50 Famous Olympic Gold Medalists And How They Look Now

The Olympic games are one of the most popular global event. The first ever modern Olympic games event took place in 1896 in the beautiful city of Athens. However, the history of such a prolific gaming event dates thousands of years back where the games were held in Olympia Greek hence the name. In 1896 there were just below 300 participants in the games. However, as time passed more games were added to the Olympics and more countries showed interest in sending their people to the Olympic Games. These athletes don’t just show their skills when they are on the field but they also represent their respective countries and winning a medal for your country at the Olympic games is one of the highest honors an athlete can get for their country.

Over the years many people have won gold medals for their countries. Some of them have lived on to become more famous while others have gone into relative obscurity. Today we are going to take a look at 50 of the famous Olympic gold medalist and how they look now.

McKayla Rose Maroney

Mckayla Rose Maroney is an American artistic gymnast that won a gold medal in the 2012 Olympics by being a part of the Fierce Five Team. She won a Gold in the team event and a Silver in an individual vault event, while also becoming a World Champion by defending her title in 2013. You may remember Mckayla due to her famous expressions at the 2012 Olympics, where she seemed as if she was unimpressed or bored. It became an internet sensation and memes were shared worldwide. Maroney decided to retire from competitive gymnastics in 2016 while participating in small national events. She was one of the survivors of Larry Nassar’s abuse and testified against him in court.

Kerri Walsh Jennings

Kerri Walsh Jennings is a famous volleyball player who has won 3 gold medals and one bronze in the Olympics. She and her partner Misty-May Treanor became known as the greatest volleyball team of all time. They have set records together, claiming 112 match winning streak and breaking their own 89-match streak. Kerri became the talk of the town when she revealed that she was pregnant during the 2012 London Olympics winning a gold medal making it a special year for her. She gave birth to her beautiful daughter in 2013 and subsequently returned to play volleyball with a new partner in 2016, winning a bronze medal at the 2016 Olympics.

Lindsey Vonn

Lindsey Caroline Vonn is a former Alpine ski racer and was the first American woman to win a gold medal downhill at the 2010 winter Olympics. Also, she is one of the six females to have won world cup championships in all disciplines of alpine skiing-downhill, super G, giant slalom, slalom, and super combined. Vonn started skiing at three and was only seven years old when she participated in her first international competition. Since then, she won several minor leagues until 2010, when she finally became a gold medalist. In 2019, Lindsey Vonn announced her retirement from professional skiing at her eighth world championship in Sweden.

Shawn Johnson

Shawn Johnson started with gymnastics when she was only three-years-old. Her biggest achievement came in 2008, when she won four medals in the Olympics. However, the 2008 Olympic Gold medal that Johnson won was in balance beam. Her skills are also not confined to the Olympics. That is because she was also the runner up in 2012 Dancing with the Stars, and she won the same competition in 2009. Johnson is also one of the most well-liked female athletes. However, in 2012, Johnson announced that she was retiring from gymnastics. She has now become a YouTube Star, with a channel known as The East Family.

Tara Lipinski

Tara Lipinski is a former American figure skater who gained fame globally as the youngest candidate ever to qualify for the world championship. At the 1988 Olympics, her outstanding music performance from the famous animated movie Anastasia with a triple loop left all the judges in awe. Lipinski’s lively performance helped her win a gold medal, thus making her the youngest winner in the history of winter games at the age of fifteen. Due to several hip injuries, Tara Lipinski had to quit competitive skating, but according to the sources, she made her competitive figure skating commentator debut in 2014 with Terry Gannon.

Ashley Wagner

Figure skating is a world that has tough competition requiring perfection in every execution and landing. Ashley Wagner is an American athlete competing as a figure skater who has made a name for herself due to her wins and titles. She has won 3 National U.S figure skating competitions along with Grand Prix three times along with a bronze medal in the 2012 Olympics and a Silver in the 2016 Olympics. Her most famous incident came after she was placed eighth in the women’s competition, and ended up attacking the judges. Her anger was provoked when she saw that those above her did not finish their routine, making her angrier. After winning several more competitions, Wagner decided to retire in 2019.

Aly Raisman

Aly Raisman has now retired as an American gymnast, but her career was excellent while it lasted. She was the captain of the US women’s Olympic gymnastics teams in 2012 and 2016. During her captaincy, their team won different competitions.

During 2012, Aly also won gold medals in floor and team competitions at the Olympics. She has also has a bronze medal from this year on the balance beam. However, her career has been diverse.

Recently, Aly has appeared in various music videos by Cardi B and Maroon 5. She and many other women also received the Arthur Ashe Courage Award.

Michael Jordan

If you are unfamiliar with the name Michael Jordan, you’re not a basketball fan. Michael Jordan, also known by the nicknames “Air Jordan,” and “MJ,” is not only a professional basketball player but also a renowned entrepreneur. He is one of the seven players around the globe to have won all three titles- NCAA championship, NBA championship, and an Olympic gold medal. Despite being the greatest basketball player, Jordan retired briefly and tried his hand at baseball. However, two years later, he made a comeback in basketball, played for Chicago Bulls, and helped the team win their NBA title in 1998. In 2017, he had the privilege to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom from then President Barrack Obama.

Alicia Sacramone

Alicia Sacramone has also retired from her gymnastics career, as she began her journey when she was only eight years. Since then, she has won at least twelve medals at the US National Championships. Just like Johnson, Sacramone also retired from gymnastics in 2012.

In 2015, Sacramone was added to the USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame. Ever since her retirement, she is doing different things, as she even began a men’s fashion company. Her nude appearance in 2011 ESPN was also the talk of the country, as she discussed the evolution of her body as a gymnast and athlete.

Natalie Coughlin

Natalie Coughlin has won Olympic medals twelve times and she is also a former competitive swimmer. During her time at Berkeley, Coughlin became the first woman to swim the long course of the hundred meter backstroke in less than a minute. During this feat, she was only 19 years old, as her twentieth birthday was ten days later.

In the Summer Olympics of 2008, she also became the first female athlete in the US to win six medals in just one Olympiad. She also won two gold medals for her hundred meter backstroke. She is one of the best swimmers in the world, without a doubt.

Michael Phelps

There is no doubt that Michael Phelps is one of the greatest Olympian that has ever existed. Phelps has won twenty-eight medals and he also holds the highest record for the Olympic gold medals, as his tally comes to 23. He also won eight gold medals during the Beijing games in 2008.

Phelps also holds many world records in swimming that no one has broken yet. He is known as one of the greatest swimmers of all times, and also a fantastic athlete. If you want to be a champion swimmer, then Michael Phelps must be your inspiration to do better each time.

Gracie Gold

Gracie Gold is another American figure skater that made a mark for herself by securing a bronze medal in 2014 and winning 2 National Competitions. She, however had to bow out of some competitions due to personal issues and coaching problems. Nevertheless, she is the first American woman to hold the NHK Trophy title and also holds the record for the highest score in an Olympic short program. Gold has been open about her mental health struggles, where she has talked about depression, anxiety, eating disorder and suicidal thoughts that she faced. She is now planning to make a comeback in the 2022 Olympics.

Shannon Lee Miller

Shannon Lee Miller used to be an American gymnast as she was the world all-around champion in 1993 and 1994. During the 1996 Olympics, she also became the balance beam champion in no time. Miller has won a total of seven medals in the history of the Olympics and her career.

Her post gymnast career consists of making appearances at gyms, starring in workout DVDs, and conducting beam clinics for enthusiasts. Currently, she is the President of Shannon Miller Foundation and Shannon Miller Lifestyle. The former is a foundation to fight childhood obesity and helping children around the world stay fit.

Nastia Liukin

Gymnastics runs in the family, as this was the case for Nastia Liukin, as both of her parents were gymnasts. She also began training at the age of three. By 2005, she became the world champion for balance beam, and again in 2007.

In 2008, she was an all-around champion in the Olympics. Liukin has nine medals of World Championships, with seven of them being individual. Because of this, she has a tie with Shannon Miller for the most World Championship medals among all the US gymnasts.

Even Liukin retired from gymnastics in 2012. Since then, she focused on studying and graduated from New York University.

Gabrielle Douglas

Gabrielle was the all-around world champion in the 2012 Olympics and an all-around silver medalist in the 2015 World Championships. During the 2011 and 2015 World Championships, she also won a gold medal with her team. She has been breaking barriers for African-American women in the Olympics, as she was the first African-African women to become an all-around champion.

There is also a Lifetime biopic film on her, with the name of The Gabby Douglas Story. Besides that, she also has her own reality TV show. The reason Douglas has remained so successful is because of her skills and passion towards sports.

Mark Spitz

Mark Spitz is one of the best athletes, as he has won nine gold medals, one silver medal, and one bronze medal in the Olympics in just four years. Besides that, he has won many other titles and medals that have helped him gain more fame in this field. However, he had retired from the Olympics and became a stockbroker two decades ago.

Ever since then, you will find Spitz offering motivational speeches to people all over the world. After all, if he can win nine gold medals at the Olympics, then you can do anything. So, always dream big and listen to his speeches for inspiration.

Simone Biles

Simone Biles became a known athlete when she won 5 gold medals in the 2016 Olympics, making her a household name. She became known for her agility, style and perfection with which she executed her jumps and landings. Simone is considered the greatest American gymnast with an overall 25 Championship wins. She was also applauded for her stand on mental health and for taking time off from sports to focus on herself. Simone became a part of the headlines for being one of Larry Nassar’s survivors, where she penned down how Nassar sexually assaulted her. She and her teammates were awarded with Arthur Ashe Courage Award for standing up against Nassar.

Kerri Strug

Kerri Strug is one of the renowned American gymnasts from Tucson, Arizona. Although she has won several titles under her name, she is mostly remembered for that one vault she did at the 1996 Olympics. It was a historical moment; in the first attempt, Strug landed poorly on the ground and injured her ankle. However, after consulting with her coaches and keeping her spirits high, she made a second attempt and got a gold medal for the United States. Strug also won a bronze medal for the United States at the 1992 Olympics. Besides gymnastics, Kerri Strug has worked for the United States Treasury and Justice Department.

Hope Solo

Hope Solo has been the goalkeeper for America’s women’s soccer team from 2000 to 2016. She is considered one of the greatest female goalkeepers of all time and still holds the top place for maintaining the most shutouts in soccer. In 2008, Solo helped the USA win a gold medal through her remarkable goalkeeping skills at the summer Olympics held in Beijing. Moreover, she has been the receiver of the golden glove award as the best goalkeeper in the FIFA Women’s world cup. Hope Solo has participated in various television shows like Dancing with the Stars and has even featured on the cover of several magazines.

Michael Johnson

Michael Johnson is an American sprinter who earned 4 Olympic medals and 8 Championship medals between 1992 and 2000. He formerly held the world record in the 200m and 400m along with the 400m indoor. He is also known as the only male track athlete to win the 200m and the 400m in the same Olympics. Johnson is considered the greatest sprinter and the most consistent track-field athlete. His specific running posture, where his back was stiff and upright, along with shirt steps, made him gain maximum speed. Michael retired and built a training center for young athletes, along with doing commentary for the BBC.

Kristi Yamaguchi

Yamaguchi became a household name when she won the World Championship twice in 1992 and 1993. While winning World Championships, she competed in the Winter Olympics in 1992 and became the first Asian American woman to win a Gold in Figure Skating. Her record-breaking streak and history-making got her inducted into the U.S Olympic Hall of Fame. Kristi has dabbled in different forms of art including acting, dancing and being an author. She won Dancing with the Stars and further went on to appear in multiple advertisements and shows. In addition, she works as an analyst for NBC’s Olympics skating broadcast.

Bruce/Caitlyn Jenner

If there is one athlete that looks different more than ever now, then it is Bruce/Caitlyn Jenner. She won the Olympic decathlon title in 1976, which made her one of the greatest athletes in the world. This was the third time she won broke a world record and this turned her into a hero.

Jenner went through a gender transition surgery in 2015, which is why she is now known as Caitlyn Jenner. She is also associated with the Kardashian family, which made her even more famous. Jenner also has her own reality TV show that you can watch to learn more about her life.

Dara Torres

If there is a fastest swimmer in the history of America, it is none other than Dara Torres. She has won twelve Olympic medals, which include four gold medals, four silver, and four bronze. No other American athlete has taken over the Olympic stage for more than 26 years, like Torres.

She is now an entrepreneur and has invested in various companies. Besides that, she is also involved with different charities to help people around the world. One of the major charities she assists are the ones that help children who need assistance to save them from drowning.

Shaun White

Shaun White is the greatest skateboarders and snowboarders of all times. During the 2006 Winter Olympics, he won the gold during the half-pipe. However, in the 2010 Olympics, his score was high enough to win him a gold medal without running a second time.

Of course, White decided to run anyway and his score was short of an ideal score by 1.5 points. Besides that, Shaun has also won ten ESPY Awards during this entire career in many different categories. In 2022 Winter Olympics, White finished fourth.

He also announced that he would not compete in the Olympics after this. We wish him the best of luck for his future.

Nadia Comăneci

In the history of Olympics gymnastics, Nadia became the first ever gymnast to achieve a perfect score of ten. The best part about this score is that she achieved it when she only fourteen years old. During the Montreal Olympics in1976, she was also given three gold medals and got a perfect score six more times.

During the span of her entire career, she has won four World Championship medals and nine gold medals at the Olympics. If there is anyone that needs a gymnast role model, then it doesn’t get better than Nadia. Her entire career has been exceptional.

George Foreman

George Foreman is a former entrepreneur, author, boxer, and minister, making his career incredibly diverse. Yes, there is a personal grill named after Foreman, but that is not where his fame comes from. He is a world heavyweight champion of two times and he has won a gold medal at the Olympics.

Out of the 81 fights during his boxing career, Foreman has won 76. Of course, he has retired from boxing now and he is an entrepreneur, author, and an ordained minister. He also goes by the nickname of Big George and he competed for at least three decades.

Carl Lewis

Carl Lewis was an American field athlete and track athlete who has won a lot of medals during his career. His accomplishments include nine Olympic gold medals, one silver medal, and ten medals in the World Championships, out of which eight are gold. His career went on for almost two decades, after which he decided to retire.

After retiring from his sports career, Lewis decided that he would pursue acting and he appeared in various movies because of this. Currently, he is running a branding and marketing company. The company is responsible for marketing the products of others, including his own.

Michelle Kwan

If you follow the world of figure skating, then you know who Michelle Kwan is, as she has won two Olympic medals. Kwan won a silver medal in 1998 and a bronze one in 2002. Besides that, she also a five-time World Champion in figure skating, and a nine-time champion in the US.

Besides that, she has won close to fifteen prestigious awards during her career. Many people regard her as one of the greatest figure skaters you will ever find. If you are also trying to get into this sport, then you must watch the way Michelle Kwan figure skates.

Dominique Moceanu

Dominique Moceanu is an American gymnast who became a national sensation because she was a part of the team that won America its first Gold in the 1996 Olympics. Moceanu was only 14 then and was part of the women’s gymnastics team that was later dubbed “the Magnificent Seven”. She was also the last gymnast to participate in the Olympics at the age of 14; the legal age was changed after that. Dominque participated in several national competitions along with World Championships. She has continued participating in different national tournaments and runs a family-owned training gym where she trains other hopeful athletes.

Dorothy Hamill

Dorothy Hamill is the 1976 World Champion and the 1976 Olympic Champion in the ladies singles of figure skating. She began her figure skating career at the age of eight, as she used to take group lessons each week. Hamill is known for creating a new skating move, known as the Hamill camel, which includes the camel spin that turns into a sit spin.

She is also known as America’s sweetheart, and you can find on her on various cooking shows. Hamill has now retired from her career of figure skating, as she was dealing with chronic pain and other health issues. However, she still makes appearances on TV.

Apolo Ohno

Apolo Ohno has won eight medals in the short track speed skating competitions in the Winter Olympics. These include two gold and silver and four bronze medals. In 2019, Ohno was also added to the Olympic Hall of Fame.

His training began in 1996, and when he was fourteen years of age, he became the youngest national champion in the US. In 2001, 2003, and 2005, Ohno also won the overall World Cup title, which made him even more famous. There is no doubt that he is one of the finest athletes and gold medalists in the Olympics for short track speed skating.

Mike Eruzione

Mike Eruzione is also known as Miracle on Ice and he used to be an ice hockey player. Eruzione is known for being the captain of the national team of the 1980 Winter Olympics in the United States that defeated the Soviet Union. He scored the winning goal in the game, which led him to receive even more fame.

He is also the author of The Making of a Miracle, which was published by HarperCollins. Eruzione worked on this book along with Neal E. Boudette, and it became a national bestseller in no time. While he doesn’t play anymore, his legacy will always remain.

Amy Van Dyken

Amy Van Dyken is a former competitive swimmer who has won 6 Olympic Gold medals, out of which she won 4 in the 1996 Olympics. She was a competitive swimmer and began her career out of a doctor’s recommendation. Her childhood asthma led her doctor to prescribed her to swim to strengthen her lungs. She immediately realized she loved swimming and thus made a career out of it. However, her life took a drastic turn on 6^th June, 2014 when she got into an ATV accident that damaged her spinal cord and paralyzed her from her waist down. A fighter from childhood, she didn’t back down and showed how perseverance and a positive attitude could heal you in more ways than one.

Nancy Kerrigan

Nancy Ann Kerrigan is an American figure skater who won two Olympic medals; one bronze in 1992 and one silver in 1994. Besides this, she has reaped several world championships and US Nationals titles that give her a top spot in figure skating. However, winning championships was not the sole reason behind her fame; Kerrigan’s fame spread like fire when she survived an attack co-orchestrated by Tonya Harding and her ex-husband. While things didn’t turn out well for Harding, Nancy Kerrigan ventured into other new things in her career. Not only did she write two books, but she also made appearances on various television series.

Mary Lou Retton

Mary Lou Retton is an American gymnast who has now retired from the sport. In the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic, she became the first woman in the history of the event to win an all-around gold medal. Retton is known for her famous flips, which is why you will have heard the term Retton Flip, an official gymnastic maneuver.

Retton was given a place in the National Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 1997 and rightly so. She has made incredible strides during her career and broke barriers for women trying to enter the field. Retton is nothing short of a pioneer for women’s gymnastics.

Lisa Leslie

Lisa Deshaun Leslie is a former professional basketball player who made her Olympic debut in 1996. From 1996 to 2008, Leslie became the second basketball player to have earned four Olympic gold medals. Lisa has played for the Los Angeles Sparks throughout her career and made it to eight Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) star selections. Furthermore, she won two WNBA championships before taking retirement in 2009. Currently, Lisa Leslie is head trainer for the Triplets in the BIG3 professional basketball league. She also works as a studio analyst for the Orlando Magic transmission on Fox Sports Florida. In addition, Leslie has also made guest appearances in several movies and TV shows.

Ole Einar Bjørndalen

Ole is also known as The King of Biathlon, and he is one of the best Olympians that participate during the Winter Games. He has won forty-four medals at the World Biathlon Championships. His career has been incredibly successful, and he also has 95 World Cup wins.

In 2014, Ole was elected to serve an eight-year term at the athlete commission of the International Olympic Committee. However, he resigned from his role after two years, as he decided he would continue his career. In 2018, he announced that he would retire from biathlon, and he ended his Olympic career on that note.

Greg Louganis

Greg Louganis an LGBT activist, American Olympic diver, and an author. During the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, he was a gold medalist. The diver was also a favorite for the 1980 Olympics, but during this time he could not perform because of the boycott by the USA.

Louganis has received many awards and medals for his performance during the competitions. In 2012 and 2016, he also served as the coach for the diving teams in the USA. Of course, the team couldn’t have gotten any one else better to lead them than the best diver himself, Greg Louganis.

Ryan Lochte

Ryan Steven Lochte is a professional swimmer who has won six gold, three silver, and three bronze medals for the United States of America. After Michael Phelps, he is the second-most competitive swimmer in the history of the Olympics to have won the greatest number of medals. Apart from the Olympics, he has won numerous medals in world championships, Pan American Games, and Pan Pacific Championships. Lochte has also experienced a fair amount of success in his personal life. In 2017, he welcomed a baby boy named Caiden Lochte with the model Kayla Reid. The couple married in a formal wedding ceremony in 2018 and welcomed their second child in 2019.

Larisa Latynina

Larisa was one of the top gymnasts at the Olympics, as she won four team medals and fourteen individual Olympic medals in just eight years. She also holds the record for having the most Olympic gold medals among gymnasts, as her total comes to nine gold medals. Larisa also held a record for having the most Olympic medals for five decades at least.

Because of Larisa, the Soviet Union became dominant in gymnastics, which is why she is highly respected by her country. She retired in 1966, but she is still an inspiration for many gymnasts all around the world.

Andre Agassi

Andre Kirk Agassi is a renowned former tennis player who is an eight-time Gland Slam tournament champion and an Olympics gold medal winner. Andre was encouraged to play tennis by his father, Emmanuel Agassi, who himself was an Olympic boxer. So it was not shocking when he went all pro to play tennis at the age of sixteen. In a very short span, Agassi became one of the most feared players on the court. Unfortunately, in 2006 he had to bid farewell to his prospering career in tennis due to suffering from a series of injuries. After retirement, he founded a charitable organization and participated in the French Open as Novak Djokovic’s coach in 2017.

Samuel Bode Miller

Samuel Bode Miller is an Olympic and World Champion who has won over 2 world cup championships in 2005 and 2008, making him the most successful alpine ski racer. The Alpine Ski Race is so tough that only 5 male athletes have competed in the race. The race has 5 different phases to be completed for you to be crowned champion. Samuel is one of the five, thus making him one of the greatest. He is also the only skier with wins in five or more disciplines of the game, making him an all-time great champion. He is now 44, retired, and taking care of his family. He occasionally chairs and works for the Montana’s Big Sky Resort as a spokesperson.

Marion Jones

Marion Jones was a track athlete and a basketball player who participated in the 2000 Olympics, where she won 3 Bronze and 2 Gold medals. Though her main field was the track and sprinting, by 2009, she was also working with the WNBA, where she was playing with the San Antonio Silver Stars. Marion Jones became infamous when she admitted to steroid use in the 2000 Olympics, with the committee stripping her of the titles there and then. She was among the many celebrity athletes linked to the BALCO scandal. She was sentenced to 6 months in jail for using performance-enhancing drugs and forging checks. She now works with a self-made program that guides young athletes to not make the mistakes she made.

Scott Hamilton

Scott Hamilton is a former figure skater who has consecutively won 1 Olympic gold medal and 4 U.S national championships. He became known for his amazing back flips and footwork, which was uncommon in 1980. He participated in the 1984 Olympics, where he won the Gold medal in men’s figure skating, putting an end to a dry spell in the men’s figure skating era. Due to his extreme love for sports, he was submitted to the American Olympic Hall of Fame. He is now 63 and aims to help young figure skaters pave their way into competitive sports. He was diagnosed with Testicular Cancer in 1997 and has been battling it since then.

Eric Heiden

Eric Heiden is a former speed skater, a physician, and a road and track cyclist. He has won an overall of 5 individual Gold medals along with setting amazing world records in the 1980 Winter Olympics. In the 1980 Winter Olympics, Eric Heiden singlehandedly won more medals than almost all nations combined, earning him the title of an icon. He is also significant because he is the only speed skater who has won all individual competitions in a single event and Gold in all of them. He is also an experienced cyclist and a physician, serving as the United States’ team doctor for the 2002-2014 Olympics.

Dominique Dawes

Dominque Dawes is an artistic Gymnast that has secured the spot of the first black gymnast to take home a medal in her field. She was also part of the Magnificent Seven, who managed to take Gold in the 1996 Olympics. In the 1992 Olympics held in Barcelona, Dawes won a Gold Medal at the age of 16 making her a household name. She later went to achieve 3 more medals in the 2000 Olympics. After retiring in 2000 she managed to get a bachelor’s degree and pursued modeling, acting, and producing. Her stand on Autism Awareness gained popularity when she went to different events talking about love, mental health, and youth issues. Dawes also provides commentary on the 2010 Beijing Olympics.

Rulon Gardner

Rulon Gardener is a retired wrestler from the Olympics as he competed in the 2000 and 2004 Olympics. However, he won the gold medal in 2000 when he defeated Aleksandr Karelin during the final. This was unexpected because no one else had beaten Karelin for the last thirteen years in an international competition.

During his career, Gardner had suffered many injuries, but most of them were not even from his wrestling career. In 2007, he survived a crash when an aircraft he was in crashed into a lake in Utah. The men swam in the water to reach the shore, but they did not get any fatal injuries.

Birgit Fischer

Birgit Fischer is a German Canoeing athlete who has won 8 Gold medals in 6 different Olympic games making her unique in every way. She started her career at the age of 18, competing in canoeing, and finished her career at the age of 41. She is both the youngest and the oldest Olympian to win a canoeing event and thus become quite a celebrity. She announced her retirement in 1988 and 2000 Olympics only to come back and win medals. Birgit also participated in ICF Canoe Sprint World Championship and has collectively won 38 medals, out of which, 28 are Gold. Photography is an art that Birgit loves, and she works with “Arts of Olympians” to showcase her work.The Olympic games are one of the most popular global event. The first ever modern Olympic games event took place in 1896 in the beautiful city of Athens. However, the history of such a prolific gaming event dates thousands of years back where the games were held in Olympia Greek hence the name. In 1896 there were just below 300 participants in the games. However, as time passed more games were added to the Olympics and more countries showed interest in sending their people to the Olympic Games. These athletes don’t just show their skills when they are on the field but they also represent their respective countries and winning a medal for your country at the Olympic games is one of the highest honors an athlete can get for their country.

Shawn Johnson

McKayla Rose Maroney

Kerri Walsh Jennings

Lindsey Vonn

Tara Lipinski

Ashley Wagner

Aly Raisman

During 2012, Aly also won gold medals in floor and team competitions at the Olympics. She has also has a bronze medal from this year on the balance beam. However, her career has been diverse.

Recently, Aly has appeared in various music videos by Cardi B and Maroon 5. She and many other women also received the Arthur Ashe Courage Award.

Michael Jordan

Alicia Sacramone

Michael Phelps

Muhammad Ali

Muhammad Ali doesn’t need an introduction, as everyone in the world knew who he was. He was nicknamed the Greatest and he one of the best heavyweight boxers of all times. Ali began his training as a boxer from the age of 12, and at the age of eighteen, he won a gold medal in the 1960 Summer Olympics.

Outside his boxing career, Ali also gained success as a spoken word, as he released two studio albums. Besides that, he also became a writer and an actor. Unfortunately, he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s syndrome, and he passed away in 2016.

Gracie Gold

Shannon Lee Miller

Gabrielle Douglas

Gabby Douglas

Gabrielle Christina Victoria Douglas is an American gymnast who won the gold medal at the 2012 summer Olympics along with her Fierce Five team members. Since then, she has won several championships in 2015 and reaped two more gold medals in 2016. Douglas competed in Olympics in 2018, which were held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She helped the team earn a gold medal at the Rio Olympics but failed to win an individual medal. Besides this, Douglas and her team posed for the cover of the sports illustrated issue. In 2020, she participated in the Masked Dancer and was announced the season’s winner.