By: Charlotte Wilder | August 10, 2016 11:31 am. If medal counts were the way we determined what or who constitutes a nation, Michael Phelps would probably be invited to the G8 summit at this point. He’s won 25 Olympic medals, 21 of them gold, which is more than any Olympian in the history of the Olympics. But Phelps has also won more medals than most countries competing in the Olympics.