The 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris are now a week into competition, with dozens of countries compiling medals as most events have now gotten underway at the Paris Games.
While fans have gotten to see historic performances from American athletes who continue to build onto incredible legacies at the Olympics, many are wondering just who the most successful Olympians of all time are.
While Simone Biles and Katie Ledecky have surely made history in Paris as among the greatest to compete in their respective sports, several athletes have collected more medals in their decorated Olympics careers.
Though it's been eight years since he competed at the Olympic level, Michael Phelps remains the most decorated Olympian of all-time in any sport, capturing an unrivaled 28 medals over his career.
Coming away with the gold 23 times, Phelps earned more gold medals than any other Olympian has total medals, with Larisa Latynina, who competed in gymnastics for the Soviet Union from 1956 to 1964, earned 18 total medals in her career.
In addition to 23 gold medals, Phelps captured three silver medals and two bronze medals across competition in four Summer Olympics, competing in the Games from 2004 to 2016.
Closing out the top three of all-time and serving as the most decorated Winter Olympian of all-time is cross-country skier Marit Bjørgen, who collected 15 medals, including eight golds, in a career that spanned from 2002 to 2018.
Bjørgen is narrowly ahead of Soviet gymnast Nikolai Andrianov, who competed from 1972 to 1980 and also earned 15 medals, with seven gold medals among them.
Though Phelps is untouched across the board in Olympics history, Ledecky's sensational gold medal-winning performance in the 1500m freestyle tied her as the second-most decorated Olympian in American history with fellow swimmer Jenny Thompson.
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A day later, Ledecky set herself apart as the most decorated female Olympian in American history, winning a silver medal as part of the Team 4x200m freestyle relay. The medal was Ledecky's 13th, and the fourth silver medal she has won in her Olympic career.
Ledecky previously had an identical medal breakdown to Thompson before her record-setting 13th medal: eight golds, three silvers and one bronze. Thompson competed for the United States from 1992 to 2004.
Ledecky is competing in her fourth Olympics, making her debut for Team USA at the 2012 London Games.
Three other American swimmers, Ryan Lochte, Dara Torres and Natalie Coughlin all also received 12 Olympic medals in their career, though with not as quite of a gold-heavy resume as Ledecky's and Thompson's.
Lochte won six gold medals alongside three silver and bronze medals, while Torres won four of each medal. Torres competed in five Olympics from 1984 to 2008, becoming the oldest swimmer in U.S. Olympics history at the age of 41 in 2008.
Coughlin competed in three Olympics from 2004 to 2012, taking home three gold medals, four silvers and five bronzes in her decorated career.
Below is a look at the 10 most decorated Olympians in the history of both the Summer and Winter Games, alongside the corresponding medal count:
- Michael Phelps - USA - Swimming - 23 Gold, 3 Silver, 2 Bronze: 28 total
- Larisa Latynina - Soviet Union - Gymnastics - 9 Gold, 5 Silver, 4 Bronze: 18 total
- Marit Bjørgen - Norway - Cross-country skiing - 8 Gold, 4 Silver, 3 Bronze: 15 total
- Nikolai Andrianov - Soviet Union - Gymnastics - 7 Gold, 5 Silver, 3 Bronze: 15 total
- Ole Einar Bjørndalen - Norway - Biathlon, Cross-country skiing - 8 Gold, 4 Silver, 1 Bronze: 13 total
Katie Ledecky - USA - Swimming - 8 Gold, 4 Silver, 1 Bronze: 13 total - Boris Shakhlin - Soviet Union - Gymnastics - 7 Gold, 4 Silver, 2 Bronze: 13 total
- Ireen Wüst - Netherlands - Speed skating - 6 Gold, 5 Silver, 2 Bronze: 13 total
Edoardo Mangiarotti - Italy - Fencing - 6 Gold, 5 Silver, 2 Bronze: 13 total - Takashi Ono - Japan - Gymnastics - 5 Gold, 4 Silver, 4 Bronze: 13 total
- Paavo Nurmi - Finland - Biathlon, Cross-country skiing - 9 Gold, 3 Silver: 12 total
- Birgit Fischer - Germany - Kayaking - 8 Gold, 4 Silver: 12 total
Bjørn Daehlie - Norway - Cross-country skiing - 8 Gold, 4 Silver: 12 total
