List of athletes with the most appearances at Olympic Games

Only a small fraction of the world's population ever competes at the Olympic Games; an even smaller fraction competes in multiple Games. 861 athletes (601 men and 260 women) have participated in at least five Olympics from Athens 1896 to Beijing 2022, but excluding the 1906 Intercalated Games. 211 of these have gone on to make at least a sixth Olympic appearance.

Multiple appearances

Several athletes would have made more appearances at the Olympics but for reasons out of their control, such as World Wars (no Olympics were held in 1916, 1940 or 1944), politically motivated boycotts, financial difficulties, or ill-timed injuries.

Canadian equestrian athlete Ian Millar has competed at ten Olympic games. Austrian sailor Hubert Raudaschl, Latvian shooter Afanasijs Kuzmins (representing Soviet Union until 1988) and Georgian sports shooter Nino Salukvadze (representing Soviet Union in 1988 and Unified Team in 1992) have each made nine Olympic appearances.

Well over half of six-time Olympians belong to the shooting, equestrian, sailing and fencing disciplines, which are known for allowing athletes more longevity at the elite level. Athletics and cross-country skiing also provide a large number of athletes who have competed at five Olympics.

Approximately a quarter of long-competing athletes are female. Italian canoeist Josefa Idem became the first woman to take part in eight Olympics, eventually reaching the final of the K1-500m event at the age of 48. Before her, the closest a female athlete had come to competing at eight Olympics was 0.028 seconds, which was the time by which Jamaican-Slovenian sprinter Merlene Ottey had failed to meet the qualification time required for appearance at the 2008 Summer Olympics, at age 48. At the 2020 Summer Olympics, Georgian sports shooter Nino Salukvadze competed in her ninth consecutive Olympic Games at age 52, becoming the first female athlete in history to do so.

Four six-time Olympians here have participated in Olympic Games over a period of 40 years: Bahamian sailor Durward Knowles (8 Olympics), Danish sailor Paul Elvstrøm (8), Danish fencer Ivan Osiier (7), and Norwegian sailor Magnus Konow (6). Note should also be made of Japanese equestrian Hiroshi Hoketsu, whose first and third Olympic appearances in 1964 and 2012 were 48 years apart. Uzbek gymnast Oksana Chusovitina has competed at every Olympics from 1992-2020. She continues to compete at the elite level in her late 40s in a sport where few competitors continue past their mid-20s or compete at two or three Olympics.

Two five-time Olympians competed under four different flags at the Olympics, one of whom never actually changed nationality. Both shooter Jasna Šekarić (7 Olympics) and table tennis player Ilija Lupulesku (5) competed for Yugoslavia at the 1988 Olympics. In 1992, since Yugoslavia was under UN sanctions, they (and fifty other Serbians, Montenegrins and Macedonians) competed as Independent Olympic Participants before competing at the next Olympics under the flag of Serbia and Montenegro. Lupulesku became an American citizen and competed for the USA in 2004, while Šekarić finally competed for Serbia in 2008.

Twenty-six five-time Olympians have won at least eight medals: American swimmer Michael Phelps (28), Norwegian cross-country skier Marit Bjørgen (15), Norwegian biathlete Ole Einar Bjørndalen (13), Italian fencer Edoardo Mangiarotti (13), Dutch speed skater Ireen Wüst (13), German kayaker Birgit Fischer (12), American swimmer Dara Torres (12), German equestrian Isabell Werth (12), American track and field athlete Allyson Felix (11), Italian short track speed skater Arianna Fontana (11), Hungarian fencer Aladár Gerevich (10), Italian cross-country skier Stefania Belmondo (10), Finnish gymnast Heikki Savolainen (9), Jamaican-Slovenian sprinter Merlene Ottey (9), German speed skater Claudia Pechstein (9), Italian fencer Valentina Vezzali (9), Dutch equestrian Anky van Grunsven (9), German biathlete Uschi Disl (9), Romanian rower Elisabeta Oleniuc (8), German equestrian Reiner Klimke (8), Italian fencer Giovanna Trillini (8), French fencer Philippe Cattiau (8), Jamaican track and field athlete Veronica Campbell-Brown (8), Russian diver Dmitri Sautin (8), Norwegian alpine skier Kjetil André Aamodt (8) and German biathlete Ricco Groß (8).

56 athletes who have competed in at least five Olympics participated in two sports: 23 of them competing at both the Winter and Summer Olympics, 20 competing at the Summer Olympics and 13 competing at the Winter Olympics. The most common cross-over sports are athletics/bobsleigh (8 competitors) and cycling/speed skating (3 competitors).

Married couples among five-time Olympians include biathletes Ole Einar Bjørndalen (Norway) and Nathalie Santer-Bjørndalen (Italy/Belgium), Lithuanian pairs figure skaters Margarita Drobiazko and Povilas Vanagas, Finnish cross-country skiers Harri Kirvesniemi and Marja-Liisa Kirvesniemi-Hämäläinen, lugers Susi Erdmann (Germany) and Gerhard Plankensteiner (Italy).

Familial relationships among five-time Olympians include Belgian shooters François Lafortune Sr and Jr (father-son; with their brothers/uncles, they have seventeen Olympic appearances between them), Italian equestrians Piero and Raimondo d'Inzeo (brothers), British canoeists Andrew and Stephen Train (brothers), Greek shooters Alexandros and Ioannis Theofilakis (brothers), Italian cross-country skiers Sabina Valbusa-Fulvio Valbusa and Manuela Di Centa-Giorgio Di Centa (sister-brother), Brazilian equestrians Nelson and Rodrigo Pessoa (father-son), Austrian lugers Markus and Tobias Schiegl (cousins), Latvian skeleton racers Martins Dukurs and Tomass Dukurs (brothers). A more tenuous relationship is that of Argentine sailors Jorge Salas Chávez and Roberto Sieburger; Chávez's cousin Jorge del Río Salas (4 Olympics) married Sieburger's cousin Marylin Sieburger. (The extended Sieburger-Salas clan includes seven Argentinian sailors with twenty Olympic appearances.)

List of athletes with at least six Olympic appearances

So far, there have been 211 athletes who have appeared at Olympic Games at least six times. 61 of them have never won an Olympic medal. Athletes in bold are believed to be still active, i.e., have yet to announce their retirement. Female athletes are displayed with a pink background. Sorting is by number of appearances, Games of last appearance, date of birth.

Athletes with at least five Olympic appearances

861 athletes have competed in at least five Olympic Games (870 if the 1906 Games are counted) between 1896 and 2022 inclusive. They are listed here, grouped by discipline. The columns labelled 'N+' denote the number of athletes who have competed in at least N Olympics. The number of male and female athletes who have competed in at least five Olympics are also listed, in the columns labelled 'M' and 'F'.

Athletes who have competed in more than one sport are counted once per sport.

Athletes with uncertain 5 or 6 Olympic appearances

These 25 athletes are listed here, grouped by discipline. The columns labelled 'N+' denote the number of athletes who have competed in at least N Olympics. The number of male and female athletes who have competed in at least five Olympics are also listed, in the columns labelled 'M' and 'F'. These athletes have at least one DNS in the Olympic and Olympedia websites or an appearance in a non-Olympic event.

Athletes who have competed in more than one sport are counted once per sport.

Intercalated Games

The 1906 Intercalated Games are not considered 'official' Olympics, but medals were awarded.

The following athletes have appeared in at least 8 Olympics if 1906 Intercalated Games are included.

The following athletes have appeared in at least 6 Olympics if 1906 Intercalated Games are included.

The following athletes have appeared in at least 5 Olympics if 1906 Intercalated Games are included.

Dual sport and multi-sport Olympians

Many Olympians have competed in two or more sports. These athletes are listed below, with the number of times they competed in each sport. Sometimes an individual has competed in two disciplines at the same Games; such instances are noted.

Summer and Winter Olympians

For all the athletes see: List of athletes who competed in both the Summer and Winter Olympic games

187 athletes competed in both Summer and Winter Olympics.

The most common combinations of disciplines are athletics/bobsleigh (51 competitors; summer and winter sports respectively), ice hockey (18 athletes: in the 1920 Summer Olympics there was exceptionally ice hockey, a typical winter sport) and speed skating/track cycling (12 athletes; winter and summer sports respectively).

Summer Olympians

For all the athletes see: List of athletes who competed in more than one sport at Summer Olympic games

Below there's a list of five-time Olympians who participated in two or more Summer sports.

Winter Olympians

For all the athletes see: List of athletes who competed in more than one sport at Winter Olympic games

Below there's a list of five-time Olympians who participated in two or more Winter sports.

See also

• List of multiple Olympic medalists
• List of multiple Olympic gold medalists
• List of multiple Olympic medalists at a single Games
• List of multiple Olympic gold medalists at a single Games
• List of multiple Olympic medalists in one event
• List of multiple Olympic gold medalists in one event
• List of athletes who competed in more than one sport at Summer Olympic games
• List of athletes who competed in more than one sport at Winter Olympic games
• List of athletes who competed in both the Summer and Winter Olympic games

References

• Personal communication from Dr. Bill Mallon, past-President and co-founder, International Society of Olympic Historians

External links

• Olympics at Sports-Reference – Olympic athletes biographies and profiles
• (in English) Records of the Olympic Games
• (in English) Olympians with long careers (upload to Sydney 2000)
• Olympedia