Most Olympic Gold Medals

By : Neha Dhyani

Updated : Jan 17, 2023, 7:33

The person who has won the Most Olympic Gold Medals in his entire sports career is Michael Phelps from the United States. Phelps has won a total of 23 Olympic Gold medals in swimming. The second person with the most Olympic Gold medals is Soviet Union’s Larisa Latynina with 9 gold medals in gymnastics.

The country with the most Olympic gold medals is the United States. We have shared comprehensive information about the most number of gold medals won in the Olympics here.

Top 10 Olympic Medal Winners

Michael Phelps’ record of winning the most Olympic gold medals remains unbeatable. With 23 Olympic gold medals to his credit, he remains the only person with that many gold medals in Olympics. Here, we have shared information about the Top 10 most Olympic Gold Medal winners.

No.

Athlete

Country

Years

Sports

Gold Medals

1

Michael Phelps

United States

2000–2016

Swimming

23

2

Larisa Latynina

Soviet Union

1956–1964

Gymnastics

9

3

Paavo Nurmi

Finland

1920–1928

Athletics

9

4

Mark Spitz

United States

1968–1972

Swimming

9

5

Carl Lewis

United States

1984–1996

Athletics

9

6

Marit Bjørgen

Norway

2002–2018

Cross-country skiing

8

7

Ole Einar Bjørndalen

Norway

1998–2014

Biathlon

8

8

Bjørn Dæhlie

Norway

1992–1998

Cross-country skiing

8

8

Birgit Fischer

Germany

1980–2004

Canoeing

8

10

Sawao Kato

Japan

1968–1976

Gymnastics

8

10

Jenny Thompson

United States

1992–2004

Swimming

8

Most Olympic Gold Medals: Country-Wise

When we talk about the country with the most number of Olympic Gold medal winners, the United States of America is on top. Further information about countries that have won the most Olympic gold medals (from 1896–2022) is shared here.

Rank

NOC

Gold Medals

1

United States (USA)

1173

2

Soviet Union (URS)

473

3

Germany (GER)

305

4

Great Britain (GBR)

296

5

China (CHN)

284

6

France (FRA)

264

7

Italy (ITA)

259

8

Sweden (SWE)

213

9

Norway (NOR)

210

10

Russia (RUS)

196

Most Olympic Gold Medal Winners in a Single Olympics

Several sportspersons have made a record of winning multiple gold medals in a single Olympics. We have shared the information about the most Olympic gold medal winners in a single Olympics here:

  • Among Men - Michael Phelps, the swimmer from the United States holds the record for winning the highest number of Olympic medals in a single Olympics. He won 8 Olympic gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
  • Among Women - Kristin Otto, the German swimmer won the most Olympic gold medals in the 1988 Seoul Olympics. She won 6 gold medals in that Olympics.
  • Among Countries - The United States of America won 83 Olympic gold medals - the highest of all time in the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles.

Olympic Medal Winners: Highest Consecutive Wins in Same Event

There are several Olympics players who have won the most Olympic gold medals in the same event. When we talk about the most number of consecutive wins in the same Olympics event, the record belongs to the following sportspersons:

  • Among Men - Two athletes from the United States, Carl Lewis (long jump) and Alfred Oerter (discus throw), and Paul Elvstrom (sailing) from Denmark hold the record for winning gold medals in four consecutive Olympics.
  • Among Women - Kaori Icho, a Japanese wrestler holds the record for winning four consecutive Olympic gold medals.

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FAQs on Most Olympic Gold Medals

Q1. Who has won the most Olympic gold medals?

Michael Phelps has won the most Olympic gold medals. Phelps is a swimmer from the United States, who holds the record of winning 23 Olympic gold medals in his career. Among women athletes, the record holder for most Olympic gold medals is Larisa Latynina, a gymnast from Soviet Union.

Q2. Which country has the most Olympic gold medals?

The country with the most Olympic gold medals is the United States. The total number of Olympic gold medals that the US has won is 1173. After the United States, the next two countries with the most Olympic gold medals are the Soviet Union and Germany.

Q3. How many Indians have won Olympic gold medals?

To date, 10 Indians have won Olympic gold medals. The recent win was by Neeraj Chopra, who is the only Indian person who is an Olympic gold medal winner in athletics. He won the Olympic gold medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo in Javelin throw.

Q4. Who has won the most Olympic gold medals in one Olympics?

Michael Phelps, the swimmer from the United States has won the most Olympic gold medals in one Olympics. He won 8 Olympic gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics in swimming. Among women, the German swimmer Kristin Otto won six Olympic gold medals in the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

Q5. Which female won the most gold medals in Olympics?

The female to win the most gold medals in Olympics is Soviet Union’s Larisa Semyonovna Latynina , who won a record 9 Olympic gold medals in gymnastics. She also won 5 silver medals and 4 bronze medals between 1956-64.