would be between 25 to 28 degrees Celsius.
Leonidas, derived from the Greek word for lion, came from an aristocratic family. Phelps’s mother, Deborah Sue, is a school principal. Leonidas ruled the land. Phelps the water. Their worlds were different. But both are special. They are 2000 years apart.
