The the 2012 Summer Olympics
are now just a few short days away, and you know what that means: for
the next 20 days or so, we’re all going to become experts on sports we
previously knew nothing about, going on and on about how this diver
arched her back too much as she entered the water, or how that gymnast
really is a balance beam specialist. And I don’t know about you, but I
wouldn’t change this for the world. Becoming a temporary expert on
obscure sports like badminton is one of the best things about the
Olympics—right up there with the pageantry of the opening ceremonies and
inspirational McDonalds commercials.
Anyway, I thought today it would be nice to get into the spirit of the Olympics by forming strong opinions about things we didn’t care about 6 weeks ago. So to that end, I present you with this list of the 13 greatest female (summer) Olympians of all time. As with all lists of “the greatest” anything—teams, movies, albums—this one is debatable. But not that debatable. Trust me, I did the research.
You won’t find any bias toward countries, here, but you will find a very just bias toward sports. That’s because it is easier to win multiple medals in some sports (like swimming and gymnastics) than others (like fencing or track and field). Moreover, there are individual events and then there are group or team events—relays in swimming and track, the all-around team competition in gymnastics. So we can’t just go by medal count alone. Ten medals in gymnastics might be like 8 in swimming or 5 in track and field—or something like that.
But you get the idea. So let’s get to it, then.
Anyway, I thought today it would be nice to get into the spirit of the Olympics by forming strong opinions about things we didn’t care about 6 weeks ago. So to that end, I present you with this list of the 13 greatest female (summer) Olympians of all time. As with all lists of “the greatest” anything—teams, movies, albums—this one is debatable. But not that debatable. Trust me, I did the research.
You won’t find any bias toward countries, here, but you will find a very just bias toward sports. That’s because it is easier to win multiple medals in some sports (like swimming and gymnastics) than others (like fencing or track and field). Moreover, there are individual events and then there are group or team events—relays in swimming and track, the all-around team competition in gymnastics. So we can’t just go by medal count alone. Ten medals in gymnastics might be like 8 in swimming or 5 in track and field—or something like that.
But you get the idea. So let’s get to it, then.
13. Amy Van Dyken (USA)
Normally the fact that swimmer Amy van Dyken won most of her medals
in relay events would have put an asterisk next to her name in my book.
In fact, American Jenny Thompson failed to make this list for this very
reason. However, with Van Dyken there are extenuating circumstances—like
the fact that all 6 of her Olympic medals are gold, and that 4 of them
came at the 1996 Summer Games in Atlanta (50m Freestyle, 100m Butterfly,
4x100m Freestyle, and 4x100m Medley Relay). Then she added two more
golds in 2000 in Athens (4x100m Freestyle and 4x100m Medley Relay). So
that’s a pretty good Olympic resume.
12. Dawn Fraser (Australia)
Swimmer Dawn Fraser’s 8 total medals (4 gold, 4 silver) may not seem
like that much compared to Amy Van Dyken. But Fraser won them over the
course of 3 games (1956, 1960, 1964) and, more importantly, she won gold
in one event—the 100m Freestyle—three times in a row. Thus, she is
considered the greatest female sprint swimmer ever. Only one other woman
has ever won gold in the same event three times, and yes, she’s also on
this list. Interestingly, Fraser might have won a 4th consecutive gold
in the 100m Freestyle had the Australian Olympic Committee not banned
her for 10 years after she pulled a bunch of pranks at the 1964 Games in
Tokyo. (She would have been just 31 in 1968).
11. Wilma Rudolph (USA)
Sprinter Wilma Rudolph only won 4 medals in 2 Olympics—1 bronze in
1956 (at the age of 16) and 3 gold in 1960. But the medal tally really
doesn’t tell the story. In 1960, Rudolph gave what might be considered
the first truly dominant performance in women’s track, becoming the
first American to win the “spring double”—gold in the 100 and the 200
meter sprint. Then she anchored the USA 4x100m relay to gold as well.
Her dominant performance in 1960 made her the biggest star of the Games.
Oh, and she was black, which sorta made her a civil rights hero.
10. Vera Cáslavská (Czechoslovakia)
Gymnast Vera Cáslavská’s 11 total medals (7 gold, 4 silver) over the
course of 3 Olympics (1960, 1964, 1968) ties her for the 6th most
all-time among women. However, as already mentioned, it’s easier for the
best gymnasts to win a bunch of medals because the skills required to
excel on the different apparatuses are fairly similar. It’s not like
track, where you specialize in short, medium, or long distances; or
swimming, where strokes like freestyle, breaststroke, and butterfly are
radically different. Still, Cáslavská stands out even against other
gymnasts. Only 12 women have even won 3 golds, only 6 have won 5, and
only 2 have won 7. So Cáslavská is still an all-time great.
9. Valentina Vezzali (Italy)
Unlike gymnastics, fencing only provides you with a couple of
opportunities to get a medal in a single Games. There are three types of
fencing: foil, épée, and sabre, and within the first two there’s an
individual competition and a team competition, for a total of just 5
events for men and 5 events for women. So unless athletes participate in
more than one type of fencing (and they don’t), the most you can win is
2 medals. And that makes Italy’s Valentina Vezzali’s 7 medals in foil
fencing (5 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze) over the course of 4 Olympics
(1996, 2000, 2004, 2008) very, very impressive.
8. Elisabeta Lipa-Oleniuc (Romania)
Rowers generally have longer careers than most Olympians. So the fact
that Romania’s Elisabeta Lipa-Oleniuc competed in 6 separate Olympic
Games is impressive, but not crazy. What is crazy is how long
she dominated her sport. She won 8 medals altogether, with gold in 1984
(at age 19), 1992, 1996, 2000, and 2004 (at age 39).
7. Irena Szewińska-Kirszenstein (Poland)
It’s not easy to rack up the medals in track and field. The events
are so different and the athletes, out of necessity, are too
specialized. Even the athletes who win events that combine different
skills (like the decathlon or heptathlon) are not good enough in any one
skill to win a medal in just that. For this reason, the most total
medals any female track and field athlete has won is just 9—and that
woman won most of her medals in relays, and none of them were gold. The
next highest total for a woman in track in field is 7. And those seven
medals belong to Irena Szewińska-Kirszenstein. She won medals in 4
separate games (1964, 1968, 1972, 1976), including 3 golds in the 1964
4x100m relay, the 1968 200m, and the 1976 400m. That’s a lot of gold
over a long period time in some very different events. And unless you’re
over 40, or Polish, you’ve probably never even heard of her.
6. Jackie Joyner-Kersee (USA)
Jackie Joyner-Kersee isn’t just considered one of the greatest female
Olympians of the 20th century. She’s considered one of the greatest
female athletes period. Her 6 total medals won in 4 separate
Olympics places her third all-time among female track and field
Olympians. Other women (like Fanny Blankers-Koen—consider this an
honorable mention) won more golds in a single Games (Blankers-Koen won
4), but it’s Kersee’s all-around versatility and longevity that made her
so remarkable. I mean, the woman won back-to-back golds in the
heptathlon in ’88 and ’92 and still had enough gas in the tank to win
bronze in the long jump in ’96.
5. Dara Torres (USA)
Longevity is common in sports like rowing, but not in sports like
swimming. And that, really, is was makes Dara Torres so incredible. She
competed in a whopping 5 Olympic Games (1984, 1988, 1992, 2000, 2008),
but she didn’t even make two in that span (1996, 2004). Her first
appearance came at the age of 17; her last at the age of 41.
But Torres didn’t just compete. She won. A lot. Torres collect 12 total medals, with 4 golds in ’88, ’92, and ’00; 4 silvers in ’88 and ’08; and 4 bronzes in ’88 and ’00.
Gold medals 12 year apart? Silver medals 20 years apart? That’s nuts.
But Torres didn’t just compete. She won. A lot. Torres collect 12 total medals, with 4 golds in ’88, ’92, and ’00; 4 silvers in ’88 and ’08; and 4 bronzes in ’88 and ’00.
Gold medals 12 year apart? Silver medals 20 years apart? That’s nuts.
4. Krisztina Egerszegi (Hungary)
As impressive as Torres’s long career was, Krisztina Egerszegi’s tops
that. She “only” won 7 medals over the course of “only” 3 Olympics, but
5 of those were golds, and they were clustered together to make up one
very dominant stretch. In 1988, Egerszegi won silver in the 100m
backstroke and gold in the 200m backstroke. Then, in 1992, she won gold
in the 100m backstroke, 200m backstroke, and 400m individual medley.
Then, in 1996, Egerszegi made it three golds in a row in the 200m backstroke, while adding a bronze in the 400m individual medley.
Egerszegi is the only person other than Dawn Fraser (#12) to win a swimming event three times in a row. That’s some serious dominance.
Egerszegi is the only person other than Dawn Fraser (#12) to win a swimming event three times in a row. That’s some serious dominance.
3. Larisa Latynina (Soviet Union)
No woman has won more Olympic medals than gymnast Larisa Latynina. In fact, no man has won more Olympic medals than gymnast Larisa Latynina—though Michael Phelps could own this record after the 2012 Games.
Anyway, among Latynina’s 18 medals are 9 golds—also a record for women. (Phelps already has her beat there). She got 3 golds in Team All-Around (1956, 1960, 1964), 3 golds in Floor Exercise (1956, 1960, 1964), 2 golds in Individual All-Around (1956, 1960), and 1 gold in Horse Vault. So in other words, she was by far the most dominant gymnast in the world on the most dominant team in the world for about a decade. The only reason she’s not #1 on this list is that, once again, gymnastics provides more opportunities for medals each time around, and that skews her numbers just a little bit.
Anyway, among Latynina’s 18 medals are 9 golds—also a record for women. (Phelps already has her beat there). She got 3 golds in Team All-Around (1956, 1960, 1964), 3 golds in Floor Exercise (1956, 1960, 1964), 2 golds in Individual All-Around (1956, 1960), and 1 gold in Horse Vault. So in other words, she was by far the most dominant gymnast in the world on the most dominant team in the world for about a decade. The only reason she’s not #1 on this list is that, once again, gymnastics provides more opportunities for medals each time around, and that skews her numbers just a little bit.
2. Birgit Fischer-Schmidt (Germany)
Canoer Birgit Fischer-Schmidt is 3rd on the list of most medals by a
woman with 12. A whopping 8 of those are gold, and the first and last
came and insane 24 years apart. The only time she competed in an Olympic
race and didn’t win a medal was 1996 in Atlanta. Other than
that, she was indomitable. She’d rank #1 if she didn’t win her last
singles medal at the age of 30 back in 1992. But still, winning 6 medals
in doubles and fours canoeing after the age of 30 is pretty amazing.
1. Nadia Comăneci (Romania)
Nadia Comăneci “only” competed in 2 Olympics, “only” won 9 medals,
and “only” 5 of those were gold. So why is she higher than Larisa
Latynina?
The answer is simple: in 1976 she gave arguably the single most dominant individual performances in the history of the Olympics. (Perhaps only Phelps could compete with her for that title.) That year she became the first woman to ever receive a perfect score of 10.0 for a gymnastics routine. Then she did it 6 more times in the same competition. Six!
What more can I say?
The answer is simple: in 1976 she gave arguably the single most dominant individual performances in the history of the Olympics. (Perhaps only Phelps could compete with her for that title.) That year she became the first woman to ever receive a perfect score of 10.0 for a gymnastics routine. Then she did it 6 more times in the same competition. Six!
What more can I say?
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