Sebastian Coe isn’t sure who is the greatest Olympic athlete. He just thinks it isn’t Michael Phelps.

The two-time Olympic gold medalist and chairman of the London organizers says he doesn’t think Phelps is No. 1, even after the American swimmer set a record with his 19th career medal Tuesday night.

“I think you can probably say very clearly by self evidently doing a medal tally that he’s the most successful,” Coe says. “My personal view is I’m not sure he’s the greatest. But he’s certainly the most successful.”

Coe was pressed to name other athletes he would put ahead of Phelps.

“Well, modesty prevents me,” he said with a wry smile. “No, that’s just a joke guys, OK.”

He threw out names like Steve Redgrave, David Thompson, Jesse Owens and Nadia Comaneci, but calls it “the great global pub game” that will forever be debated.

“You’d have to say he’s up there,” Coe says of Phelps. “Is he the greatest? In my opinion, probably not. But my opinion means no more than anyone else’s.”

—Jon Krawczynski — Twitter http://twitter.com/APKrawczynski

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EDITOR’S NOTE — “Eyes on London” shows you the Olympics through the eyes of Associated Press journalists across the 2012 Olympic city and around the world. Follow them on Twitter where available with the handles listed after each item.