The Greatest Olympians: The History & the Moments

By Gill Schor

Packed with colorful charts and rich text, the top 40 greatest Olympians of all time are profiled in this fun and exciting
booklet. A great read for all ages !

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Oct 31, 2016
• ISBN: 9781483585055

Book preview

Swimming

#1

Michael Phelps

USA: Swimming

Born: June 30, 1985

Place: Towson, MD

Swimming with a 79-inch wing span and size 14 flipper-feet that bend an additional 15 degrees at the ankle, Michael Phelps is the most decorated athlete in Olympic history. The 28-time medalist earned more than twice as many gold medals as the next Olympian and at age 15 was the youngest American male since the 1930’s when he qualified for the 2000 games. Phelps’ crowning achievement came in 2008 when he took home an all-gold portfolio of swimming races at the Beijing games, breaking the record held by Mark Spitz (#16) who won 7 gold medals at the 1972 Munich competitions. By the time he arrived to his fifth Olympiad in Rio de Janeiro, Phelps had set 39 world records over the course of his career of which 29 were in individual races. As of date, Phelps is the world record holder in the 100m Butterfly, 200m Butterfly and 400m Individual Medley. The Maryland native retired after the 2016 Olympics.

#2

Larisa Latynina

USSR: Gymnastics

Born: December 20, 1934

Place: Kherson, Ukraine

For 48 years, Soviet gymnast Larisa Semyonovna Latynina held the highest Olympics medal count before Michael Phelps matched her in 2012. With 14 individual Olympic medals, she continues to carry the record in that tally and still remains the only woman to have won 9 gold accolades. Originally a ballet hopeful, Latynina made her Olympics debut in Melbourne in 1956, winning in 4 categories including sharing the top spot in the Floor Exercises with Hungary’s Agnes Keleti (#28). Two years later at the World Championships in Moscow, Latynina clinched five of the six gymnastics titles while four months pregnant. After retiring in 1966, she coached the Soviet national women’s squad for 11 years, posting team victories in 1968, 1972 and 1976.

#3

Nikolai Andrianov

USSR: Gymnastics

Born: October 14, 1952

Place: Vladimir, Russia

Until the Beijing games in 2008, Nikolai Andrianov held the record for the most Olympic medals won by a male athlete. His shining moment came in Montreal when he grabbed the highest number of medals of any other athlete, taking home 7 coveted prizes of which 6 were in individual competitions- today, he