Who has the most Olympic medals of all time? These countries and athletes are the most decorated in history.

At the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics there will be around 2,900 athletes competing in 116 events, and each of them hopes to take home a medal.

The coveted gold, silver and bronze medals will go home with only a small portion of the competitors. The distribution of awards at past Olympic Games provides insight into which countries and athletes are most likely to dominate this year.

during the Winter Games 2022 In Beijing, Norway took home the most medals: 37, including 16 gold. After the Norwegians came the Republic of China, the flag under which Russian athletes compete, followed by Germany, Canada and the United States.

The United States won the Latest Summer Games in Paris in 2024, taking home 126 medals, including 40 gold. China, Great Britain and France followed.

But which countries have taken home the most medals overall, and which athletes have won the most often in Olympic history?

Which countries have the most Olympic medals?

While the International Olympic Committee does not create rankings, the Olympic Foundation for Culture and Heritage does maintain a medal count. puts the United States on topwith 3,103 total medals.

The Olympic Foundation for Culture and Heritage, which the Olympic Games describe as “the leading international exponent in the promotion and dissemination of Olympism in the fields of culture, heritage and values-based education”, counts one medal per event, regardless of how many athletes can compete on a winning team. The organization does not count medals obtained in artistic competitions or medals obtained during demonstration events.

The United States is followed in the overall medal table by the Soviet Union, which dissolved in 1991, and its former republics now compete as independent countries. The Soviet Union obtained 1,204 medals. Germany is in third place with 1,091 medals.

Germany’s exact medal count is a point of controversy because Germany has not always competed in each Olympics as a unified country, which can lead to confusing medal counts. At one point, the West German team represented West Germany, while the German Democratic Republic team represented East Germany.

While the United States leads the overall medal count, it is not in first place when it comes to medals at the Winter Olympics. Norway dominates there, with 404 medals won during the Winter Games.

The United States, with 330, and Germany, with 286, are next in the Winter Olympics ranking.

Which countries have the most Olympic gold medals?

The United States has the most gold medals overall: a total of 1,220, according to the Olympic Foundation. In second place, the Soviet Union accumulated 473 gold medals. Germany is in third place, with 355 gold medals.

Great Britain, France, Italy, China, Sweden and Norway have won more than 200 gold medals each, according to the Olympic Foundation.

The Winter Olympics-specific rankings put Norway at the top, with 148 gold medals, followed by the United States and Germany, with 114 and 113 gold medals, respectively.

Which athletes have the most Olympic medals overall?

American swimmer Michael Phelps He is comfortably the Olympic athlete with the most medals. Phelps, who first appeared at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, has 23 gold medals, three silver and two bronze, won in five matches.

Former Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina She is the most successful Olympic athlete, with 18 Olympic medals: nine gold, five silver and four bronze.

Norwegian skier Marit Bjørgen became the most decorated Winter Olympian in 2018, when she won her eighth gold medal, bringing her medal total to 15.

Ole Einar Bjørndalen, also a Norwegian skier, has the most medals for a male Winter Olympian, with 14.

Speed ​​skater Apolo Anton Ohno, who has won eight medals in three Winter Olympics, ranks first among United States Winter Olympians.

Which athletes have the most Olympic gold medals?

Phelps is not only the athlete with the most decorated Olympian; He is also the athlete with the most Olympic golds, winning 23 gold medals in five games. And Latynina, in addition to being the Olympic athlete with the most victories overall, also holds the record for the most golds for a female athlete in the Olympic Games. He competed in three games, starting in 1956 in Melbourne.

Skiers Bjørgen and Bjørndalen, with eight gold medals each, are tied with Bjørn Dæhlie, another Norwegian skier, for the record of Winter Olympic athletes with the most gold medals.