Top 150 Olympic Athletes: #134 - Meldrick Taylor

Meldrick Taylor

USA

Boxing

Overall Ranks

#40 among American Olympians

#4 among Boxers

#1 among American boxers

Olympic Results

1984

Featherweight - Gold

Total

Events - 1

Gold - 1

Meldrick Taylor was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on October 19, 1966, and took up boxing at an early age, along with 2 of his brothers. When he qualified to box in the 1984 Olympics, he was only 17 years old, but already had an amateur record of 99-4.

The field for the 1984 Olympics was somewhat watered down due to the Soviet-led boycott, but there were still several strong fighters present, and Taylor had no trouble at all in his first two bouts, winning both by unanimous decision. 

He won his third match by TKO, which moved him into the semifinals, and he had no trouble with his opponent there either, winning another unanimous decision to move into the final against Peter Konyegwachie of Nigeria. Once again, he dominated his opponent, earning another unanimous decision and a gold medal.

Right after the Olympics, Taylor turned pro, and earned his first pro victory less than a month after turning 18. He eventually won the IBF light welterweight title in 1988, which he held for 18 months before challenging Julio Cesar Chavez, who held the same title in the WBC. Taylor led throughout the fight, but lost by TKO with just 2 seconds left, giving both titles to Chavez, and leaving Taylor with his first pro loss. 

He continued fighting for the next 12 years, and even had a rematch with Chavez for the title in 1994, but he lost again, and he retired after his 8th career loss, when he was 35 years old. Like many boxers, he only competed in the Olympics once, but he left no doubt as to the winner of any of his fights, making him one of the greatest Olympians of all time.

Top 150 Olympic Athletes: #135 - An San

An San

South Korea

Archery

Overall Ranks

#3 among Archers

#2 among Korean Olympians

#2 among Korean archers

#1 among Female archers

Olympic Results

2020

Women Individual - Gold

Women Team - Gold

Mixed Team - Gold

Total

Events - 3

Gold - 3

An San was born in Gwangju, South Korea on February 27, 2001. She made her first international appearance in 2017 at the World Youth Championship, where she contributed to a team silver medal. By 2019, she was competing in the Archery World Cup, where she took first place in both the individual and team events.

She made the South Korean Olympic archery team for the 2020 Olympics, which is a feat in itself, and when the athletes finally made their way to Tokyo in 2021, An dominated the competition. She first competed in the mixed pairs event with Kim Je-Deok, and they entered the event as the #1 seed, then coasted to the final match, where they defeated the Netherlands 5-3 after falling behind 2-0 in the first set. She also notably shot a "Robin Hood arrow" during the semifinal, in which her arrow split her teammate's previously shot arrow.

Next up was the women's team event, which South Korea had never lost in their history, and there was no change there. The Korean trio obliterated all competition, only giving up one single point in the entire tournament as they coasted to another gold medal.

The final event was the individual women's event. She entered the Olympics ranked #5 in the world, but she set an Olympic record in the preliminary round, scoring 680 points on 72 shots. She didn't face a challenge until the round of 16, where she beat Ren Hayakawa of Japan 6-4. She beat her semifinal opponent 6-5, advancing to the final, where she beat Yelena Osipova of Russia on a tiebreak shot to take the gold.

By winning that event, An became the first archer in history to win 3 gold medals in the same Olympic games. Since 2021, she has continued to compete as one of the top archers in the world, but she fell just short of making the Korean team for the 2024 Olympics. She came back to win gold in the Archery World Cup in 2025, and hasn't ruled out another run at the Olympics in 2028, but either way, she is already one of the greatest Olympians of all time.

Top 150 Olympic Athletes: #136 - Kerri Walsh Jennings

Kerri Walsh Jennings

USA

Beach Volleyball

Overall Ranks

#14 among American Olympians

#2 among Beach Volleyball players

Olympic Results

2004

Women - Gold

2008

Women - Gold

2012

Women - Gold

2016

Women - Bronze

Total

Events - 5

Gold - 3

Bronze - 1

Kerri Lee Walsh was born on August 15, 1978 in Santa Clara, California. She was a star in both basketball and volleyball in high school, winning the state title in basketball as a senior, and in each of her final 3 years in volleyball, and she was name National Volleyball Player of the Year as a senior.

She went to Stanford on a volleyball scholarship, where she led the Cardinal to national championships as a freshman and again as a sophomore, winning the Final Four MVP as a freshman. She was named National Player of the Year as a senior, when her team finished as the national runner-up.

The next year she was selected to the 2000 USA Olympic volleyball team, but she missed several of the early matches after a false positive drug test, but she was cleared a few days later after a retest and cleared to play. The USA team reached the semifinals, where they fell to the Russians in a tough 5-set match, then fell to Brazil in the bronze medal game.

The next year she switched to beach volleyball, teaming up with Misty May, and by the end of the year they were ranked #5 in the world, and then reached #1 the following year, a ranking they held until Misty's retirement in 2012. The pair were heavily favored to win the gold medal in 2004, and they did not disappoint, winning all 7 of their matches without losing a single set, finishing off the Brazilian pair 21-11 in the final set.

Walsh and May both married in the months following the 2004 Olympics, with Kerri marrying Casey Jennings, who was also a beach volleyball player. They returned to the Olympics in 2008, again winning every set and every match, though this time the margins were much closer, and they even trailed 18-17 in the first set of the gold medal match before scoring 4 in a row to keep their streak alive.

Misty May Treanor tore her Achilles while competing on Dancing With the Stars between Olympic appearances, but came back in time to win a World Championship in 2011 with Walsh Jennings. They returned to defend their Olympic title again, and once again won every match, but they lost a set for the first time, dropping the first set to an Austrian pair in pool play. Both sets of their semifinal match against China went to extra points, but they still advanced to beat April Ross and Jen Kessy of the USA for their third straight gold.

May Treanor retired after the 2012 Olympics, so Kerri poached April Ross to become her new partner in preparation for the 2016 Games. They were ranked #3 in the world going into the Olympics, but many still expected them to win the gold due to Walsh Jennings' perfect Olympic record. They lost just one set in group play before advancing easily to the semifinals, but the perfect run came to an end 22-20, 21-18 against a pair from Brazil. They faced the other Brazilian pair, who were ranked #1 in the world, in the bronze medal match, and came out victorious to earn them a bronze medal.

Walsh Jennings picked up a new partner, Brooke Sweat, in an attempt to qualify for the 2020 Olympics, but they failed to make the team, and she retired soon afterward. The switch to beach volleyball was a great move, even though she was a great indoor volleyball player, as it helped make her a world-famous 4-time Olympic medalist, and one of the greatest Olympians of all time.

Top 150 Olympic Athletes: #137 - Mitsuo Tsukahara

Mitsuo Tsukahara

Japan

Artistic Gymnastics

Overall Ranks

#25 among Gymnasts

#15 among Male Gymnasts

#8 among Japanese Olympians

#7 among Japanese Gymnasts

Olympic Results

1968

Team - Gold

1972

Team - Gold

Horizontal Bar - Gold

Rings - Bronze

1976

Individual All-Around - Bronze

Team - Gold

Vault - Silver

Parallel Bars - Bronze

Horizontal Bar - Gold

Total

Events - 24

Gold - 5

Silver - 1

Bronze - 3

Mitsuo Tsukahara was born on December 22, 1947 in Tokyo, Japan. He didn't begin training in gymnastics until he was 13 years, old, which is considered old in gymnastics, but he picked it up quick, and by the time he was 21, he made the Japanese national team, which was no small feat, as they had won the past 2 Olympic Team gold medals.

The Japanese team was again victorious in 1968, winning their third consecutive gold medal in the team event. It was the only medal Tsukahara would earn in Mexico City, but he came close in two individual events, coming in 4th in the Floor Exercise, behind 3 of his teammates, and also coming in 4th in the Rings.

During the 1970 World Championships, he became a gymnastics legend when he invented his own move on the vault, which is now named the Tsukahara after him. He entered the vault with a backward somersault with a half twist, then did a 1.5 twist on dismount. The move is still used today.

He made a bigger impact at the 1972 Olympics, first earning another gold medal in the team event, the 4th straight for Japan, then earning his first individual medal with a bronze in the rings. His biggest accomplishment came in the Horizontal Bar, where he had the highest score in both the qualifying and the final round, dismounting with a double somersault with a full twist to earn the gold medal, with 4 teammates coming in right behind him.

He was one of the biggest stars at the 1976 Olympics, leading the Japanese team to a 5th straight gold medal in the team event, and taking the bronze medal in the Individual All-Around, his best finish in that event. He successfully defended his gold medal in the horizontal bar, and also earned a silver in the vault and a bronze in the parallel bars. That gave him 5 total medals in Montreal, and 9 for his Olympic career.

Tsukahara married fellow Japanese gymnast Chieko Oda, and they had a son named Naoya, who was born in 1977. Naoya followed his parents into gymnastics, also representing Japan in 3 Olympics, and he also won a team gold medal in 2004 in Athens. Tsukahara won 5 gold medals in his 3 Olympic appearances, but only 2 came in individual events, which puts him a bit behind several of his teammates, but still makes him one of the greatest Olympians of all time.

Top 150 Olympic Athletes: #138 - Georg Fleischhauer

Georg Fleischhauer

Germany

Bobsled

Overall Rankings

#5 among German Olympians

#2 among Bobsledders

Olympic Results

2026

Two Man - Gold

Four Man - Gold

Totals

Events - 2

Gold - 2

Georg Fleischhauer was born on October 21, 1988 in Halberstadt, East Germany, a few years before Germany was reunified. He began his athletic career as a hurdler, and won the German championship twice, but never qualified for the Olympics.

He switched his focus to bobsled in the early 2020s, and won his first world championship in the two-man sled in 2023. He was chosen for the German Olympic team in 2026, competing as a brakeman in both the two-man and four-man events. He was paired with experienced pilot Johannes Lochner in the 2-man, and the pair was the fastest in all four runs, and was the only team to break 55 seconds in a run, which they did 3 times. Overall, they won by 1.34 seconds, the largest margin in that event since 1980.

In the 4-man event, the winning pair added Thorsten Margis and Jorn Wenzel, and had an easy time, winning the competition by just over half a second over another German foursome, posting the fastest time in 3 of their 4 runs, coming in #2 in their second run by .01 of a second. Their margin of victory was the largest since 1998.

Since Fleischhauer was the newcomer on both sleds, his presence has to be viewed as a large part of the reason that they were so dominant in both events, and therefore he has already established himself as one of the greatest Olympians of all time.

Top 150 Olympic Athletes: #139 - Dhyan Chand

Dhyan Chand

India

Field Hockey

Overall Ranks

#1 among Indian Olympians

#1 among Field Hockey players

Olympic Results

1928

Men - Gold

1932

Men - Gold

1936

Men - Gold

Total

Events - 3

Gold - 3

Dhyan Chand was born Dhyan Singh Bais in Allahabad, Indian on August 29, 1905. His father played field hockey in the British Indian army, and when Dhyan turned 17, he joined the Army as well and played field hockey for them.

Field hockey was popular in India, but they had never fielded an Olympic team before 1928, when they decided to put together the best players from 5 different teams around the country to travel to Amsterdam, and Chand was given permission by the Army to join one of those teams in order to try out. He scored a goal within 3 minutes of the first game of the national tournament, and it quickly became apparent that he would make the team.

He made his Olympic debut against Austria, scoring 4 goals in a 6-0 victory, then repeated the feat in other group games against Denmark and Switzerland, and India advanced to the championship game undefeated and unscored upon. They defeated the home Dutch team 3-0 in the gold medal game, with Chand scoring 2 more times, giving him a total of 15 goals in 5 games.

India returned to defend its title in the 1932 Olympics, but due to the Great Depression, only 3 countries were able to send teams. India beat Japan 11-1, then the host USA 24-1, to win another easy gold medal. Chand scored 12 goals between the 2 games, and his younger brother Roop scored 13.

The Indian team was just as dominant in 1936, not allowing a goal in group play, which put them in the semifinals. There they beat the French team 10-0, with Chand scoring 4 of those goals, then beat the host Germans 8-1, with another 3 goals from Chand. He scored 15 goals in the 5 games that year, giving him a total of 40 goals across 12 Olympic matches.

World War II cancelled the next 2 Olympic Games, and when they returned in 1948, Chand was offered a spot on the Indian team once again, which he declined. He appeared in the Olympics 3 times, and all 3 times led all players in goals, winning gold medals each time, and has scored more Olympic goals than any other player in history, making him the greatest Olympic field hockey player of all time, and one of the greatest Olympians.

Top 150 Olympic Atheletes: #140 - Davit Chakvetadze

Davit Chakvetadze

Russia

Wrestling

Overall Rankings

#6 among Russian Olympians

#4 among Wrestlers

#3 among Russian Wrestlers

Olympic Results

2016

Greco-Roman Light-Heavyweight - Gold

Total

Events - 1

Gold - 1

Davit Gochaevich Chakvetadze was born on October 18, 1992 in Kutaisi, Georgia (the country, not the state), and while he learned to wrestle in his home country, he moved to Russia in 2013 due to the stronger Greco-Roman wrestling program.

In 2015, he took first place at the European Championships, and second place in the World Championships, in addition to winning the Russian National Championship, thus earning himself a spot on the Russian Olympic team for 2016.

Competing in the Light-Heavyweight class, he entered the Olympics ranked #3 in the world in his weight class, but didn't receive a first-round bye, as these were decided randomly. After winning his first match 3-0, he achieved a pin in the second round, the only one in the entire tournament for his weight class.

He then shut out his third opponent as well, before winning his semifinal match 7-1 to move on to the final against Zhan Beleniuk of Ukraine, who was the defending world champion and was ranked #1 in the world. Beleniuk took a 2-0 lead in the first period, but Chakvetadze shut him out in the second period, scoring 9 consecutive points to win the gold medal.

He suffered through multiple injuries in the years after winning his gold medal, but still attempted to compete again in 2021, but he did not qualify after losing in the European championships. Though he only competed in one Olympic event, he was completely dominant throughout, only trailing in the final match, which he ended up winning decisively, and that makes him one of the greatest Olympians of all time.