Olympic statistics - most successful athletes

Aug 15, 2008, 3:44 GMT

  Beijing - The top 20 most successful athletes at Olympic Summer Games after American swimmer Michael Phelps won a 12th gold medal on Friday at the Beijing Olympics. <#>

    Name, country                  Years     Sport         Medals                                                           G S B

 1. Michael Phelps, United States  2004/2008 Swimming     12-0-2 2. Larisa Latynina, Soviet Union  1956-1964 Gymnastics    9-5-4 3. Paavo Nurmi, Finland           1920-1928 Athletics     9-3-0 4. Mark Spitz, United States      1968/1972 Swimming      9-1-1 5. Carl Lewis, United States      1984-1996 Athletics     9-1-0 6. Birgit Fischer, Germany        1980-2004 Canoeing      8-4-0 7. Sawao Kato, Japan              1968-1976 Gymnastics    8-3-1     Jenny Thompson, United States  1992-2004 Swimming      8-3-1 9. Matt Biondi, United States     1984-1992 Swimming      8-2-1 10. Ray C Ewry, United States      1900-1908 Athletics     8-0-0 11. Nikolai Andrianov, Soviet U.   1972-1980 Gymnastics    7-5-3 12. Boris Shakhlin, Soviet Union   1956-1964 Gymnastics    7-4-2 13. Vera Caslavska, Czechoslovakia 1960-1968 Gymnastics    7-4-0 14. Viktor Shukarin, Soviet Union  1952/1956 Gymnastics    7-3-1 15. Aladar Gerevich, Hungary       1932-1960 Fencing       7-1-2 16. Edoardo Mangiarotti, Italy     1936-1960 Fencing       6-5-2 17. Hubert van Innis, Belgium      1900-1920 Archery       6-3-0 18. Akinori Nakayama, Japan        1968/1972 Gymnastics    6-2-2 19. Gert Fredriksson, Sweden       1948-1960 Canoeing      6-1-1 20. Vitaly Sherbo, CIS/Belarus     1992/1996 Gymnastics    6-0-4 <#>