Every four years, the world comes together to watch athletes compete in either summer or winter sports competitions. Many athletes aspire and dream about the Olympics, few make it. But for those few, they are the top of their sport and arguably some of the best athletes of all time. Over the last 29 Olympics, there have been more than 12,000 medals handed out and this top 10 list is just a paltry sum when compared to the overall total. However, these Top 10 Olympians represent the cream of the crop winning the most gold medals. For this list, ties are broken by most silver after gold and then most bronze. 10. Matt Biondi:
Full Name: Matthew Nicholas Biondi Career: 1983-1992 Date of Birth: October 8, 1965 (age 46) Nationality: American Sport: Swimming Specialty: Butterfly, Freestyle Record: 8 gold, 2 silver and 1 bronze in the 1984, 1988 and 1992 Olympics.
9. Jenny Thompson:
Full Name: Jennifer Beth Thompson Career: 1987-2004 Date of Birth: 26/02/1973 Nationality: American Sport: Swimming Specialty: Butterfly, Freestyle Record: 8 gold, 3 silver and 1 bronze in the 1992, 1996, 2000 and 2004 Olympics.
8. Sawao Kato:Career: 1968-1976Date of Birth: 11/10/1946Nationality: JapaneseSport: GymnasticsSpecialty: Artistic Gymnastics Record: 8gold, 3 silver and 1 bronze in the 1968, 1972 and 1976 Olympics.
7. Birgit Fischer: Career: 1978-2005 Date of Birth: 25/02/1962 Nationality: German Sport: Kayak Specialty: Canoe Sprint Record: 8 gold and 4 silver in the 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996 and 2004 Olympics.
6. Bjørn Dæhlie: Full Name: Bjørn Erlend DæhlieCareer: 1989–1999Date of Birth: 19/06/1967 Nationality: Norseman Sport: Ski Specialty: Cross-country Skier Record: 8 gold and 4 silver in the 1992, 1996 and 1998 Olympics.
5. Carl Lewis:
Full Name: Frederick Carlton Lewis Career: 1979–1997 Date of Birth: 01/07/1961 Nationality: American Sport: Track and Field Athletics Specialty: Long Jump and Sprint Record: 9 gold and 1 silver in the 1984, 1988, 1992 and 1996 Olympics.
4. Mark Spitz:
Full Name: Mark Andrew Spitz Career: 1968–1973 Date of Birth: 10/02/1950 Nationality: American Sport: Swimming Specialty: Butterfly, Freestyle Record: 9 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze in the 1968 and 1972 Olympics.
3. Paavo Nurmi:
Full Name: Paavo Johannes NurmiCareer: 1920–1939Date of Birth: 13/06/1897 Nationality: Finnish Sport: Track and Field Athletics Specialty: Long and middle Distance running Record: 9 gold and 3 silver in the 1920, 1924 and 1928 Olympics.
2. Larissa Latynina:
Full Name: Larisa Semyonovna Latynina Career: 1954–1966 Date of Birth: 27/12/1934 Nationality: Russian-Ukrainian Sport: Gymnastics Specialty: Artistic Gymnastics Record: 9 gold, 5 silver and 4 bronze in the 1956, 1960 and 1964 Olympics.
1. Michael Phelps: the Baltimore Bullet
Full Name: Michael Fred Phelps Career: since 2000 Date of Birth: 30/06/1985 Nationality: American Sport: Swimming Specialty: Backstroke, Butterfly, Freestyle, Individual Medley Record: 11 gold and 2 bronze medals from the 2004 and 2008 Olympics
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