To become an Olympic champion at least once in a lifetime is an unattainable dream for many athletes. But some lucky ones manage to win gold, silver and bronze medals not one, not two, but ten or more times.
We present you with a list of the most titled Olympic champions in the history of sports.
10. Birgit Fischer, Germany
Total medals - 12.
Of these, gold - 8, silver - 4, bronze - 0.
Here is a photo of the only woman who managed to win at least two medals at five Olympics.
Fischer was 42 when she took gold in the 500m foursome and silver in the 500m pairs. She became the oldest Olympic champion to compete in canoeing and kayaking.
It's funny that at the same time, Fischer is also the youngest champion, since she took her first gold in 1980, at the age of 18.
9. Paavo Nurmi, Finland
Total medals - 12.
Of these, gold - 9, silver - 3, bronze - 0.
This runner was part of a group of Finnish athletes who were called the "Flying Finns". He quickly gained worldwide fame when he began his career at the Olympic Games in Antwerp in 1920. His even and mechanical step at the beginning of the path was replaced by a furious jerk, when only a few meters remained to the finish line.
Nurmi has set 22 official world records at distances from 1,500 meters to 20 kilometers. He is considered the greatest athlete of all time.
8. Ole Einar Bjørndalen, Norway
Total medals - 13.
Of these, gold - 8, silver - 4, bronze - 1.
At the 2012 Winter Olympics, Björndalen did not leave his opponents a single chance, scoring 4 out of 4 victories. He became the first in the world to become the absolute Olympic champion in biathlon.
However, Bjørndalen received his personal gold medal only 12 years after his high point in Salt Lake City. This happened in Sochi in 2014. Then the pride of the Norwegian national team managed to win against the nearest rival a little over a second, despite one mistake at the start. That year, Bjørndalen became the oldest individual biathlon winner in Olympic history.
Most recently, in 2018, the Norwegian athlete announced the end of his sports career.
7. Takashi Ono, Japan
Total medals - 13.
Of these, gold - 5, silver - 4, bronze - 4.
This Japanese gymnast is one of three Olympians who managed to win at least 4 medals of each rank. In addition, he became the first Japanese Olympic champion in artistic gymnastics.
At the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics in 1964, Takashi Ono was honored to pronounce the Olympic oath on behalf of all athletes. At the same Olympics, he won his last fifth gold medal.
6.Edoardo Mangiarotti, Italy
Total medals - 13.
Of these, gold - 6, silver - 5, bronze - 2.
When it comes to fencing, no one comes close to Italian maestro Edoardo Manjarotti, who has proven himself as the highest scoring winner at the Olympics and World Championships.
The talent for fencing literally flows through the veins of the Manjarotti family. Edoardo's father was a 17-time Italian champion in fencing with epee. He also advised his son to become left-handed (although he was naturally right-handed) in order to gain an advantage in sports. Edoardo's fencing style was uncomfortable for his opponents.
Manjarotti began taking fencing lessons at the age of 8. He trained with his brother Dario, who is also an accomplished swordsman. And Edoardo won his first gold medal at the age of 17.
5. Boris Shakhlin, USSR
Total medals - 13.
Of these, 7 gold, 4 silver, 2 bronze.
Two gymnasts and one gymnast from the USSR were among the top five Olympic athletes who won the largest number of medals. Shakhlin is the first of this trinity.
Being a full orphan, he managed to reach the sports Olympus without protection from above, largely thanks to the support of his first coach V.A.Porfiryev, who taught the boy to fight to the last.
For his calm and confident demeanor during sports events, foreign journalists called Shakhlin a “Russian bear”.
4. Marit Bjørgen, Norway
There are 15 medals in total.
Of these, gold - 8, silver - 4, bronze - 3.
Although Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina has more Olympic medals than Bjørgen, the Norwegian skier is the most decorated athlete in the Winter Olympics. She is considered the strongest female skier in modern history.
However, high-profile scandals are also associated with the name of Marit Bjørgen. In 2009, she received FIS approval to use drugs for asthma that contained doping substances, including formoterol. This caused the displeasure of many other athletes. For example, Polish skier Justyna Kowalczyk said that without the help of drugs, Björgen could not have achieved the current stunning results.
3. Nikolay Andrianov, USSR
There are 15 medals in total.
Of these, 7 gold, 5 silver, 3 bronze.
In the brilliant career of Adrianov, his first coach Nikolai Tolkachev played a huge role. He persuaded the boy not to quit gymnastics, and even helped him with homework and attended parent-teacher meetings. And Tolkachev's efforts paid off handsomely. His pupil became a multiple world champion, USSR and Europe.
Until 2008, this Soviet athlete held the title of absolute record holder for the number of Olympic medals, until the American Michael Phelps received his 16th medal.
2. Larisa Latynina, USSR
Total medals - 18.
Of these, 9 gold, 5 silver, 4 bronze.
This multiple Olympic champion helped establish the Soviet Union as the dominant force in gymnastics.
Although Michael Phelps broke her for the total number of medals, Latynina's record for the number of medals won in individual competitions (14) is still unbeatable.
Latynina was so devoted to sports that she competed at the 1958 World Championships in Moscow, being four months pregnant. Her performances combined the grace and spectacularity of dance with the stability and skill of an experienced athlete.
In 1966, Latynina became the coach of the USSR national artistic gymnastics team. Her team took gold three times during the 1968, 1972 and 1976 Olympics.
1. Michael Phelps, USA
Total medals - 28.
Of these, 23 gold, 3 silver, 2 bronze.
The clear winner in the ranking of the most titled Olympic champions is American swimmer Michael Phelps. It boasts both the most Olympic gold medals and the most medals overall. He is called "the greatest Olympian of all time."
The Baltimore Bullet (that is one of Phelps's nicknames) became the only 23-time Olympic champion in sports history.However, other Olympians have a chance to surpass this achievement, since after the 2016 Rio Olympics, Phelps announced his final retirement from the big sport.
Why is he so good?
Michael Phelps's strengths are his height, weight and length of arms and legs. Its long torso and short legs reduce resistance to body movement in the water and allow you to swim forward as quickly as possible. However, he wears shoes of size 47.
Phelps's arms span is 203 cm, and his height is 193 cm.As a schoolboy, he could hug five classmates in one fell swoop. Noticing this feature, useful for a swimmer, coach Bob Bowman invited the young man to the swimming section.
If ordinary people are 80% water, then Phelps is 90%. He even got into the Guinness Book of Records as an athlete who can drink more liquids than he weighs - 91 liters.
And his heart is able to pump about 30 liters of blood per minute. Thanks to this, the most titled athlete in history quickly recovered from strenuous swims.