Tara Lipinski
At the young age of 14 years old, Tara Lipinski made history by becoming the 1997 World Figure Skating Champion. The American prodigy continued her winning streak the following year by securing the Olympic gold medal in the 1998 Olympics. However, her decision to turn professional that same year meant she could no longer participate in competitive events. This move was met with heavy criticism from the media. Lipinski ended her professional career in 2002 and later revealed that she was venturing into sports commentary, launching a successful career in that field.
Simone Biles
Regarded as one of the world’s greatest gymnasts, Biles has amassed an impressive collection of medals, including four golds, making her the most decorated American gymnast. Despite taking a break following her gold-winning performance in Rio 2016, she eventually returned to the sport she loves. While the Tokyo Olympics had to be postponed until 2021 due to the COVID pandemic, Biles came home with two bronze medals and one silver medal. She got engaged to football player Jonathan Owens in February 2022.
Brooke Bennett
Despite losing her grandfather only days before her big moment at the Atlanta 1996 Olympics, American swimmer Brooke Bennett overcame her personal tragedy and won a gold medal, a remarkable accomplishment. However, Bennett’s triumph was somewhat overshadowed by swimming superstar Janet Beth Evans’ final appearance at the Games. Bennett continued to excel in her sport, winning two more gold medals at the 2000 Olympics. Unfortunately, she was unable to qualify for the 2004 Olympics, prompting her to retire from competitive swimming. Nevertheless, Bennett continues to make a significant impact on the swimming world, coaching high school students and operating the Brooke Bennett Swim School, in addition to participating in swim marathons.
Carly Patterson
Carly Patterson’s performances at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, where she became the first American to win the all-around gymnastics competition in a non-boycotted Olympics, earned her a place in the USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame. Sadly, Patterson had to retire from the sport after discovering a back injury. Her doctor advised her to stop if she wanted to be able to walk when she got older. Since then, Patterson has embarked on a new career as a singer-songwriter, pursuing her passion for music.
Michael Phelps
With an impressive haul of 23 Olympic gold medals, Michael Phelps surpassed fellow American Mark Spitz’s record and added to his already impressive tally Olympic medals, bringing the total to 28. After the 2012 Olympics, many believed Phelps had retired, but he returned in 2016 for his fourth Games in Rio, dominating the competition once again. He married Nicole Johnson, a former Miss California, in 2016 and the two have three children together.
Nancy Kerrigan
Nancy Kerrigan is perhaps best known for the infamous attack orchestrated by rival Tonya Harding’s husband, which threatened to derail her career. Despite the setback, Kerrigan went on to win a silver medal at the 1994 Winter Olympics, and may have won gold if not for the incident. Kerrigan continued to skate in various ice shows and used her platform to raise awareness and support for the visually impaired, inspired by her mother, who is blind. She has also appeared on TV and in movies, as a guest and as a reporter or host.
Nastia Liukin
As the daughter of two Russian gymnastic champions who relocated to the U.S., Nastia Liukin seemed destined to become a gymnastics star. She represented the U.S. in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, where she earned five medals. Though she did not make the team for the 2012 Olympics, Liukin has continued to branch out, making numerous appearances at special events and on TV shows such as Dancing with the Stars and American Ninja Warrior.
Dominique Moceanu
Dominique Moceanu made history by becoming the youngest gymnast to compete for an Olympic medal at just 14 years old, winning gold in the all-around competition in Atlanta. Unfortunately, injuries cut her career short only four years later. Moceanu later wrote a book about the challenges of training at such a young age and how it impacted her life. She has also worked as a coach and runs the Dominique Moceanu Gymnastics Center and Carmen Yoga Studio in Ohio.
Matt Biondi
Matt Biondi, while slightly overshadowed by Mark Spitz in his generation, still boasts an impressive record of 11 Olympic medals, with eight of them being gold. Although he is primarily associated with competitive swimming, Biondi also dabbled in water polo. He participated in the Olympic games from 1984 to 1992, yet chose to remain active in his sport. Currently, Biondi coaches kids at his local swimming team, while pursuing his main profession as a math teacher.
Dominique Dawes
Dominique Dawes, also known as one of the “Magnificent Seven”, earned recognition not only for taking home the all-around medal, but for her outstanding achievements in the sport. Dawes holds the title of the first American gymnast to win medals in three consecutive Summer Olympics, including the 2000 Sydney Games, where she made a comeback from retirement. Additionally, prior to her, no African American had won a gold medal in gymnastics at the Olympics. Dawes’ contributions to athletics have earned her national recognition, and she has been appointed as a sports advisor to the U.S. government.
Greg Louganis
Greg Louganis, a renowned diver, made history as the first individual to receive a perfect score from Olympic judges for one of his dives. With his impressive skills, he earned a total of four gold medals, with two in 1984 and the remaining two in 1988, where he dominated the men’s events. Despite facing discrimination due to his sexual orientation and losing endorsements when he came out during the AIDS epidemic, Louganis has since become an influential LGBT activist. He is also now a mentor for the U.S. diving team.
Dorothy Hamill
Dorothy Hamill began skating at eight years old and by the time she was 12, she was already outperforming her competitors in competitions. Her outstanding routine at the 1976 Winter Olympics won her a gold medal, and she even has a skating move named after her – the Hamill Camel, which involves transitioning from a camel spin to a sit spin. Even decades after her performance, Hamill remained a beloved athlete and made frequent appearances on television.
Inge de Bruijn
Inge de Bruijn, a Dutch swimmer, tried out various sports before ultimately dedicating herself to swimming. Despite a slow start, her perseverance paid off as she went on to win four gold medals. When she retired in 2007, she held the record as the oldest Olympian to win gold and remains the oldest woman to do so. Interestingly, her brother, Matthijs de Bruijn, is also an Olympian who played water polo in the 2000 Games. In the past, de Bruijn served as the face of Sapph, a Dutch lingerie brand, and currently resides in Eindhoven.
Shannon Miller
Shannon Miller was part of the renowned “Magnificent Seven” who competed in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Already a decorated athlete with five medals from the 1992 Barcelona Games, Miller added two more gold medals to her collection in ’96. Her outstanding performances have rightfully earned her a spot among the greatest gymnasts in Olympic history. In recent years, Miller has devoted her time to founding a charitable organization aimed at fighting childhood obesity.
Larisa Latynina
Before Michael Phelps broke her record, Larisa Latynina of the Soviet Union held an impressive 18 Olympic medals, including five golds. Her triumphs spanned from 1956 to 1964, after which she transitioned into coaching for the Soviet team. Under her guidance, the Soviet women’s team won gold in 1968, 1972, and 1976. After retiring from coaching, Latynina served as an organizer for the gymnastics competition at the 1980 Moscow Games. Currently, she resides in Russia at a rural estate.
Paul Hamm
Paul Hamm made history by becoming the sole American gymnast to win the all-around in both the Olympics and the Gymnastics World Championships, following his gold medal win at the 2004 Athens Games. Although Hamm’s victory was marred by a scoring error that affected one of his rivals, the gold medal remained with him, and he also took home two silver medals. Despite being unable to qualify for the team in 2008 and 2012, Hamm remained active in the sports world and even appeared on the Japanese iteration of Ninja Warrior.
Annia Hatch
Annia Hatch, who was originally from Cuba, had been training for the Olympics since the age of four. Despite qualifying for the 1996 Atlanta Games, she was unable to compete due to insufficient funding from the Cuban Olympic Committee. In 1997, she met Alan Hatch, an American, and they married. After moving to the U.S. and becoming a naturalized citizen, she competed in the 2004 Olympics, where she won two silver medals. Hatch has since worked as a coach and has even launched her own fashion line.
Kyla Ross
Kyla Ross was a part of the “Fierce Five” that was on Team USA at the 2012 London Olympics. She helped win the gold medal for the team event. Ross later enrolled at UCLA and became the 11th NCAA gymnast to accomplish a perfect score in 2019. She later became the second athlete that earned perfect marks at a competition just a week later.
Jordyn Wieber
In 2012, at the London Games, Jordyn Wieber achieved a remarkable feat by clinching a gold medal despite suffering from a stress fracture, which she bravely persevered through during the team event. Though she retired from professional gymnastics in 2015, her passion for the sport remained unrelenting. In April 2019, during her senior year at the University of Arkansas, Wieber made history by becoming the first Olympic champion to assume the role of a coach for the Arizona Razorbacks.
Bart Conner
Bart Conner won two gold medals for Team USA in 1984 and became a bonafide gymnastics star. His idol was Nadia Comaneci, and he agreed to appear on The Pat Sajak Show when he hearrd she would be on it as well. The two met and immediately hit it off and began a relationship. In 1996, the two got married. The pair now run the Bart Connor Gymnastics Academy.
Gabby Douglas
Gabby Douglas was introduced to gymnastics by her older sister, and in just a few years, Gabby overtook her sister and became the Virginia state champion. She helped Team USA bring several gold medals, including at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. That year, she aslo had her own reality show called Douglas Family Gold. In 2022, she returned to training gymnastics.
Summer Sanders
You may recall Summer Sanders as the host of the Nickelodeon show Figure It Out, which made its debut in 1997. However, Sanders’ career started when she won four swimming medals at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. Her charisma on camera, coupled with her experience as an Olympic champion, made her an ideal sports commentator. Interestingly, Sanders began her commentary career while still competing in swimming, but has since retired from the sport.
Dara Torres
Dara Torres has won an impressive 12 Olympic medals, four of which are gold medals. While she was on the path for even more success, an injury forced her to stop swimming and she underwent surgery for her knees. Since retiring in 2012, she has pursued a modeling and worked as a TV correspondent. She still swims as part of charitable organization Swim Across America.
Allison Schmitt
With eight Olympic medals to her name, Allison Schmitt has emerged as a formidable force in swimming for the US team, and her success shows no signs of slowing down. Although she clinched a bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Games, her performance at the 2012 London Games was truly remarkable, where she earned five medals, including three golds and a world record-setting relay race. She won a bronze and a silver medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics.
Ryan Lochte
Ryan Lochte is a champion swimmer, but his career was marred by several controversies, including one at the 2016 Rio Olympics when he falsely claimed he was attacked. It cost him his spot on the team. However, he still has won 12 Olympic medals and in 2019, he appeared on Celebrity Big Brother. He has now founded his own swim event called the International Age Group Championship.
Katie Ledecky
Katie Ledecky has established herself as a dominant force in swimming, holding records in several events such as the 1500-meter, 800-meter, and 400-meter freestyle. With an impressive tally of 14 world records to her name, many of which she broke herself, Ledecky’s career trajectory suggests that she may continue to smash records for years to come. She first burst onto the scene at just 15 years old during the 2012 London Olympics, where she clinched a gold medal in the 800-meter freestyle race. Ledecky continued to shine at the 2016 Rio Games, winning four more gold medals. Her outstanding achievements have earned her a spot in the Associated Press’s Female Athlete of the Decade voting, where she was ranked behind only Simone Biles and Serena Williams.
Chen Ruolin
Chen Ruolin is a champion diver that holds five gold medals. In 2008, she won her first two gold medals, and her third and fourth at the 2012 Olympics. However, in 2016, following her fifth gold medal, a neck injury caused her to retire from the sport. She remains to this day one of three Chinese athletes that has won five gold medals. The Chinese diver is originally from Nantong, Jiangsu.
Gary Hall Jr.
Following in his father’s footsteps, Gary Hall Jr. made a name for himself as an Olympic swimmer, earning a remarkable five gold medals across three different Olympic Games. However, Hall is also remembered for his unique warm-up routine, which involved sporting a robe and boxing shorts and even shadowboxing and flexing for his fans. Although this routine landed him in hot water with a fine at the 2004 Games, perhaps it proved useful when he saved his sister’s life in a shark attack by punching the animal repeatedly until it swam away.
Missy Franklin
Missy Franklin is a champion swimmer who has won give gold medals. She first broke out onto the scene when she was just 17 years old at the 2012 London Games. She chose to represent Team USA over Team Canada, as she is a citizen of both countries. She won four of five gold medals in her first Olympics. In 2018, she retired from professional swimming and has since gotten married and had a child.
Janet Beth Evans
Janet Beth Evans was a swimming prodigy, quickly setting herself apart from the competition with her unconventional “windmill” swimming style, which ultimately helped her achieve greatness despite her smaller stature. Her perseverance and skill led her to earn two gold medals at both the 1988 and 1992 Olympic Games, solidifying her place in American swimming history as she defeated larger competitors, some of whom were later found to have used banned performance enhancers. In addition to her incredible career in the pool, Evans also played a key role in bringing the Olympics back to the United States, as Los Angeles was selected to host the 2028 Games.
Ian Thorpe
It might sound funny but Olympic swim champion Ian Thorpe is actually allergic to chlorine. Despite this, his talent shone through at the 2000 Sydney Olympics where he stood out. The Australian swimmer has won five gold medals and was even cited as Michael Phelps’ inspiration. He has since retired from swimming and has became an LGBT activist and is also a brand ambassador for Armani.
Natalie Coughlin
Before making her mark on the Olympic stage, Natalie Coughlin was already an accomplished NCAA swimming champion. However, it was at the 2004 Athens Olympics where she truly shone, bringing home two gold medals for the United States. Coughlin’s achievements continued at the following Olympics in Beijing, where she became the first woman to swim the 100-meter backstroke in under a minute. Beyond her swimming career, Coughlin has also found success as a model and television personality, serving as a spokesperson for CO2 Coconut Water and making appearances on popular shows like Iron Chef America and Chopped, where she even competed as a contestant.
Peggy Fleming
In 1968, Peggy Fleming became the Olympic figure skating champion, just two years after securing the world championship title. Since then, she has continued to skate professionally, performing in shows around the world. In addition to her skating career, Fleming has also served as a goodwill ambassador for the United States, visiting countries like the Soviet Union and China during the tense years of the Cold War. Today, she is still celebrated as one of America’s most beloved athletes, frequently invited to provide commentary during the Winter Games. In her personal life, Fleming also runs a winery with her husband.
Sarah Hughes
Sarah Hughes began ice skating at age three, as her father was a college hockey player. She won a gold medal just before her 17th birthday, becoming the first American woman to win an Olympic gold without first winning a world or US title in skating. Inspired by her mother becoming breast cancer survivor, Hughes has worked tirelessly to help raise awareness, even saying: “I always said that if I can get one person to get a mammogram, I’ve accomplished something.”
Sasha Cohen
Sasha Cohen won a silver medal at the 2006 Olympic Games in Turin. Despite originally training in gymnastics, Cohen began figure skating at the young age of seven. After retiring from competitive skating after 2006, she transitioned into entertainment and participated in Stars on Ice. Cohen attempted to make a comeback for the 2010 Olympics but was not chosen for the U.S. team. Since then, she has retired from skating and has focused on her passion for finance and presently serves as an associate at Morgan Stanley.
Meryl Davis
Meryl Davis won a gold medal at the 2014 Sochi Olympic games with her partner Charlie White. At the 2010 Olympics, they won a silver medal. The 2014 gold was the first for an American team at that event, which made them household names. David and White had been skating together since 1997. Davis has since retired, but the two still perform together at ice shows.
Charlie White
Davis’ partner Charlie White is a former hockey player who turned to ice dancing, which gave him an advantage. He made history with partner Davis when they became the first American duo to win gold at their event in the Olympic games. He married fellow ice dancer Tanith Belbin in 2015 and they had a son together in 2017.
Katarina Witt
Renowned figure skater Katarina Witt achieved legendary status by securing gold medals at the 1984 and 1988 Olympic Games while representing East Germany. However, after the fall of the Berlin Wall, it was revealed that the country’s secret police had provided her with various privileges, including cars, accommodations, and travel benefits, to prevent her from defecting. In 1994, she represented a reunified Germany at the Winter Olympics. In the years since, she has pursued other ventures, including modeling and making cameo appearances in movies like Jerry Maguire.
Yuna Kim
Yuna Kim’s recent figure skating career is nothing short of remarkable, with notable accomplishments including a gold medal win in 2010 and a silver medal in 2014 in the individual competition. Her exceptional talent on the ice earned her the nickname “Queen Yuna” and elevated her home country, South Korea, to new heights in the skating world. As a result, she is widely regarded as one of, if not the most recognized South Korean athlete worldwide. Despite retiring from competitive skating and not participating in the 2018 Winter Games held in South Korea, she still lit the Olympic cauldron that year. Currently, Kim remains busy with numerous endorsements and TV appearances. She married Ko Woo-rim in October 2022.
Brian Boitano
Prior to being immortalized in the South Park: Bigger, Longer, & Uncut film by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, Brian Boitano had already made a name for himself by defeating Brian Orser in the 1988 Winter Games. Both accomplished figure skaters had won World Championships, but it was Boitano who emerged victorious. Following the release of South Park, Boitano’s life changed significantly, as even those previously unfamiliar with figure skating now viewed him as a hero. Parker and Stone have expressed their admiration for Boitano, and he has reaped the benefits. Apart from skating, he has transitioned into a motivational speaker and chef, even making an appearance on the TV show What Would Brian Boitano Make?, whose title references his South Park appearance.