The Winningest Olympian at Every Modern Olympics by Medal Count

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.

The Winningest Olympian At Every Modern Olympics by Medal Count - Wizard Pins Custom Medals

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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

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