Olympics-Oerter, not Phelps, the greatest Olympian-historian

July 25 (Reuters) - An Olympic historian disagrees with a widely held consensus that American swimmer Michael Phelps is the greatest ever Olympian.

Phelps holds the record for career gold medals at 18, followed by Soviet gymnasts Larisa Latynina (nine) and Nikolai Andrianov (seven).

But as Bill Mallon points out, swimmers, gymnasts and runners, among others, benefit greatly from being more easily able to pile up medals in several events.

But discus throwers and pole vaulters, to use just a couple of examples, can win only one gold medal every four years.

Mallon, while freely acknowledging the greatness of Phelps, rates discus thrower Al Oerter the greatest Olympian.

Oerter, who died in 2007 at…