Which athlete has won the most Olympic medals of all time?

Which athlete has won the most Olympic medals of all time? Michael Phelps. The American swimmer won 28 Olympic medals across five Games from 2004 through 2016, including 23 gold, three silver and two bronze.

Phelps first competed at the 2000 Sydney Olympics at age 15, but his medal haul began at Athens 2004, where he won six golds and two bronzes. His defining performance came at Beijing 2008, when he won eight gold medals and surpassed Mark Spitz’s record of seven golds at one Games.

At London 2012, Phelps passed Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina’s previous record of 18 Olympic medals. He finished his career in Rio with 28 total medals, making him the clear all-time leader. The record includes relay medals as well as individual events, which sometimes causes confusion when comparisons focus only on individual Olympic results.

Phelps also holds the Olympic records for most gold medals overall and most golds in individual events. His swimming specialties included butterfly, individual medley, freestyle and backstroke.