The Olympics are all about winning medals, and each nation takes great pride in where they finish on the medal table. It helps if you’ve got a large pool of athletes to choose from, and it also helps if you’ve got exceptional athletes who can accumulate lots of medals.
Here we look at the top 20 athletes with the most Olympic medals.
20. Carl Osburn
Nation: USA
Sport: Shooting
Number of Olympic Games: 3 (1912, 1920, 1924)
Gold: 5
Silver: 4
Bronze: 2
Total: 11
19. Viktor Chukarin
Nation: Soviet Union
Sport: Gymnastics
Number of Olympic Games: 2 (1952, 1956)
Gold: 7
Silver: 3
Bronze: 1
Total: 11
18. Věra Čáslavská
Nation: Czechoslovakia
Sport: Gymnastics
Number of Olympic Games: 3 (1960, 1964, 1968)
Gold: 7
Silver: 4
Bronze: 0
Total: 11
17. Matt Biondi
Nation: USA
Sport: Swimming
Number of Olympic Games: 3 (1984, 1988, 1992)
Gold: 8
Silver: 2
Bronze: 1
Total: 11
16. Mark Spitz
Nation: USA
Sport: Swimming
Number of Olympic Games: 2 (1968, 1972)
Gold: 9
Silver: 1
Bronze: 1
Total: 11
15. Natalie Coughlin
Nation: USA
Sport: Swimming
Number of Olympic Games: 3 (2004, 2008, 2012)
Gold: 3
Silver: 4
Bronze: 5
Total: 12
14. Alexei Nemov
Nation: Russia
Sport: Gymnastics
Number of Olympic Games: 3 (1996, 2000, 2004)
Gold: 4
Silver: 2
Bronze: 6
Total: 12
13. Dara Torres
Nation: USA
Sport: Swimming
Number of Olympic Games: 5 (1984, 1988, 1992, 2000, 2008)
Gold: 4
Silver: 4
Bronze: 4
Total: 12
12. Jenny Thompson
Nation: USA
Sport: Swimming
Number of Olympic Games: 4 (1992, 1996, 2000, 2004)
Gold: 8
Silver: 3
Bronze: 1
Total: 12
11. Sawao Kato
Nation: Japan
Sport: Gymnastics
Number of Olympic Games: 3 (1968, 1972, 1976)
Gold: 8
Silver: 3
Bronze: 1
Total: 12
10. Bjørn Dæhlie
Nation: Norway
Sport: Cross-country skiing
Number of Olympic Games: 3 (1992, 1994, 1998)
Gold: 8
Silver: 4
Bronze: 0
Total: 12
9. Birgit Fischer
Nation: Germany
Sport: Canoeing
Number of Olympic Games: 6 (1980, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004)
Gold: 8
Silver: 4
Bronze: 0
Total: 12
8. Paavo Nurmi
Nation: Finland
Sport: Athletics
Number of Olympic Games: 3 (1920, 1924, 1928)
Gold: 9
Silver: 3
Bronze: 0
Total: 12
7. Takashi Ono
Nation: Japan
Sport: Gymnastics
Number of Olympic Games: 4 (1952, 1956, 1960, 1964)
Gold: 5
Silver: 4
Bronze: 4
Total: 13
6. Edoardo Mangiarotti
Nation: Italy
Sport: Fencing
Number of Olympic Games: 5 (1936, 1948, 1952, 1956, 1960)
Gold: 6
Silver: 5
Bronze: 2
Total: 13
5. Boris Shakhlin
Nation: Soviet Union
Sport: Gymnastics
Number of Olympic Games: 3 (1956, 1960, 1964)
Gold: 7
Silver: 4
Bronze: 2
Total: 13
4. Ole Einar Bjørndalen
Nation: Norway
Sport: Biathlon
Number of Olympic Games: 6 (1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014)
Gold: 8
Silver: 4
Bronze: 1
Total: 13
3. Nikolai Andrianov
Nation: Soviet Union
Sport: Gymnastics
Number of Olympic Games: 3 (1972, 1976, 1980)
Gold: 7
Silver: 5
Bronze: 3
Total: 15
2. Larisa Latynina
Nation: Soviet Union
Sport: Gymnastics
Number of Olympic Games: 3 (1956, 1960, 1964)
Gold: 9
Silver: 5
Bronze: 4
Total: 18
1. Michael Phelps
Nation: USA
Sport: Swimming
Number of Olympic Games: 4 (2000, 2004, 2008, 2012)
Gold: 18
Silver: 2
Bronze: 2
Total: 22
