#1
Michael Phelps — 28 medals
More than double the total of the next closest athlete on this list. His 23 gold medals alone outnumber Larisa Latynina's entire career medal count of 18.[1]
The athletes who turned the podium into a habit, ranked by total Olympic medals (gold, silver, and bronze combined) across both Summer and Winter Games.
| Rank | Athlete | Total medals | Sport |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michael Phelps (USA) | 28 (23G) | Swimming |
| 2 | Larisa Latynina (Soviet Union) | 18 (9G) | Gymnastics |
| 3 | Marit Bjørgen (Norway) | 15 (8G) | Cross-country skiing |
| 4 | Nikolai Andrianov (Soviet Union) | 15 (7G) | Gymnastics |
| 5 | Ole Einar Bjørndalen (Norway) | 13 (8G) | Biathlon |
| 6 | Katie Ledecky (USA) | 13 (8G) | Swimming |
| 7 | Boris Shakhlin (Soviet Union) | 13 (7G) | Gymnastics |
| 8 | Edoardo Mangiarotti (Italy) | 13 (6G) | Fencing |
| 9 | Takashi Ono (Japan) | 13 (5G) | Gymnastics |
| 10 | Birgit Fischer (Germany) | 12 (8G) | Canoe sprint |
No matching rows.
More than double the total of the next closest athlete on this list. His 23 gold medals alone outnumber Larisa Latynina's entire career medal count of 18.[1]
Held the record for most total Olympic medals of any athlete, in any sport, for 48 years — from her final Games in 1964 until Phelps broke it in 2012.[1]
The most decorated Winter Olympian in history. Her career in cross-country skiing spanned five Winter Games, from Salt Lake City 2002 to PyeongChang 2018.[1]
A Soviet gymnast whose medal haul through the 1970s remains one of the most dominant individual stretches in the sport's history.[1]
Nicknamed "The King of Biathlon," he competed across an extraordinary six Winter Olympics, from Lillehammer 1994 to Sochi 2014.[1]