The Most Decorated Olympians of All Time
28 medals for one swimmer; a gymnastics record that stood for 48 years. The greatest medal hauls in Olympic history.
No athlete in the modern era has dominated the Olympic Games like a quiet swimmer from Baltimore. But the record he broke had belonged, for almost half a century, to a Soviet gymnast most sports fans have never heard of. This is the all-time Olympic medal table, told through its greatest names.
The all-time leaders
- Michael Phelps — 28 medals, 23 gold (2004–2016). The gold count alone is more than most countries have won. His eight golds at Beijing 2008 remain the greatest single-Games performance ever; one of them came by one hundredth of a second.
- Larisa Latynina — 18 medals, 9 gold (1956–1964). The Soviet gymnast held the all-time record for 48 years until Phelps passed her in 2012. She won medals in every event she entered across three Games — while raising a child between them, and having competed at the 1958 world championships while pregnant.
- Paavo Nurmi — 12 medals, 9 gold (1920–1928). The "Flying Finn" once won the 1,500m and 5,000m finals on the same afternoon, with about an hour between them, running with a stopwatch in his hand.
- Mark Spitz — 11 medals, including 7 golds in seven world records at Munich 1972, a single-Games standard that stood until Phelps.
- Carl Lewis — 10 medals, 9 gold (1984–1996), including the long jump four Games running — one of only a handful of athletes ever to win the same individual event four times.
- Usain Bolt — 8 golds from 8 individual and relay finals across three Games (one relay later forfeited through a teammate's disqualification). No sprinter had ever completed the 100m/200m double at three consecutive Olympics.
The active legend
Simone Biles has 11 Olympic medals (7 gold) and, combined with her record 30 world-championship medals, stands as the most decorated gymnast — of any gender — in history. She competes with four skills officially named after her in the sport's Code of Points, each one submitted because no one else had ever performed it.
"You can't put a limit on anything. The more you dream, the farther you get."
— Michael Phelps
What makes a medal machine
The records cluster in sports with many events per Games — swimming and gymnastics athletes can enter seven or eight — which is why no rower, boxer or basketball player appears above. Adjust for opportunity and Nurmi's nine distance-running golds, or Lewis's four consecutive long jumps, arguably match anything in the pool.
Longevity is the other ingredient. Phelps competed at five Games across sixteen years; Latynina's record survived because she combined a full career with near-total dominance of every apparatus.
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(For the records that no medal count can capture — a hockey player whose assist total alone would lead the sport, a long jump that stood for 23 years — see our companion piece on the most unbreakable records in sport.)
The record within the record
Perhaps the most telling number of all: of Phelps's 23 golds, thirteen were individual — more individual Olympic titles than any athlete in any sport, ever. The most decorated Olympian was not carried by relays; he simply out-swam the world, race after race, for twelve years.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who has won the most Olympic medals?
Michael Phelps, with 28 medals including 23 golds between 2004 and 2016 — both all-time records.
Who held the record before Phelps?
Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina, whose 18 medals from 1956–1964 stood as the record for 48 years.
Who is the most decorated gymnast in history?
Simone Biles, whose combined 41 Olympic and world-championship medals are the most for any gymnast of any gender.