Winning a Gold medal at the Olympics is the highest achievement in many sports. Just getting one is a big accomplishment.
But some athletes have been so outstanding that they’ve won multiple Gold medals. With the Paris Olympics coming up, these champions are remembered in history.
Here are the top 10 athletes with the most Gold medals in Olympic history:
10. Usain Bolt – 8 (Jamaica)
Whenever he stepped onto the track, the Jamaican athlete was unbeatable. Usain Bolt, fittingly named, first grabbed attention at the Beijing Olympics by winning two Gold medals and setting world records in the 100m and 200m races. He also won Gold in the 4x100m relay and set another world record, but his medal was taken away in 2017 because one of his teammates had used a banned substance.
Bolt continued to shine in London, winning all three events, and repeated this success at the Rio Olympics in 2016. With eight Gold medals, Usain Bolt is one of the greatest short-distance sprinters ever. He holds the world records for the 100m, 200m, and 4x100m relay.
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9. Matt Biondi – 8 (USA)
After Mark Spitz and before Michael Phelps, American swimming had Matt Biondi. Known as the ‘California Condor,’ Biondi dominated the Olympics from 1984 to 1992, breaking many world records. He won his first Gold medal in the 4x100m freestyle at the Los Angeles Olympics. He really shone at the Seoul Olympics, winning five Gold medals and setting four world records.
Biondi won the 50m and 100m freestyle races and added three more medals in relay events with Team USA. He continued his success in Barcelona, winning two more Gold medals in relay events. He also won the 4x100m freestyle relay at three consecutive Olympics, from Los Angeles to Barcelona.
8. Jenny Thompson – 8 (USA)
Jenny Thompson won eight gold medals from 1992 to 2004, all in relay races. She was very fast in the pool at World Championships, but winning individual Olympic medals was just out of reach for her.
Despite this, her performance was crucial for Team USA’s success. She won the 4x100m freestyle and 4x100m medley relays three times in a row from 1992 to 2000. She also won the 4x200m freestyle relay in 1996 and 2000, bringing her total to eight gold medals. This made her the most decorated female swimmer in Olympic history.
7. Sawao Kato – 8 (Japan)
The Japanese Olympian was an important part of Japan’s golden age in gymnastics. Kato first achieved Olympic success with his brother Takeshi, winning Gold in the team event at the 1968 Olympics. He also won Gold in the floor and all-around events.
In Munich, Kato continued his success by winning Gold in the team event and the individual all-around. He also won Gold in the parallel bars. By the 1976 Montreal Games, his total Gold medals had reached eight. He won Gold in the team event for the third time and in the parallel bars for the second time. He finished his Olympic career with the most Gold medals ever won by a Japanese competitor, a record that still stands.
6. Birgit Fischer – 8 (Germany)
All the athletes on this list are top performers in their sports, but none have matched Birgit Fischer’s long career and grace. The German athlete won Olympic gold medals over a span of 24 years, from 1980 to 2004. She might have won even more if she had competed in the 1984 Olympics.
Birgit, representing East Germany, won three gold medals: one in Moscow in 1980 and two in Seoul in 1988. After Germany reunified, she continued to excel, winning five more gold medals from 1992 to 2004. She won three gold medals in the k-4 500m event consecutively, bringing her total in that event to four golds. What surprises many is not just the number of her victories, but how long her Olympic career lasted.
5. Carl Lewis – 9 (USA)
Carl Lewis is a famous American sprinter known for his amazing track and field achievements. It’s not just his nine gold medals that make him special, but also how he dominated every race he competed in. In his first Olympics, he matched a 48-year-old record by winning all four events he entered: the 100m, 200m, 4x100m relay, and long jump.
He continued his success by winning two more gold medals in Seoul for the 100m and long jump. In Barcelona in 1992, he won another gold in the 4x100m relay. Overall, he won nine gold medals across the 1992 and 1996 Olympics. His incredible performances inspired the record-breaking sprinter Usain Bolt.
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4. Mark Spitz – 9 (USA)
The Munich 1972 Olympics were Mark Spitz’s time to shine. The American swimmer set a record for the most Gold medals at a single Olympics by winning seven. He didn’t just win gold; he also set seven world records in those seven events. Spitz won gold in the 100m and 200m freestyle, as well as the 100m and 200m butterfly. He also won gold in the 4x100m freestyle, 4x200m freestyle, and 4x100m medley relay.
Before Munich, Spitz had already won two Gold medals in relay events at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, taking gold in the 4x100m and 4x200m freestyle relays.
3. Paavo Nurmi – 9 (Finland)
For long-distance runners, Paavo Nurmi is a major example of greatness. Known as the ‘Phantom Finn,’ he changed the way long-distance races were approached with his analytical methods. Nurmi competed in three Olympics and won nine Gold medals in different long-distance events. He was especially dominant at the 1924 Paris Olympics, where he won all five races he entered.
He won the 10,000m, 5000m, individual cross-country race, and team cross-country race twice each, making him one of the greatest runners of all time.
2. Larisa Latynina – 9 (Soviet Union)
Larisa was a standout gymnast from 1956 to 1964, winning nine Gold medals and becoming the most successful gymnast in Olympic history. At her first Olympics in Melbourne, she won gold in the team, all-around, vault, and floor exercise events.
In the 1960 Rome Olympics, she won gold in three of those events but not vault. She ended her Olympic career with a great performance in Tokyo, winning two more medals in the team and floor exercise. She is still the most decorated female Olympian and gymnast ever.
1. Michael Phelps – 23 (USA)
No one in Olympic history has been as dominant as Michael Phelps. From his first Olympic Games, Phelps consistently finished at the top, winning an incredible 23 Gold medals between 2004 in Athens and 2016 in Rio. He won six Gold medals in Athens but missed the record of seven Gold medals in a single Olympics set by Mark Spitz.
Phelps broke Spitz’s record in Beijing by winning eight Gold medals. He won four more Gold medals in London and five in Rio, making him one of the greatest swimmers and Olympians ever. He also holds the record for the most Olympic medals overall.
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