The modern Olympic Games, inspired by the ancient Olympic Games held in Greece, are international athletic competitions held every two years, alternating between the summer and winter seasons. World-class athletes train for years in hopes of winning a medal at these renowned competitions. But do you know the most decorated Olympian of every modern Olympic Games since 1896?
The team at WizardPins looked at data from Olympedia, which is a statistical database that is updated by Olympics statisticians and historians, to determine the winningest Olympian at every summer and winter Olympic Games. Data from Olympedia is based on medal counts, with gold medals given the highest weight.
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Who Has the Most Olympic Gold Medals?
The Olympian with the most gold medals is United States swimmer Michael Phelps. He has won 23 gold medals during his career and 28 medals overall, making him the most decorated Olympian of all time. The first Olympic Games that Phelps competed in was the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, when he was just 15 years old. This made him the youngest male to qualify for a U.S. Olympic swim team in 68 years.
Phelps won his first medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics held in Athens, Greece. His first event was the 400-meter individual medley, for which he won a gold medal and set a new world record time of 4:08:26. But perhaps the most anticipated swimming event of these Olympic Games, referred to as “The Race of the Century,” was the 200-meter freestyle. Phelps earned a third-place finish behind Ian Thorpe (who was the winningest athlete of the 2000 Summer Olympic Games) and Pieter van den Hoogenband. The event featured four of the most impressive male swimmers of all time: Phelps, Thorpe, van den Hoogenband, and Grant Hackett.
Phelps continued to win medals and break records throughout his Olympic career. He also earned gold medals in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China; the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom; and the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. When he retired from swimming, he was (and remains) the athlete with the most Olympic medals of all time.
The next athlete on the list of most decorated Olympians is Larisa Latynina, a Soviet artistic gymnast who won 18 medals during her career. She is the most decorated female Olympian in history, winning nine gold medals, five silver medals, and four bronze medals. She competed in the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia; the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, Italy; and the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. While she is not one of the Olympians on the list of winningest Olympians from each individual Olympic Games, she is nonetheless an Olympic legend.
Who Has the Most Olympic Medals in Each Olympic Games?
The following Olympic medal list outlines the winningest Olympians in each summer and winter Olympic Games (weighted by medal color):
Summer Olympics
|
Year |
Location |
Athlete |
Sport |
Country |
Gold |
Silver |
Bronze |
Total |
|
2020 |
Tokyo, Japan |
Caeleb Dressel |
Swimming |
United States (USA) |
5 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
|
2016 |
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |
Michael Phelps |
Swimming |
United States (USA) |
5 |
1 |
0 |
6 |
|
2012 |
London, United Kingdom |
Michael Phelps |
Swimming |
United States (USA) |
4 |
2 |
0 |
6 |
|
2008 |
Beijing, China |
Michael Phelps |
Swimming |
United States (USA) |
8 |
0 |
0 |
8 |
|
2004 |
Athens, Greece |
Michael Phelps |
Swimming |
United States (USA) |
6 |
0 |
2 |
8 |
|
2000 |
Sydney, Australia |
Ian Thorpe |
Swimming |
Australia (AUS) |
3 |
2 |
0 |
5 |
|
1996 |
Atlanta, United States |
Amy Van Dyken |
Swimming |
United States (USA) |
4 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
|
1992 |
Barcelona, Spain |
Vitali Shcherba |
Artistic Gymnastics |
Belarus (BLR) |
6 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
|
1988 |
Seoul, South Korea |
Kristin Otto |
Swimming |
East Germany (GDR) |
6 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
|
1984 |
Los Angeles, United States |
Ecaterina Szabo |
Artistic Gymnastics |
Romania (ROU) |
4 |
1 |
0 |
5 |
|
1980 |
Moscow, Soviet Union |
Aleksandr Dityatin |
Artistic Gymnastics |
Soviet Union (URS) |
3 |
4 |
1 |
8 |
|
1976 |
Montreal, Canada |
Nikolay Andrianov |
Artistic Gymnastics |
Soviet Union (URS) |
4 |
2 |
1 |
7 |
|
1972 |
Munich, West Germany |
Mark Spitz |
Swimming |
United States (USA) |
7 |
0 |
0 |
7 |
|
1968 |
Mexico City, Mexico |
Věra Čáslavská |
Artistic Gymnastics |
Czechoslovakia (TCH) |
4 |
2 |
0 |
6 |
|
1964 |
Tokyo, Japan |
Don Schollander |
Swimming |
United States (USA) |
4 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
|
1960 |
Rome, Italy |
Boris Shakhlin |
Artistic Gymnastics |
Soviet Union (URS) |
4 |
2 |
1 |
7 |
|
1956 |
Melbourne, Australia |
Ágnes Keleti |
Artistic Gymnastics |
Hungary (HUN) |
4 |
2 |
0 |
6 |
|
1952 |
Helsinki, Finland |
Viktor Chukarin |
Artistic Gymnastics |
Soviet Union (URS) |
4 |
2 |
0 |
6 |
|
1948 |
London, United Kingdom |
Fanny Blankers-Koen |
Athletics (Track and Field) |
Netherlands (NED) |
4 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
|
1936 |
Berlin, Germany |
Jesse Owens |
Athletics (Track and Field) |
United States (USA) |
4 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
|
1932 |
Los Angeles, United States |
Romeo Neri |
Artistic Gymnastics |
Italy (ITA) |
3 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
|
1932 |
Los Angeles, United States |
Helene Madison |
Swimming |
United States (USA) |
3 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
|
1928 |
Amsterdam, Netherlands |
Georges Miez |
Artistic Gymnastics |
Switzerland (SUI) |
3 |
1 |
0 |
4 |
|
1924 |
Paris, France |
Paavo Nurmi |
Athletics (Track and Field) |
Finland (FIN) |
5 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
|
1920 |
Antwerp, Belgium |
Willis Lee |
Shooting |
United States (USA) |
5 |
1 |
1 |
7 |
|
1912 |
Stockholm, Sweden |
Vilhelm Carlberg |
Shooting |
Sweden (SWE) |
3 |
2 |
0 |
5 |
|
1908 |
London, United Kingdom |
Henry Taylor |
Swimming |
United Kingdom (GBR) |
3 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
|
1904 |
St. Louis, United States |
Anton Heida |
Artistic Gymnastics |
United States (USA) |
5 |
1 |
0 |
6 |
|
1900 |
Paris, France |
Al Kraenzlein |
Athletics (Track and Field) |
United States (USA) |
4 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
|
1896 |
Athens, Greece |
Carl Schuhmann |
Athletics (Track and Field) |
Germany (GER) |
4 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
Winter Olympics
|
Year |
Location |
Athlete |
Sport |
Country |
Gold |
Silver |
Bronze |
Total |
|
2022 |
Beijing, China |
Johannes Thingnes Bø |
Biathlon |
Norway (NOR) |
4 |
0 |
1 |
5 |
|
2018 |
Pyeongchang, South Korea |
Martin Fourcade |
Biathlon |
France (FRA) |
3 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
|
2018 |
Pyeongchang, South Korea |
Johannes Høsflot Klæbo |
Biathlon |
Norway (NOR) |
3 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
|
2014 |
Sochi, Russia |
Viktor An |
Short-Track Speed Skating |
Russia (RUS) |
3 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
|
2010 |
Vancouver, Canada |
Marit Bjørgen |
Cross-Country Skiing |
Norway (NOR) |
3 |
1 |
1 |
5 |
|
2006 |
Torino, Italy |
Viktor An |
Short-Track Speed Skating |
South Korea (KOR) |
3 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
|
2002 |
Salt Lake City, United States |
Ole Einar Bjørndalen |
Biathlon |
Norway (NOR) |
4 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
|
1998 |
Nagano, Japan |
Larisa Lazutina |
Cross-Country Skiing |
Russia (RUS) |
3 |
1 |
1 |
5 |
|
1994 |
Lillehammer, Norway |
Lyubov Yegorova |
Cross-Country Skiing |
Russia (RUS) |
3 |
1 |
0 |
4 |
|
1992 |
Albertville, France |
Lyubov Yegorova |
Cross-Country Skiing |
Unified Team (EUN) |
3 |
2 |
0 |
5 |
|
1988 |
Calgary, Canada |
Yvonne van Gennip |
Speed Skating |
Netherlands (NED) |
3 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
|
1988 |
Calgary, Canada |
Matti Nykänen |
Ski Jumping |
Finland (FIN) |
3 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
|
1984 |
Sarajevo, Yugoslavia |
Marja-Liisa Kirvesniemi-Hämäläinen |
Cross-Country Skiing |
Finland (FIN) |
3 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
|
1980 |
Lake Placid, United States |
Eric Heiden |
Speed Skating |
United States (USA) |
5 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
|
1976 |
Innsbruck, Austria |
Rosi Mittermaier |
Alpine Skiing |
West Germany (FRG) |
2 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
|
1976 |
Innsbruck, Austria |
Raisa Smetanina |
Cross-Country Skiing |
Soviet Union (URS) |
2 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
|
1972 |
Sapporo, Japan |
Galina Kulakova |
Cross-Country Skiing |
Soviet Union (URS) |
3 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
|
1972 |
Sapporo, Japan |
Ard Schenk |
Speed Skating |
Netherlands (NED) |
3 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
|
1968 |
Grenoble, France |
Jean-Claude Killy |
Alpine Skiing |
France (FRA) |
3 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
|
1964 |
Innsbruck, Austria |
Lidiya Skoblikova |
Speed Skating |
Soviet Union (URS) |
4 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
|
1960 |
Squaw Valley, United States |
Lidiya Skoblikova |
Speed Skating |
Soviet Union (URS) |
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
|
1956 |
Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy |
Toni Sailer |
Alpine Skiing |
Austria (AUT) |
3 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
|
1952 |
Oslo, Norway |
Hjalmar Andersen |
Speed Skating |
Norway (NOR) |
3 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
|
1948 |
Sankt Moritz, Switzerland |
Henri Oreiller |
Alpine Skiing |
France (FRA) |
2 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
|
1936 |
Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany |
Ivar Ballangrud |
Speed Skating |
Norway (NOR) |
3 |
1 |
0 |
4 |
|
1932 |
Lake Placid, United States |
Irving Jaffee |
Speed Skating |
United States (USA) |
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
|
1932 |
Lake Placid, United States |
Jack Shea |
Speed Skating |
United States (USA) |
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
|
1928 |
Sankt Moritz, Switzerland |
Johan Grøttumsbraaten |
Cross-Country Skiing |
Norway (NOR) |
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
|
1928 |
Sankt Moritz, Switzerland |
Clas Thunberg |
Speed Skating |
Finland (FIN) |
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
|
1924 |
Chamonix, France |
Clas Thunberg |
Speed Skating |
Finland (FIN) |
3 |
1 |
1 |
5 |
Note: South Korean-born athlete Viktor An competed for South Korea until 2011, when he switched to competing for Russia.
The following Olympic Games were not held due to war:
- 1916 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany
- 1940 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland
- 1940 Winter Olympics in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany
- 1944 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom
- 1944 Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy
If you want to feel like an Olympian, check out our enamel medals and die-struck medals!