michael phelps has received the most medals at the olympics.
who has received the most medals at the olympics?
michael phelps
michael fred phelps ii (born june 30, 1985) is an american retired competitive swimmer and the most successful and most decorated olympian of all time, with a total of 28 medals. phelps also holds the all-time records for olympic gold medals (23), olympic gold medals in individual events (13), and olympic medals in individual events (16). when he won eight gold medals at the 2008 beijing games, phelps broke fellow american swimmer mark spitz's 1972 record of seven first-place finishes at any single olympic games. at the 2004 summer olympics in athens, phelps had already tied the record of eight medals of any color at a single games by winning six gold and two bronze medals. at the 2012 summer olympics in london, phelps won four gold and two silver medals, and at the 2016 summer olympics in rio de janeiro, he won five gold medals and one silver. this made him the most successful athlete of the games for the fourth olympics in a row.
michael phelps
in all, 24 of the 72 participating nations at these games won at least one medal, as shown in the table below. a total of 15 countries won at least one gold medal and 18 nations won two or more medals. in total, 205 medals were distributed. germany finished on top of the table with 29 medals, including 12 gold, nine silver, and eight bronze. germany, which finished in third place in the medal standings at the 1994 winter olympics, won most of its medals in alpine skiing, speed skating, and luge, in which it won all three gold medals. german female athletes won 22 of the country's 29 medals. norway finished in second, as in 1994, with 25 medals, including nine won in cross-country skiing and five in biathlon. russia, which finished atop the medals standing in 1994, finished in third in 1998, with 18 medals, including five gold in the women's cross-country skiing. canada moved from seventh in 1994 to fourth in 1998 with 15 medals, and the united states remained in fifth place. netherlands finished in 6th place, 12 places higher than in 1994, thanks to 11 medals, all in speed skating. host japan beat its previous record of medals at a winter games, with 10 medals, including five gold. australia and denmark each won their first ever medals in the winter olympics with a bronze in women's slalom and a silver in women's curling, respectively. in addition, bulgaria and the czech republic each won their first gold medals at a winter olympics in women's biathlon and men's ice hockey respectively. finally, belgium won its first winter olympic medal since the 1948 winter olympics, and kazakhstan won its first winter olympics medal by a female athlete.
1998 winter olympics