Historian favors Oerter's feat as greatest of all time

An Olympic historian disagrees with a widely held consensus that American swimmer Michael Phelps is the greatest Olympian ever.

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.