what olympic athlete has won the most medals
American swimmer Michael Phelps Marit Bjørgen Michael Phelps
title: Sports in the United States text: for the United States. U.S. athletes have won a total of 2,522 medals (1,022 of them being gold) at the Summer Olympic Games and another 305 at the Winter Olympic Games. Most medals have been won in athletics (track and field) (801, 32%) and swimming (553, 22%). American swimmer Michael Phelps is the most decorated Olympic athlete of all time, with 28 Olympic medals, 23 of them gold. The United States has sent athletes to every celebration of the modern Olympic Games except the 1980 Summer Olympics hosted by the Soviet Union in Moscow, which it boycotted because of the title: Paavo Nurmi text: in running. He also set many more unofficial ones for a total of 58. His indoor world records were all unofficial as the IAAF did not ratify indoor records until the 1980s. Nurmi's record for most Olympic gold medals was matched by gymnast Larisa Latynina in 1964, swimmer Mark Spitz in 1972 and fellow track and field athlete Carl Lewis in 1996, and broken by swimmer Michael Phelps in 2008. Nurmi's record for most medals in the Olympic Games stood until Edoardo Mangiarotti won his 13th medal in fencing in 1960. "Time" selected Nurmi as the greatest Olympian of all title: Nikolai Andrianov text: "tragic", but stated that he had been ill for a long time. Nikolai Andrianov Nikolai Yefimovich Andrianov (; 14 October 1952 – 21 March 2011) was a Soviet/Russian gymnast. He held the record for men for the most Olympic medals at 15 (7 gold medals, 5 silver medals, 3 bronze medals) until Michael Phelps surpassed him at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics. Andrianov is the third athlete (male or female) in cumulative Olympic medals after Phelps's 28 and Larisa Latynina, who earned 18. Andrianov won the most medals at the 1976 Summer Olympics with 6 individual medals and one team title: Nikolai Andrianov text: Nikolai Andrianov Nikolai Yefimovich Andrianov (; 14 October 1952 – 21 March 2011) was a Soviet/Russian gymnast. He held the record for men for the most Olympic medals at 15 (7 gold medals, 5 silver medals, 3 bronze medals) until Michael Phelps surpassed him at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics. Andrianov is the third athlete (male or female) in cumulative Olympic medals after Phelps's 28 and Larisa Latynina, who earned 18. Andrianov won the most medals at the 1976 Summer Olympics with 6 individual medals and one team medal. Within the sport of Men's Artistic Gymnastics, he also holds the title: 2012 Summer Olympics text: tournaments alongside the 2012 Games, but neither campaign was successful. The final official schedule was released on 15 February 2011. The Olympic Games featured 32 world records in eight sports. The largest number of records were set in swimming, with eight. China, Great Britain and the United States set the most records, with five each. A total of 85 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) won medals, 54 of those countries winning at least one gold medal. Bahrain, Botswana, Cyprus, Gabon, Grenada (a gold medal), Guatemala, and Montenegro won their first ever Olympic medals. The United States finished at the top of