Greatest Olympian?

With Michael Phelps now owning the record for most career medals of any Olympic athlete, there is a debate about who is the greatest Olympian of all time.  For me, the greatest Olympian might be Emil Zatopek.  In 1952, the Czech distance runner won gold medals in the 5000 meters, 10000 meters, and the Marathon.  The favorite marathon runners set a blistering pace, sure that the Czech middle distance runner would fade.   Zatopek, who had never trained for or run the marathon before, asked the leaders if the pace was too fast.  When the leader replied that the pace was too slow,  Zatopek charged ahead and never looked back, winning his third gold medal of the '52 games.  The historic triple was an olympic first, and one that is likely to never be repeated.