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The Most Decorated Winter Olympians in History
For most athletes, winning a medal at the Olympics would be the pinnacle of their career. But these athletes didn't stop at just one. They excelled under pressure and earned themselves a spot in the annals of their respective sports as the Most Decorated Winter Olympians.
1. Marit Bjørgen, 14 Medals
Country: Norway
Sport: Cross-country skiing
Bjørgen became the most decorated athlete at the 2010 Vancouver Games with five medals. She added three gold medals in 2014 to bring her lifetime total up to six golds, three silvers, and one bronze—making her the most successful female Olympian. With a gold, silver, and two bronze medals in PyeongChang, she became the most decorated Winter Olympian of all time.
2. Ole Einar Bjoerndalen, 13 Medals
Country: Norway
Sport: Biathlon
Bjoerndalen won two gold medals at Sochi in 2014—in men's sprint biathlon and in the first Olympic mixed relay biathlon—to give him the lead in career-medal count. His hardware collection now includes eight gold medals, four silver, and one bronze. The 44-year-old failed to qualify for the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics.
3. Bjorn Daehlie, 12 Medals
Country: Norway
Sport: Cross-country skiing
When Bjoerndalen won his 13th career medal, he surpassed fellow countryman Daehlie, who had held the record for most Olympic medals since his dominance in the '90s. Over three Winter Games Daehlie won eight gold and four silver medals before sustaining a career-ending injury as a result of a roller-skiing accident in 1999.
4 (tie). Raisa Smetanina, 10 Medals
Country: Russia
Sport: Cross-country skiing
Osetrov Yuri/ITAR-TASS/Landov
Although Bjørgen and Belmondo (below) have since matched her, Smetanina was the first woman to win 10 Olympic medals. Her final, a gold medal, came at her fifth Olympic Games in Albertville in 1992. She was 39 years old—at that time the oldest woman to win a Winter Olympic gold.
4 (tie). Stefania Belmondo, 10 Medals
Country: Italy
Sport: Cross-country skiing
Belmondo's Olympic career spanned a decade—from the 1992 Albertville Games through the 2002 Salt Lake City Games—despite a devastating injury in 1993. She ended her career with two gold medals, three silver, and five bronze.
6 (tie). Lyubov Yegorova, 9 Medals
Country: Russia
Sport: Cross-country skiing
REUTERS/Mal Langsdon
Yegorova only made two Olympic appearances: at Albertville in 1992, and two years later at Lillehammer. She managed to squeeze nine medals out of those Games—six gold and three silver—before her career came to an end due to a doping scandal at the 1997 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships.
6 (tie). Claudia Pechstein, 9 Medals
Country: Germany
Sport: Speed skating
Pechstein is the most successful Olympic speed skater—male or female—in the world, and also the most successful German Winter Olympian of all time. That said, she missed the chance to set herself even further apart in the 2010 Games after getting slapped with a two-year ban from the sport in 2009 for doping accusations.
6 (tie). Sixten Jernberg, 9 Medals
Country: Sweden
Sport: Cross-country skiing
Jernberg (right) was a blacksmith and a lumberjack before beginning his career as a cross-country skier. Over three Olympics in the 1950s and '60s, he earned four gold, three silver, and two bronze medals, never finishing lower than fifth.
6 (tie). Uschi Disl, 9 Medals
Country: Germany
Sport: Biathlon
This five-time Olympian is the owner of two gold medals, four silver and three bronze, and the 2005 title of German Sportswoman of the Year. She has been the most successful women’s biathlete at the Olympic Games, although she never won a gold in an individual event.