Olympic games top 10 medal winners

A high lofty goal for any athlete is to win a medal at the biggest stage of Olympic games, yet because of its tough competitive nature, just winning a single bronze medal would mean a lot for some sportsmen and women.

Undoubtedly athletes would never stop cherishing the pride of winning a gold medal in their life, therefore it is no wonder to see some of them can not satiate their desire of piling up this shiny medal regardless of their designs since, in each edition of the Olympics, the organizing committee of the host city creates medals of various designs.

Hence, there is no denying the fact that standing in the spot of the top three athletes in the world of sports just for once is a great feat, but some are decorated enough to go on the podium, multiple times heroically. In this regard, we have come up with a list of multiple Olympic medalists.

It is pertinent to note that many of these multiple medalists belong to some specific countries as they might be a number of reasons behind this like better infrastructure and management, the popularity of a sport in a specific country etc.

With this in mind, taking a glimpse at the All-time Olympic Games medal table would provide a better understanding of the concept. Here it is the list of Olympic Medals By Country 2021:

• United States: (2827 medals)

• United Kingdom: (883 medals)

• Germany: (855 medals)

• France: (840 medals)

• Italy: (701 medals)

• Sweden: (652 medals)

• China: (608 medals)

• Russia: (546 medals)

• Norway: (520 medals)

• Canada: (501 medals)

Olympic games top 10 medal winners

Without any further ado, let's see who are these Olympic games top 10 medal winners.

10. Jenny Thompson

• Medals: 12 (8G, 3S, 1B)

• Country: USA

• Sport: swimming

• Olympic editions: 1992- 2004

She is an American retired competition swimmer who is considered to be one of the most decorated Olympians in history having won twelve medals, including eight gold medals, in 1992, 1996, 2000, and 2004 Summer Olympics.

Although she never won an individual gold medal at the Olympics, she played a crucial role in making the US women's relay team dominant during the 1990s and early 2000s.

She managed to win just three gold medals in both Atlanta (1996) and Sydney (2000) Olympics as all of these six medals were in relay events when she frequently swam the anchor leg.

While his county, US is the leading nation in the list of the

Olympic Medals By Country 2021

, she herself could earn a lot higher spot, if she performed according to what she had expected to do in the 1992 Olympics.

She managed to win just two gold and a silver medal in Barcelona yet she was assumed to be a favourite for at least five gold medals.

Likewise in the 2000 Sydney Olympics, she had won a bronze medal in the 100m freestyle, before she won two more silver medals in relay events of the 2004 Athens Olympics and her Olympic journey ended up there.

But it is notable to suggest that aside from the Olympic games, she won numerous individual accolades too, just consider her becoming 1993 and 1998 USA Swimming Swimmer of the Year and the 1998 Female Swimmer of the Year by Swimming World Magazine.

9. Sawao Kato

• Medals: 12 (8G, 3S, 1B)

• Country: Japan

• Sport: gymnastics

• Olympic editions: 1968-1976

He is a Japanese retired gymnast and is widely revered as one of the most successful Olympic gymnasts of all time to such an extent that in 2001, Kato was enlisted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame.

While he is still among one of 10 Olympians to have won eight or more gold medals at the Olympics, he is considered to be the second most decorated Olympian from Japan after Takashi Ono.

His Olympic career was started in the 1968 Mexico City Olympics when he won three gold and one bronze medal. He repeated his feat in the 1972 Munich Olympics, as Japan grabbed 15 of the 21 individual medals in gymnastics.

Amazingly Kato was the one who earned five of those 21, as he won gold in the team, all-around and parallel bars events. While he won silver in pommel horse and horizontal bar disciplines.

As one of the

Olympic games top 10 medal winners

, he continued to collect three more medals in the 1976 Montreal edition as he won two gold medals in team and parallel bars but was thwarted by his rival Adrianov and received just a silver medal in the all-around event.

8. Birgit Fischer

• Medals: 12 (8G, 4S)

• Country: Germany

• Sport: canoeing

• Olympic editions: 1980-2004

She is a retired German kayaker, who as one of the Olympic games top 10 medal winners has won 12 medals throughout a career that saw him take part in six different editions of the Olympics from 1980 to 2004.

As she sustained such a long prime in her sports career, many consider her as one of the best in the world, while just Latynina among the sportswomen has won more Olympic medals than her.

She became not only the youngest Olympic canoeing champion at the age of 18 years but also the oldest one at the of 42 years. When he was 20 years old, she became the youngest Olympic canoeing gold medallist as she won the K1 500m event at the 1980 Moscow Games.

Therefore it is no wonder to see that such an auspicious start has seen her win golds in six Olympic editions and it might be even seven if East Germany was not boycotted in the Los Angeles Games in 1984, especially as she was at her peak powers. But she gathered momentum and came back in 1988 Seoul as she won golds in two events and received silver in another one.

Even after Germany was unified, her dominance was continued as she collected five more gold medals, three of them were for the k-4 500m event between editions of 1996-2004. Besides, she got three more silver medals at the same time so as to bring her total to 12 Olympic medals.

While in 2004, she was elected as the German woman athlete of the year, it is worthwhile mentioning that her country Germany earned the third spot in the list of

All-time Olympic Games medal table

.

7. Paavo Nurmi 

• Medals: 12 (9G, 3S)

• Country: Finland

• Sport: athletics

• Olympic editions: 1920-1928

Widely known by the nickname of the "Flying Finn", he was a Finnish middle-distance and long-distance runner who had a true dominance in distance running to such an extent that he just set 22 official world records at distances from 1500 metres to 20 kilometres over the course of his 14-year career.

Being one of the strongest athletes in the early Olympic editions, it is no wonder to see him among the

Olympic games top 10 medal winners

. He debuted at the Antwerp Olympics in 1920 and was awarded his first medal in his debut event, the 5000m.

He continued to get three gold medals in the 10000m, the individual cross-country race and the team cross country race. In 1923, he managed to set consecutive world records in the mile, the 5,000m and the 10,000m races while nobody else has ever made that feat again.

He performed such spectacularly at the 1924 Paris Games that he won a staggering five golds in herculean events like 1,500m, 5,000m, team 3,000m, as well as individual and team cross country races. He remarkably broke world records in the 1,500m and 5,000m while there was a time distance of an hour between the races.

6. Takashi Ono 

• Medals: 13 (5G, 4S, 4B)

• Country: Japan

• Sport: gymnastics

• Olympic editions: 1952-64

He is a retired Japanese gymnast who is considered to be among the

Olympic games top 10 medal winners

getting 13 medals in four editions of the Olympics.

He received his first medal in the 1952 Helsinki Olympics by winning a bronze medal in the vault event. But he managed to win his first gold in 1956 Melbourne for the Horizontal bar while at the same time he got three silver medals and a bronze medal as well.

He showcased such a spectacular performance at the 1960 Rome Olympics that he was awarded six medals, consisting of three gold medals for horizontal bar, team all-around and the vault, as the latter one was shared with his Soviet rival Boris.

When he was about 29 years old, he led his team to win their second straight gold at Tokyo in 1964 before he became retired as one of the decorated Olympic gymnasts.

5. Edoardo Mangiarotti

• Medals: 13 (6G, 5S, 2B)

• Country: Italy

• Sport: fencing

• Olympic editions: 1936-1960

He was an Italian fencer who anchored a total of 39 Olympic and World Championship titles to his name over the span of 24 years old. Being on the list of multiple Olympic medalists, he was awarded 13 medals over five editions of the Olympic games.

He made his debut at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, winning his first gold medal in the team epee event. Following the world war, at the 1948 London Olympics, he collected three more medals. Then four years later at the 1952 Helsinki, he won four medals including two golds both in the team and individual epee events.

Afterwards, he was awarded a team foil gold and an Individual epee bronze medal at 1956 Melbourne before he ended his career with a gold and a silver medal at the 1960 Rome Olympics while his country Finland has taken the fifth position on the All-time Olympic Games medal table.

4. Boris Shakhlin

• Medals: 13 (7G, 4S, 2B)

• Country: Soviet Union

• Sport: gymnastics

• Olympic editions: 1956-1964

He was a Soviet gymnast who managed to win 13 medals from three Olympics so as to be included on the

list of multiple Olympic medalists

. While he is widely revered as the Man of Iron in light of his “steely determination and calm consistency”, his good stature led him to frequently win gold medals on the horizontal bar and the rings events.

In his first Olympic appearance at the 1956 Melbourne, he won two gold medals in the team event and the pommel horse. Then at the 1960 Rome Olympics, he managed to become the best athlete at the Games winning four gold medals in individual events along with two silver and a bronze.

Before he became retired at age of 35 in the face of heart attacks, he took part in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and won gold for horizontal bars, two silver for team competition and individual all-around discipline and a bronze medal for rings.

3. Nikolai Adrianov

• Medals: 15 (7G, 5S, 3B)

• Country: Soviet Union

• Sport: gymnastics

• Olympic editions: 1972-1980

He was a Soviet and Russian gymnast, who held the men’s record of the most Olympic medals until Michael Phelps exceeded him at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

He became the youngest Olympic champion in the floor exercise event at the 1972 Munich Olympics while he also won a silver in the team competition and won the bronze in the vault event as well.

Afterwards, at the 1976 Montreal Olympics, he performed brilliantly that he only won four gold medals in individual events. Likewise, he got two silver and a bronze medal in the pommel horse discipline.

Then after that he won gold, two silver and a bronze medal at the 1980 Moscow Olympics, he became retired and took the responsibility of coaching the junior and senior Russian teams as well as the Japan Olympic gymnastics team until he passed away in 2011 at the age of 58 because of a rare neurological disorder.

2. Larisa Latynina

• Medals: 18 (9G, 5S, 4B)

• Country: Soviet Union

• Sport: gymnastics

• Olympic editions: 1956- 1964

She is a former Soviet artistic gymnast and as one of the Olympic games top 10 medal winners, she helped the Soviet Union achieve great dominance in gymnastics over the course of three Olympic Games from 1956 to 1964.

Just at the age of 21 years old, she debuted at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics and spectacularly was awarded the gold in the all-around event. She continued to get three more gold medals in the events of team, vault and floor exercises along with winning a silver and a bronze medal in two more events.

Likewise, at the 1960 Rome Olympics, she was awarded three gold medals as well as two silver medals in uneven bars and balance beam and bronze in the vault event.

Afterwards, her stellar performance at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, saw her collect six more medals consisting of two gold medals in both team and floor exercises along with two silver and two bronze medals.

In essence, she managed to collect a total of 18 medals that remained unbeaten for 48 years until Phelps smashed her mark in 2012. But she still holds the record for the most medals won by a female athlete.

1. Michael Phelps

• Medals: 28 (23G, 3S, 2B)

• Country: USA

• Sport: swimming

• Olympic editions: 2004-2016

Just like his country that is leading the list of Olympic Medals By Country 2021, he also earned the spot number one not only in the list of the most Olympic medals (28) but also most Olympic golds (23), most golds at a single Games (eight at the 2008 Beijing Games), most world records set for swimming (39) etc.

His dominance began when he set the pool on fire on his debut appearance at the 2004 Athens Olympics, winning eight medals consisting of six gold and two bronze medals.

At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, he amazingly bagged eight gold medals and then at the 2012 London Olympics, he collected six medals including four gold and two silver. Following that he became retired but came back at the 2016 Rio Olympics and received five gold and a silver medal there

It is notable to suggest that had been a dominant force in his pet event, the 200m medley to such an extent that he won all four gold medals in the 200m medley in the four editions he took part in.

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