This is not a “hate on” question. I am actually curious. Why is it heavily touted Simon Biles is the Gymnastics GOAT when Larisa Latynina surpassed Biles Olympic metal total with a total of 18 metals? She is only behind Micheal Phillips in most Olympic metals won.
As an Aussie watching, she does shit that doesn’t even seem physically possible. You’re constantly like “What the fuck? How?”
And end of the day, in almost every sport, it evolves and progresses, people get faster, stronger, routines and moves step up the difficulty, training and equipment improve etc. So you get athletes in the modern day who can do things previous gens couldn’t.
It’s not universally true. Bolt’s still holding records for example. But people watching tend to call the best of the current day the best ever.
But it’s also hard to compare different eras. Gymnastics is different to what it used to be. Formula 1 is very different now than in the 70s. Doesn’t mean Biles isn’t the friggin best ever though.