A few days ago, Sports List of the Day ran down the greatest medallers – men and women – in Winter Olympics history: olympians with the most total medals in their coffers.
But which athletes have collected the most Winter Games gold over time?
Here are the top 10 for both the gents and ladies.
Norway’s Bjørn Dæhlie has the most total (12) and gold (8) medals of all, regardless of gender. Ole Einar Bjørndalen also has 12 total medals, but comes in second with six golds.
Bjørndalen is tied with the top two athletes on the women’s side, Lyubov Yegorova and Lidiya Skoblikova. They all have six golds a piece.
MOST WINTER OLYMPICS GOLD MEDALS, MEN
| ATHLETE | COUNTRY | GOLD MEDALS | SPORT | |
| 1. | Bjørn Dæhlie | Norway | 8 | Cross Country Skiing |
| 2. | Ole Einar Bjørndalen | Norway | 6 | Biathlon |
| 3. | Thomas Alsgaard | Norway | 5 | Cross Country Skiing |
| 3. | Eric Heiden | United States | 5 | Speed Skating |
| 3. | Clas Thunberg | Finland | 5 | Speed Skating |
| 6. | Simon Ammann | Switzerland | 4 | Ski Jumping |
| 6. | Kevin Kuske | Germany | 4 | Bobsled |
| 6. | André Lange | Germany | 4 | Bobsled |
| 6. | Sven Fischer | Germany | 4 | Biathlon |
| 6. | Kjetil André Aamodt | Norway | 4 | Alpine Skiing |
| 6. | Ricco Grob | Germany | 4 | Biathlon |
| 6. | Johann Olav Koss | Norway | 4 | Speed Skating |
| 6. | Matti Nykänen | Finland | 4 | Ski Jumping |
| 6. | Gunde Svan | Sweden | 4 | Cross Country Skiing |
| 6. | Thomas Wassberg | Sweden | 4 | Cross Country Skiing |
| 6. | Nikolay Zimyatov | Soviet Union | 4 | Cross Country Skiing |
| 6. | Aleksandr Tikhonov | Soviet Union | 4 | Biathlon |
| 6. | Yevgeny Grishin | Soviet Union | 4 | Speed Skating |
| 6. | Sixten Jernberg | Sweden | 4 | Cross Country Skiing |
| 6. | Ivar Ballangrud | Norway | 4 | Speed Skating |
MOST WINTER OLYMPICS GOLD MEDALS, WOMEN
| ATHLETE | COUNTRY | GOLD MEDALS | SPORT | |
| 1. | Lyubov Yegorova | Unified Team/Russia | 6 | Cross Country Skiing |
| 1. | Lidiya Skoblikova | Soviet Union | 6 | Speed Skating |
| 3. | Larisa Lazutina | Unified Team/Russia | 5 | Cross Country Skiing |
| 3. | Claudia Pechstein | Germany | 5 | Speed Skating |
| 3. | Bonnie Blair | United States | 5 | Speed Skating |
| 6. | Wang Meng | China | 4 | Short Track Speed Skating |
| 6. | Janica Kostelic’ | Croatia | 4 | Alpine Skiing |
| 6. | Jeon I-Gyeong | South Korea | 4 | Short Track Speed Skating |
| 6. | Raisa Smetanina | Unified Team/Soviet Union | 4 | Cross Country Skiing |
| 6. | Galina Kulakova | Soviet Union | 4 | Cross Country Skiing |
Photo:
