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.

Top 150 Olympic Athletes: #141 - Giulio Gaudini

Giulio Gaudini

Italy

Fencing

Overall Rankings

#9 among Fencers

#8 among Italian Olympians

#8 among Male Fencers

#4 among Italians Fencers

#3 among Male Italian Fencers

 

Olympic Results

1928

Individual Foil - Bronze

Team Foil - Gold

1932

Individual Foil - Bronze

Team Foil - Silver

Individual Sabre - Silver

Team Sabre - Silver

1936

Individual Foil - Gold

Team Foil - Gold

Team Sabre - Silver

Total

Events - 11

Gold - 3

Silver - 4

Bronze - 2

Giulio Gaudini was born on September 28, 1904 in Rome, Italy. He began fencing at a young age, and immediately showed promise, so much so that he made Italy's very competitive Olympic fencing team when he was just 19 years old.

In his first Olympics, he was only entered in the team foil event. The team made it through pool play and the quarterfinals with no issue, reaching the final group of 4, but in their first match, against France, they disagreed with the final point that was awarded to the French and left the competition in protest, which gave the team a 4th place finish by default.

By 1928, he was one of the stars of the Italian team, and there would be no repeat of their 1924 result, as they won every match en route to a dominant gold medal. He then competed in the individual foil event for the first time, and advanced easily into the final group of 12, where he finished with a 9-2 record, which put him in a 3-way tie for first. The tie was broken by scoring margin, which earned Gaudini the bronze medal.

In 1932, he returned to compete in the foil events, but added the sabre events as well. The Italian team was favored to repeat their title in the team foil event, but after a 3-way tie in the final pool, Italy was awarded the silver medal based on having fewer overall touches than France. In the individual foil, he repeated his bronze medal performance from 4 years earlier.

Hungary was the defending champion in the team sabre and was the heavy favorite, and they did not disappoint, wiping out every opponent in the tournament. Gaudini and the Italians won silver, easily defeating Poland and the USA in the final pool, but falling 9-2 against Hungary. Hungary was expected to take all 3 individual sabre medals, but Gaudini surprised everyone by taking the silver after losing only 2 matches in the final pool, leaving him with 3 silvers and a bronze in 1932.

Gaudini qualified for the same 4 events in 1936, and this time Italy would return to form, going undefeated through the tournament and beating France 9-4 in the decisive match to take back the gold medal. In the individual foil, Gaudini came in first place in his pool in every round of the tournament, and won all 7 matches in the final pool to finally earn his first individual gold medal.

The team sabre event was a repeat of the 1932 event, except that Italy made their final match with Hungary a bit closer this time, losing 9-6 to earn a repeat silver. In the individual sabre, Gaudini reached the final pool, just as he always had, but finished 3-5 among that group and ended up in 6th place, the worst finish of his Olympic career.

The next two Olympic games were not held due to World War II, and before he could compete again, Gaudini passed away from cancer on January 6, 1948 in his hometown of Rome. He was undoubtedly one of the greatest fencers of his time, reaching the final pool in all 11 events in which he competed, and earning a total of 9 medals, 3 of which were gold, capped off with his first and only individual gold in 1936.

Top 150 Olympic Athletes: #142 - Lee Evans

Lee Evans

USA

Athletics

Overall Rankings

#42 among American Olympians

#38 among Track & Field Athletes

#29 among Males Track & Field Athletes

#24 among American Track & Field Athletes

#19 among Male American Track & Field Athletes

Olympic Results

1968

400m - Gold

4x400m Relay - Gold

Total

Events - 2

Gold - 2

Lee Edward Evans was born on February 25, 1947 in Madera, California. He was undefeated in high school, then won 4 straight AAU championships in the 440 yard race, and also won the 400m NCAA title in 1968.

His first world record came as part of a 4x400m relay team in 1966, the first team to break 3 minutes in the event. In 1967, he set a world record in the 400m at the Pan Am Games, becoming the first man to break 45 seconds.

He qualified for both events in the 1968 Olympics, setting a world record of 44.06 seconds in the 400m at the Olympic trials. After his teammates Tommie Smith and John Carlos were kicked out of the Olympics for raising their fists during the 200m medal ceremony, Evans wanted to withdraw in protest, but they convinced him to stay, and he set another new world record in winning the gold medal, finishing in 43.8 seconds, a record that would stand for 20 years.

A couple of days later, in the 4x400m relay, he anchored the team that tied the Olympic record in the preliminary round, then they shattered the record in the final, finishing in 2 minutes, 56.1 seconds, 3.5 seconds ahead of the silver medalists from Kenya, which was about 30 meters on the track. That record stood until 1992.

He won the AAU title again in 1972, then qualified for the Olympic team as part of the relay, having just fallen short in the trials for the individual event. However, he never got to run in those Olympics, as two other members of the team were kicked out after refusing to pay attention to the flag during the medal ceremony of the 400m a couple of days earlier.

He turned pro after the 1972 Olympics, and even set the world record in the indoor 600m race, but he would never race again in the Olympics. He went on to become the head of track programs for 6 different African nations before returning to the US to coach college track. He later went to Nigeria to coach, and it was there that he passed away on May 19, 2021 at age 74.

Evans only competed in two Olympic events in his career, but in both he set new world records that would stand for decades, and for that he deserves to be remembered as one of the greatest Olympic athletes of all time.

Top 150 Olympic Athletes: #143 - Amy Van Dyken

Amy Van Dyken

USA

Swimming

Overall Rankings

#43 among American Olympians

#10 among Swimmers

#9 among American Swimmers

#3 among Female Swimmers

Olympic Results

1996

50m Freestyle - Gold

4x100m Freestyle Relay - Gold

100m Butterfly - Gold

4x100m Medley Relay - Gold

2000

4x100m Freestyle Relay - Gold

4x100m Medley Relay - Gold

Total

Events - 8

Gold - 6

Amy Deloris Van Dyken was born on February 15, 1973 in Englewood, Colorado, and attempted to make the Olympic team right out of high school, but fell just short of making the team for the 1992 Olympics in the 50m Freestyle.

In 1994, she set a national record in the 50 yard freestyle at the NCAA Championships, and also took second place in two other events. In 1995 she broke the world record in the 50m butterfly, which had stood for nearly 3 years, but she held it for only 12 days before it was broken by Angela Kennedy of Australia.

She easily made the 1996 Olympic team, and after finishing in a close 4th place in her first event, she rattled off 4 consecutive gold medals, beginning with the 4x100m relay, where she swam the fastest leg as the USA beat China by more than a second. She followed that with an upset over the favored Liu Limin in the 100m Butterfly, which she won by one hundredth of a second.

Next, she swam the anchor freestyle leg in the 4x100m Medley Relay, starting out with a full second lead and extending it to more than two seconds by the time she finished. Her final event was the 50m Freestyle, where she came from behind in the final 5 meters to overtake Le Jingyi to win by 3 hundredths of a second. That win made her the first American woman ever to win 4 gold medals in a single Olympics.

She suffered a shoulder injury not long after her Olympic breakthrough, and multiple surgeries caused her to lose more than a year of training, but she worked hard to make it back and earned a spot on the 2000 Olympic team.

She started off with the 4x100m freestyle relay, where she swam the leadoff leg. She had the USA in second place behind Australia at the handoff, but each of her 3 teammates swam faster times as the Americans set a new Olympic record and won by more than 3 seconds. In the 4x100m Medley Relay, she swam the anchor leg in the heat round, which qualified the Americans for the final, where Dara Torres took the freestyle leg and the USA set a World Record and again won by more than 3 seconds. 

In her final event, the 50m Freestyle, she caused some controversy in the semifinal heat when she finished second to eventual champion Inge de Bruijn, then spit in her opponents lane and accused her of being a man, which, unfortunately, is the same kind of crap that we still hear today from sore losers. She ended up finishing in 4th place in the final, just short of another medal.

She retired after the 2000 Olympics, and afterward has spent time competing in triathlons, coaching high school swimming, and hosting radio shows. She was in a serious ATV accident in 2014, which left her temporarily paralyzed, but she was able walk again after several months of rehab. Based on her performance in the pool, where she earned 6 gold medals and two 4th place finishes in her 8 events, she is obviously one of the greatest Olympians of all time.