One Olympian won more gold medals than the next two athletes on this list combined. Another held the all-time record for 48 years. We rank the five most decorated Olympians in 130 years of the Games.

We rank the 5 greatest Olympians ever, judged on total medals, gold medals, dominance, and longevity across multiple Games:

#5 — Ole Einar Bjørndalen — 13 medals (8 gold) in biathlon across 6 Winter Games (1994-2014). King of Biathlon.
#4 — Nikolai Andrianov — 15 medals (7 gold) in gymnastics across just 3 Games. Most decorated male gymnast ever.
#3 — Marit Bjørgen — 15 medals (8 gold) in cross-country skiing. The most decorated Winter Olympian in history.
#2 — Larisa Latynina — 18 medals (9 gold) in gymnastics across 3 Games. Held the all-time record for 48 years. Still the most decorated female Olympian ever.
#1 — Michael Phelps — 28 medals (23 gold) in swimming across 5 Games. Both records that may never fall. 8 golds in Beijing alone.

If Phelps were a country, his 23 golds would rank 35th on the all-time Olympic gold medal table. Who impressed you most? Subscribe for more sports rankings.

#Olympics #MichaelPhelps #LarisaLatynina #Olympians #Sports

Credits

All YouTube clips: CC BY 3.0 — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...
Clips trimmed/edited for length.

YouTube clips

5. Ole Einar Bjørndalen

"Ole Einar Björndalen  1.Platz 20 km Einzel Östersund 2015" — faker777maker
 Ole Einar Björndalen  1.Platz 20 km Einzel...
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"The legendary career of Ole Einar Bjørndalen 🇳🇴🎿" — Olympics
 The legendary career of Ole Einar Bjørndal...
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"Ole Einar Bjørndalen at the Olympic Games🇳🇴 | Athlete Highlights" — Olympics
 Ole Einar Bjørndalen at the Olympic Games🇳...
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4. Nikolai Andrianov

"1973 Champions All   Nikolai Andrianov FX" — gymnasticsstuff
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"Nikolay Andrianov - PH (Olympic games 1976)" — igorgymn2
 Nikolay Andrianov - PH (Olympic games 1976)
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"The most decorated male gymnast of all time? Nikolai Andrianov!" — Olympics Gymnastics
 The most decorated male gymnast of all tim...
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3. Marit Bjørgen

"Ski NM Voss 2012 - Marit Bjørgen" — S. Witts
 Ski NM Voss 2012 - Marit Bjørgen
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"Most Successful Winter Athlete Of All Time! ⛷️ | Marit Bjørgen 🇳🇴 | Athlete Highlights" — Olympics
 Most Successful Winter Athlete Of All Time...
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2. Larisa Latynina

"The Story of Larissa Latynina, the Most Successful Olympic Gymnast | The Olympics On The Record" — Olympics
 The Story of Larissa Latynina, the Most Su...
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"✘ TOKYO 1964 Larissa Latynina Uneven bars Individual (Amateur Footage)" — TF Filmarchiv
 ✘ TOKYO 1964 Larissa Latynina Uneven bars ...
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1. Michael Phelps

"Michael Phelps: The Greatest Olympian | The Greatest American Olympian" — Econoclock
 Michael Phelps: The Greatest Olympian | Th...
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"Michael Phelps Wins 20th GOLD Swimming Medal At Rio Olympics 2016" — Olympic 2016
 Michael Phelps Wins 20th GOLD Swimming Med...
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"Michael Phelps Wins Mens 200m Individual Medley Gold" — qaq qkohjf
 Michael Phelps Wins Mens 200m Individual M...
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