The 10 Most Decorated Olympians in History

The Olympic Games is considered the world’s premiere sporting event with more than 200 countries participating and thousands of athletes battling for gold. Since the first edition in 1896 the Olympics has gone from a small-scale event hosting 42 competitions and 250 athletes from 14 nations to a grand spectacle with 300 competitions and over 10,000 athletes from 205 nations.The medal winners in this time have gone on to become heroes and luminaries in their home countries. Amongst them all, there are some who stand head and shoulders above the rest with their incredible achievements as they went about picking up several gold medals and instilling a massive sense of national joy and pride amongst their home fans. Here are 10 Olympic heroes who are the most decorated in the history of the Games.

#10 Ray Ewry Athletics 8 golds (1900-08)

Ray Ewry (1873-1937) was an American track and field athlete who was one of the most successful Olympians of all time. He has 8 Olympic gold medals to his name, all of which won in the standing high jump event. At the 1900 Olympics in Paris, Ewry won gold medals in all three standing jumps - the standing long jump, the standing high jump and the standing triple jump.

He won all three medals on the same day in 1900, and successfully defended them all at the 1904 Olympics in St. Louis, Missouri, in the United States. He won his last two gold medals at the 1908 London Olympics in the standing high jump and the standing long jump.

#9 Matt Biondi Swimming 8 golds (1984-92)

Matt Biondi is a former world record-holder and Olympic champion in swimming. He won 11 medals (8 gold, 2 silver and 1 bronze) in the 1984, 1988 and 1992 Olympic Games, held in Los Angeles, Seoul and Barcelona respectively. He won five gold medals in Seoul, setting the world record in the 50m free style and three relay events. Nicknamed “The California Condor”, Biondi set a total of 7 individual world records during his career. He has been since inducted into the “International Swimming Hall of Fame” and the “United States Olympic Hall of Fame”.

#8 Jenny Thompson Swimming 8 golds (1992-2004)

Jenny Thompson is one of the most decorated Olympians of all time, winning 12 medals (8 gold, 3 silver and 1 bronze) in swimming. She competed in four Olympics from 1992 to 2004 winning 2 golds in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, 3 golds in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and 3 golds in the 2000 Sydney Olympics. She also won 2 silver medals at Athens in 2004. Thompson held the world record in the 50m and 100m freestyle during the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. In 1999, Sports Illustrated ranked her the 62nd greatest female athlete of all time.

#7 Sawao Kato Gymnastics 8 golds (1968-76)

Sawao Kato was a Japanese gymnast and one of the most successful Olympians of all time. In the three Olympic Games he participated in between 1968 and 1976, Kato won 12 medals including 8 gold, 3 silver and 1 bronze. With that, till today he holds the records for winning the most Olympic gold medals among male gymnasts and Japanese Olympians. In his prime he was one of the very best in floor exercises, parallel bars, team competition and all-around. He was inducted into the “International Gymnastics Hall of Fame” in 2001.

#6 Birgit Fischer Canoeing 8 golds (1980-2004)

Birgit Fischer is both the youngest (age 18) and the oldest (age 42) Olympic Canoeing champion in history. She has 8 Olympic gold medals under her belt, having participated in six different Olympics; a record she shares with Aladar Gerevich. She won 3 gold medals with East Germany and 5 gold medals with the reunited nation. In addition to that, she won 4 silver medals, one for East Germany and the other three for Germany. She is one of the most successful and decorated female Olympians in history. She was named the “German Sportswoman of the Year” in 2004.

#5 Carl Lewis Athletics 9 golds (1984-96)

Carl Lewis was a dominant sprinter and long jumper who won 9 gold and 1 silver for a total of 10 medals in the Olympics. His Olympics was at the 1984 Los Angeles Games, where he won 4 gold medals. Lewis then won 2 gold medals each in the 1988 Seoul Olympics and the 1992 Barcelona Olympics before claiming his last gold medal in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. He was top of the world rankings in 100m, 200m and long jump events many times from from 1981 right up to the early 1990s. The International Olympic Committee voted him the “Sportsman of the Century”, and he was also named “Olympian of the Century” by Sports Illustrated

#4 Mark Spitz Swimming 9 golds (1968-72)

Mark Spitz is an American former swimmer and Olympic champion. He won 9 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze medal during the 1968 Mexico City Olympics and the 1972 Munich Olympics. His 7 golds at the 1972 Munich Olympics remained a world record for over 35 years, until Michael Phelps broke it by winning 8 at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Spitz’s only world record that remains unbroken is his setting of 7 different world records in 7 different events; the same events in which he won those 7 gold medals. Swimming World Magazine named Mark Spitz the “World Swimmer of the Year” in 1969, 1971 and 1972.

#3 Paavo Nurmi Athletics 9 golds (1920-28)

Paavo Nurmi (1897-1973) was a dominant middle and long distance runner in the early 20th century. Nicknamed the “Flying Finn”, Nurmi was undefeated for 121 races in distances upwards of 800m, and remained unbeaten in 10,000m and cross country events during his career. He won 3 gold and 1 silver medal in the 1920 Antwerp Olympics, 5 gold medals in the 1924 Paris Olympics and 1 gold and 2 silver medals in the 1928 Amsterdam Olympic for a sum total of 9 gold and 3 silver medals. Nurmi is one of the most successful Olympians of all time, and the third athlete with the most gold medals in Olympics history.

#2 Larisa Latynina Gymnastics 9 golds (1956-64)

Larisa Latynina is a former Soviet gymnast who won 14 individual Olympic medals and 4 team medals between 1956 and 1964. She won a total of 18 Olympic medals, a record that remained unbeaten for 48 years until, again, American swimmer Michael Phelps surpassed it on 31 July, 2012.

Latynina won her first 4 gold medals at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, and then went on to win 3 at the 1960 Rome Olympics and 2 golds at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. She is credited with establishing the erstwhile Soviet Union as an undeniable force in gymnastics. She is the most successful female athlete and the second athlete with the most gold medals in Olympics history. She retired in 1966. In 1998, Larisa Latynina was inducted into the “International Gymnastics Hall of Fame”.

#1 Michael Phelps Swimming 18 golds (2004-12)

Michael Phelps became the leading Olympic gold medal winner back in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He has a total of 22 Olympic medals under his belt, of which he has a staggering 18 gold and 2 silver and bronze each. Phelps won 6 gold medals at the 2004 Athens Olympics, 8 gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics (breaking the record of Mark Spitz’s 7 for the most number of gold medals won by an athlete in a single Olympic event) and 4 gold medals at the 2012 London Olympics.

He is a world record holder in the 100m butterfly, 200m butterfly and 400m individual medley. Michael Phelps has been named the “World Swimmer of the Year” seven times and the “American Swimmer of the Year” nine times. In 2008, the 28-year old was awarded “Sportsman of the Year” by Sports Illustrated.