Michael Phelps

Michael Phelps is the most decorated Olympian in history with 23 gold medals and 28 total Olympic medals across five Games (2000–2016). At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, he won 8 gold medals in a single Games, outperforming #2 Mark Spitz's 1972 record of 7, and held or shared a staggering 39 world records during his career. His 8-gold haul in 2008 remains unmatched, and his 28 total Olympic medals are 19 more than the average top-tier swimmer, cementing his place as the undisputed greatest swimmer of all time.