Greatest U.S. Olympians of All Time

Few American athletes are put on a higher pedestal than those who win Olympic gold medals.

There is one thing the United States has in common with every single country in the world when it comes to sports — there’s nothing we love more than an Olympic champion.

The very best of the best on the Olympic stage can capture hearts and minds with just one of those coveted golds, but we definitely don’t mind if they want to keep winning them. Since the first Olympics in 1896, the athletes who climb to the top of the podium have become household names that are showered with praise for the rest of their lives.

Who exactly are we talking about? Let’s take a look at the greatest Olympians in U.S. history.

30. Eddie Eagan

AP Photo

Born: April 26, 1897 (Denver, Colorado)

Died: June 14, 1967, 70 years old (New York, New York)

Sports: Boxing and Four-Man Bobsled

Olympics: Antwerp 1920, Lake Placid 1932

Medals: 2 – Gold (2), Silver (0), Bronze (0)

Bottom line: Eddie Eagan’s athletic career has largely been lost to history, but it’s worth dusting off for the sheer audacity of what he accomplished. Eagan won two gold medals in the Olympics — first as a light heavyweight boxer in 1920 then again at the Winter Olympics in 1932 as part of the four-man bobsled team for the U.S.

Eagan’s academic career was also something special. He received Bachelor’s degrees from Yale and Oxford and a law degree from Harvard. He also fought in World War II and set a world record for the fastest trip around the world on scheduled aircraft flights.

29. Jenny Thompson

Mark J. Terrill / AP Photo

Born: Feb. 26, 1973 (Danvers, Massachusetts)

Sport: Swimming

Olympics: Barcelona 1992, Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000, Athens 2004

Medals: 12 – Gold (8), Silver (3), Bronze (1)

Bottom line: Dr. Jenny Thompson is one of the more accomplished Olympic athletes of all time, with 12 gold medals across four Olympic Games.

All eight of Thompson’s gold medals came in relay events, and only two of her 12 medals came in individual events — she won a silver medal in the 100 freestyle in 1992 and a bronze medal in the 100 freestyle in 2000.

28. Dick Fosbury

AP Photo

Born: March 6, 1947 (Portland, Oregon)

Sport: Track and Field

Olympics: Mexico City 1968

Medals: 1 – Gold (1), Silver (0), Bronze (0)

Bottom line: There is no debate as to who the single most influential person in the history of the high jump is — it’s Oregon native Dick Fosbury, who won the gold medal at the 1968 Olympics with a jump of 7 feet, 4.25 inches.

Growing up in Medford, Oregon, Fosbury struggled to clear 5 feet in the high jump using the accepted technique of the time, which was jumping head first over the ball and trying to straddle it with both legs.

Fosbury invented the method used by high jumpers the world over — “The Fosbury Flop” in which you jump backward over the bar — and over 90 percent of medal winners since 1972 have used it in the Olympics.

27. Lisa Leslie

Dusan Vranic / AP Photo

Born: July 7, 1972 (Compton, California)

Sport: Basketball

Olympics: Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000, Athens 2004, Beijing 2008

Medals: 4 – Gold (4), Silver (0), Bronze (0)

Bottom line: One of the greatest women’s basketball players of all time, Lisa Leslie was always at her best when she played in the Olympics.

The two-time WNBA champion and three-time WNBA Most Valuable Player holds the U.S. Olympic women’s career records for points, rebounds and blocked shots, along with the single-Olympic games and single-game records for points and field goals.

She won four consecutive Olympic gold medals from 1996 through 2008.

26. Duke Kanhanamoku

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Born: Aug. 24, 1890 (Hale’akala, Honolulu, Hawaii)

Dead: Jan. 22, 1968, 77 years old (Honolulu, Hawaii)

Sport: Swimming

Olympics: Stockholm 1912, Antwerp 1920, Paris 1924

Medals: 5 – Gold (3), Silver (2), Bronze (0)

Bottom line: How much of a baller life do you have to have lived to make it so winning three Olympic gold medals isn’t the thing you’re most well known for? That was Duke Kanhanamoku, who had more to do with making surfing popular around the world than perhaps any person in history.

Kanhanamoku won all of his medals in swimming but also served as an alternate on the U.S. water polo team at the 1932 Olympics. In one of the coolest medal stands of all time, Kanhanamoku won a silver medal in the 100-meter freestyle at the 1924 Olympics, with fellow-American Johnny Weismuller winning gold and Kanhanamoku’s younger brother, Samuel, winning the bronze.

25. Mary Lou Retton

Lionel Cironneau / AP Photo

Born: Jan. 24, 1988 (Fairmont, West Virginia)

Sport: Gymnastics

Olympics: Los Angeles 1984

Medals: 5 – Gold (1), Silver (2), Bronze (2)

Bottom line: Mary Lou Retton became an international superstar and one of the most beloved athletes in U.S. history with her performance at the 1984 Olympics.

Retton, a West Virginia native, became the first American to win Olympic gold in the all-around gymnastics competition, with her thrilling defeat of Romanian favorite Ecaterina Szabo. Retton even scored perfect 10s in the last two events, the vault and floor exercise.

The one knock on Retton’s performance in Los Angeles? No Russians competed because of a boycott.

24. Ray Ewry

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Born: Oct. 14, 1873 (Lafayette, Indiana)

Died: Sept. 29, 1937, 63 years old (Long Island, New York)

Sport: Track and Field

Olympics: Paris 1900, St. Louis 1904, London 1908

Medals: 8 – Gold (8), Silver (0), Bronze (0)

Bottom line: One of the more amazing things about Ray Ewry’s story is that he spent the first part of his childhood in a wheelchair after contracting polio. There was a fear he might not ever be able to walk again.

But he did more than that — he soared. After starring in track and field and football at Purdue, Ewry won eight Olympic gold medals in events that no longer exist over three Olympics — the standing long jump, standing high jump and standing triple jump.

23. Carmelo Anthony

Eric Gay / AP Photo

Born: May 29, 1984 (Brooklyn, New York)

Sport: Basketball

Olympics: Athens 2004, Beijing 2008, London 2012, Rio de Janeiro 2016

Medals: 4 – Gold (3), Silver (0), Bronze (1)

Bottom line: Say what you will about the shortcomings of Carmelo Anthony’s almost 20-year NBA career (we are sure they’re valid), you can’t knock his time as an Olympian.

Perhaps the most impressive thing about Anthony’s record four appearances on the U.S. men’s basketball team is that it started off so rocky, with the infamous bronze medal in the 2004 Olympics. But Anthony bounced back to win three consecutive gold medals and established himself as a leader on the team.

22. Allyson Felix

Matt Slocum / AP Photo

Born: Nov. 18, 1985 (Los Angeles, California)

Sport: Track and Field

Olympics: Athens 2004, Beijing 2008, London 2012, Rio de Janeiro 2016, Tokyo 2021

Medals: 9 – Gold (6), Silver (3), Bronze (0)

Bottom line: Allyson Felix entered into an elite club in 2021 when the California native qualified for her fifth Olympics — a feat almost unheard of across any of the Olympic sports but much less sprints.

Out of Felix’s six gold medals, five have come in relay events with her lone gold for an individual event in the 200-meter dash at the 2012 Olympics in London.

21. Karch Kiraly

Bob Galbraith / AP Photo

Born: Nov. 3, 1960 (Jackson, Michigan)

Sport: Volleyball

Olympics: Los Angeles 1984, Seoul 1988, Atlanta 1996

Medals: 3 – Gold (3), Silver (0), Bronze (0)

Bottom line: In a testament to exactly how popular three-time Olympic gold medalist Karch Kiraly was in his heyday, try explaining to Gen Zers that a men’s volleyball player was a household name in the 1980s and 1990s.

Kiraly won gold medals in traditional indoor volleyball at the 1984 and 1988 Olympics, then returned to the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta to win a gold medal in beach volleyball alongside his partner, Kent Steffes.

Kiraly coached the U.S. Women’s National Team in the 2004 Olympics, leading them to a bronze medal.

20. Lisa Fernandez

Elaine Thompson / AP Photo

Born: Feb. 22, 1971 (Long Beach, California)

Sport: Softball

Olympics: Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000, Athens 2004, Beijing 2008

Medals: 4 – Gold (3), Silver (1), Bronze (0)

Bottom line: Lisa Fernandez won three Olympic gold medals in softball before she closed out her career with a silver medal as an alternate on the 2008 team.

The Long Beach native starred at St. Joseph High School, where she led her team to a CIF championship, then led UCLA to two national championships and two national runner-up finishes.

Her pitching record in the Olympics was something to behold — over three games she went 7-1 with a 0.37 ERA and 93 strikeouts.

19. Bob Mathias

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Born: Nov. 17, 1930 (Tulare, California)

Died: Sept. 2, 2006, 75 years old (Fresno, California)

Sport: Track and Field

Olympics: London 1948, Helsinki 1952

Medals: 2 – Gold (2), Silver (0), Bronze (0)

Bottom line: Bob Mathias achieved a couple of remarkable milestones in 1948. First, he graduated from Tulare Union High School. Second, he won the first of back-to-back Olympic gold medals in the decathlon.

The win in 1948 at just 17 years old made him the youngest gold medal winner in Olympic history and, in the interim between then and his next Olympic victory, he played running back for Stanford, helping lead the team to the 1952 Rose Bowl in the first nationally televised football game.

18. Matt Biondi

Eric Risberg / AP Photo

Born: Oct. 8, 1965 (Moraga, California)

Sport: Swimming

Olympics: Los Angeles 1984, Seoul 1988, Barcelona 1992

Medals: 11 – Gold (8), Silver (2), Bronze (1)

Bottom line: Matt Biondi won gold medals at three consecutive Olympics. Biondi’s greatest showing came at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul when he won seven of his 11 medals, including five gold medals.

What’s cool about Biondi is he could have been an Olympian in multiple disciplines — he was an All-American water polo player at Cal and led his school to three national championships.

17. Babe Didrikson Zaharias

AP Photo

Born: June 26, 1911 (Port Arthur, Texas)

Died: Sept. 27, 1956, 45 years old (Galveston, Texas)

Sport: Track and Field

Olympics: Los Angeles 1932

Medals: 3 – Gold (2), Silver (1), Bronze (0)

Bottom line: Widely regarded as one of the greatest athletes of all time, Babe Didrikson Zaharias won two gold medals at the 1932 Olympics in the 80-meter hurdles and the javelin, along with a silver medal in the high jump. She went on to win 10 LPGA Tour events. She wasn’t just great in those two sports either.

She also pitched exhibition innings for several MLB teams and still holds the women’s world record for throwing a baseball farther than any other female. Tragically, Zaharias died of colon cancer in 1956, when she was just 45 years old.

16. Al Oerter

AP Photo

Born: Sept. 19, 1936 (Astoria, New York)

Dead: Oct. 1, 2007, 71 years old (Fort Myers, Florida)

Sport: Track and Field

Olympics: Melbourne 1956, Rome 1960, Tokyo 1964, Mexico City 1968

Medals: 4 – Gold (4), Silver (0), Bronze (0)

Bottom line: Al Oerter was a mountain of a man — 6-foot-4 and 280 pounds — and established himself as one of the greatest Olympians of all time by winning the gold medal in the discus throw at four consecutive Olympics. Only two other male athletes, Carl Lewis and Michael Phelps, have won gold at four straight games.

When told later in life that a heart transplant could possibly help him live longer, Oerter said he wasn’t interested in the possibility. “I’ve had an interesting life,” said Oerter, who died in 2007 at 71 years old. “I’m going out with what I have.”

15. Dan Gable

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Born: Oct. 25, 1948 (Waterloo, Iowa)

Sport: Wrestling

Olympics: Munich 1972

Medals: 1 – Gold (1), Silver (0), Bronze (0)

Bottom line: Dan Gable’s one gold medal should count for way more considering what he had to do in order to get it and the way he went about it.

After winning a gold medal at the World Championships in the 68-kilogram division and not allowing a single point in six matches, he was even more dominant at the 1972 Olympics, where he didn’t allow a single point in six more matches.

Gable, a two-time NCAA champion at Iowa State, eventually became the head coach at the University of Iowa and led the Hawkeyes to 15 national championships.

14. Caitlyn Jenner (Bruce Jenner)

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Born: Oct. 28, 1949 (Mount Kisco, New York)

Sport: Track and Field

Olympics: Montreal 1976

Medals: 1 – Gold (1), Silver (0), Bronze (0)

Bottom line: Caitlyn Jenner took over the sporting world in 1976 when she won the Olympic decathlon gold medal in Montreal while competing as Bruce Jenner.

Few Olympic athletes have become as famous as Jenner has after winning a gold medal. The former college football player was labeled “the world’s greatest athlete” and has remained in the public eye for over 40 years, including a long-running appearance on the reality television series “Keeping Up With The Kardashians” — one of the more popular, profitable shows in television history.

13. Dara Torres

Mark J. Terrill / AP Photo

Born: April 15, 1967 (Beverly Hills, California)

Sport: Swimming

Olympics: Los Angeles 1984, Seoul 1988, Barcelona 1992, Sydney 2000, Beijing 2008

Medals: 12 – Gold (4), Silver (4), Bronze (4)

Bottom line: The most amazing thing about Dara Torres’ run to 12 Olympic gold medals is that she took two separate breaks — she missed the 1996 Olympics but came back in 2000, then sat out 2004 and came back in 2008.

Torres became the first Olympic swimmer to compete in five Olympic Games and, in 2008, became the oldest swimmer to participate in an Olympics at 41 years old.

Torres won a medal in all five Olympics she participated in, something achieved by only a handful of athletes.

12. Jim Thorpe

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Born: May 22 or May 28, 1887 (Indian Territory, Oklahoma)

Died: March 28, 1953, 65 years old (Lomita, California)

Sport: Track and Field

Olympics: Stockholm 1912

Medals: 2 – Gold (2), Silver (0), Bronze (0)

Bottom line: The first worldwide superstar athlete to come out of the United States was Jim Thorpe, whose name still resonates in sports circles as one of the greatest all-around athletes of all time.

Thorpe became the first Native American to win an Olympic gold medal when he won the decathlon and the pentathlon at the 1912 Olympics. Thorpe was stripped of his medals after it was discovered he was paid to play semi-pro baseball before the games, but they were restored in 1983 — some 30 years after his death.

Thorpe also played in the NFL, MLB and played professional basketball as well.

11. Florence Griffith-Joyner

Eric Risbert / AP Photo

Born: Dec. 21, 1959 (Los Angeles, California)

Died: Sept. 21, 1998, 38 years old (Mission Viejo, California)

Sport: Track and Field

Olympics: Los Angeles 1984, Seoul 1988

Medals: 5 – Gold (3), Silver (2), Bronze (0)

Bottom line: UCLA sprinter Florence Griffith Joyner missed out on Olympic glory in 1980, as the United States boycotted the summer games, but she returned in 1984 to win gold medals in the 100, 200 and 4×100 relay.

FloJo’s success in 1984 built a tremendous amount of buzz heading into the 1988 Summer Olympics, and she became just as well known for her provocative, unconventional clothing choices on the track — most notably the “one-legger” sprint suit and six-inch nails. FloJo died in her sleep in 1998 at just 38 years old.

10. Greg Louganis

AP Photo

Born: Jan. 29, 1960 (El Cajon, California)

Sport: Diving

Olympics: Montreal 1976, Los Angeles 1984, Seoul 1988

Medals: 5 – Gold (4), Silver (1), Bronze (0)

Bottom line: The most famous diver in American history and maybe all of the Olympic games is likely Greg Louganis, who became the first man to sweep the diving events at consecutive Olympic games.

What’s even more amazing about Louganis’ career is that he was only 16 years old when he won a silver medal in the 10-meter platform event at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal and would have likely burnished his medal total with another pair of golds in 1980, if the United States hadn’t decided to boycott the Olympics in Moscow.

9. Wilma Rudolph

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Born: June 23, 1940 (Saint Bethlehem, Tennessee)

Died: Nov. 12, 1994, 54 years old (Brentwood, Tennessee)

Sport: Track and Field

Olympics: Melbourne 1956, Rome 1960

Medals: 4 – Gold (3), Silver (0), Bronze (1)

Bottom line: Wilma Rudolph was just 16 years old when she won a bronze medal in the 400-meter relay at the 1956 Olympics, which would serve as just a precursor for the international stardom she would achieve four years later.

At the 1960 Olympics in Rome, Rudolph brought home three gold medals in the 100-meter dash, the 200-meter dash and in the 400 relay. With the games televised worldwide for the first time, Rudolph’s performance made her a household name.

8. Michael Johnson

Michael Probst / AP Photo

Born: Sept. 13, 1967 (Dallas, Texas)

Sport: Track and Field

Olympics: Barcelona 1992, Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000

Medals: 4 – Gold (4), Silver (0), Bronze (0)

Bottom line: Michael Johnson thrilled the world in 1996 when he became the only male athlete to win gold in both the 400-meter dash and 200-meter dash at the same Olympics.

Johnson made more history four years later when he won his fourth and final gold medal, becoming the only man to defend his Olympic title in the 400. He was so remarkable to watch because his upright running style along with his short, rapid steps flew in the convention of traditional sprinters.

His victory in the 200 at the 1996 Olympics, when he set a world record of 19.32 seconds, is one of the more thrilling moments in Olympic history.

7. Jackie Joyner-Kersee

David Longstreath / AP Photo

Born: March 3, 1962 (East St. Louis, Illinois)

Sport: Track and Field

Olympics: Los Angeles 1984, Seoul 1988, Barcelona 1992, Atlanta 1996

Medals: 6 – Gold (3), Silver (1), Bronze (2)

Bottom line: Jackie Joyner-Kersee participated in four consecutive Olympics and medaled in all of them, with the former UCLA star’s crowning achievement coming at the 1988 Seoul Olympics when she won gold medals in both the heptathlon and the long jump.

In an interesting twist, Joyner-Kersee said she was inspired to try and excel in multiple track and field disciplines after watching a made-for-TV movie about previously mentioned Olympic star Babe Didrikson Zaharias when she was in elementary school.

Joyner-Kersee repeated as the gold medal winner in the heptathlon at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona.

6. The Dream Team

John Gaps III / AP Photo

Team members: Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Karl Malone, John Stockton, Scottie Pippen, Chris Mullin, Patrick Ewing, David Robinson, Clyde Drexler, Charles Barkley, Christian Laettner

Sport: Basketball

Olympics: Barcelona 1992

Medals: 1 – Gold (1), Silver (0), Bronze (0)

Bottom line: Quite simply the team that brought basketball — and the NBA — to the world is the only team to make this list.

It was perfect timing in 1992 when we finally did what every other nation had been doing since the first time basketball was in the Olympics and sent pro players to compete in Barcelona, led by Chicago Bulls guard Michael Jordan.

This is not only the greatest roster of basketball talent ever assembled but possibly the greatest roster ever assembled in the history of team sports.

5. Mark Spitz

AP Photo

Born: Feb. 10, 1950 (Modesto, California)

Sport: Swimming

Olympics: Mexico City 1968, Munich 1972

Medals: 11 – Gold (9), Silver (1), Bronze (1)

Bottom line: Mark Spitz had a performance for the ages at the 1972 Olympics, when he set a record with seven gold medals and set world records in every event — a mark that wouldn’t be broken until swimmer Michael Phelps competed at the 2008 Olympics.

Spitz’s total medal count ended up being 11, thanks to four more medals won at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City when he was just 18 years old, including two gold medals in relay events.

Spitz’s reputation took some hits when Phelps broke his record — let’s just say he wasn’t always as gracious as he could have been.

4. Simone Biles

Julio Cortez / AP Photo

Born: March 14, 1997 (Columbus, Ohio)

Sport: Gymnastics

Olympics: Rio de Janeiro 2016, Tokyo 2021

Medals: 5 – Gold (4), Silver (0), Bronze (1)

Bottom line: American gymnast Simone Biles became an international superstar at the 2016 Olympics when she won four gold medals, including in all-around and floor exercise, along with leading the U.S. to the team gold medal.

Biles’ performance at the Olympics and in the preceding World Championships has been so dominant that she’s already considered one of the greatest gymnasts of all time.

She could cement her status as the greatest Olympic gymnast of all time in 2021 in Tokyo, where she has a chance of sending her medal count into the double digits.

3. Jesse Owens

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Born: Sept. 12, 1913 (Oakville, Alabama)

Died: March 31, 1980, 66 years old (Tucson, Arizona)

Sport: Track and Field

Olympics: Berlin 1936

Medals: 4 – Gold (4), Silver (0), Bronze (0)

Bottom line: No athlete in any sport, ever, has seen their athletic accomplishments take on such a greater meaning as Jesse Owens did when he won four gold medals at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin.

Owens’ victories in the 100-meter dash, 200-meter dash, long jump and 400 relay incensed German dictator Adolf Hitler, who was trying to promote his “superior race” theory at the Olympics and showcase the domination of German athletes.

No Olympic track and field athlete would win four gold medals at a single Games again until American sprinter Carl Lewis in 1984. Speaking of…

2. Carl Lewis

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Born: July 1, 1961 (Birmingham, Alabama)

Sport: Track and Field

Olympics: Los Angeles 1984, Seoul 1988, Barcelona 1992, Atlanta 1996

Medals: 10 – Gold (9), Silver (1), Bronze (0)

Bottom line: What’s amazing about Carl Lewis’ career — and not totally fair to him — is that, despite winning nine Olympic gold medals, the only one people seem to focus on is the 100-meter dash at the 1988 Olympics … where he finished second in the actual race to Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson, who was stripped of his gold medal after he tested positive for steroids.

It’s a fitting coda to Lewis’ career — despite being one of the most decorated Olympians of all time, he never connected with the public on the level he thought he should have. How bad did it get? After he won four gold medals at the 1984 Olympics, he lost endorsement deals with Nike and Coca-Cola.

1. Michael Phelps

Matt Slocum / AP Photo

Born: June 30, 1985 (Baltimore, Maryland)

Sport: Swimming

Olympics: Sydney 2000, Athens 2004, Beijing 2008, London 2012, Rio de Janeiro 2016

Medals: 28 – Gold (23), Silver (3), Bronze (2)

Bottom line: Baltimore native Michael Phelps is the greatest Olympian of all time with records for the most Olympic gold medals and Olympic gold medals in individual events.

Phelps held national records for swimming by the time he was 10 years old and swam in the Olympics for the first time in 2000, at just 15 years old, becoming the youngest male Olympian since 1932.