they are the best of the best when it
comes to ice and snow welcome to
watchmojo.com and today we’re counting
down our picks for the top 10 greatest
Winter Olympic athletes of all time
before we begin we publish new videos
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content for this list we’re taking a
look at the most impressive competitors
to ever participate in the Winter
Olympic Games as ranked by the active
times in their article the 50 greatest
winter Olympians we’re basing our list
on overall medal count as well as the
types of metals won so if your favourite
Winter Olympian only won a couple of
silvers they will not make the cut
number 10 Apolo Anton Ohno USA from 2002
to 2010 Apolo Anton Ohno dominated the
world of short-track speedskating
during that span he won eight Olympic
medals too gold to silver and four
bronze which means he’s tied for the
most by a short track speed skater in
Olympic history while he competed in
three Olympic Games Salt Lake City Turin
and Vancouver he’s arguably most famous
for the first in Salt Lake City Ohno won
a gold and a silver while also being a
key cog in two famous or infamous
finishes of course nowadays most people
know him best for his on-screen
accomplishments what with his 2007 win
on Dancing with the Stars and for his
time hosting minute to win it number
nine she had two Andrei emot– Norway as
will soon become apparent Norwegians and
winter sports go together like peanut
butter and jelly
the first Scandinavian athlete to make
our list is Sheetal Andre o moat and boy
did he ever clean up between 1992 and
2006 as the most decorated ski racer in
the country’s illustrious sporting
history almost brought home eight medals
during his time on the Olympic slopes
four of which were gold add to that
another 12 World Championship medals and
you have one seriously impressive
athlete incredibly all of emotes medals
were stolen from his home in 2003 but he
was able to retrieve them shortly
thereafter
and if you’re wondering no he didn’t
catch them on a ski slope thanks to his
insane skills number eight Rico grouse
Germany few by athletes have achieved
the same level of success as Rico grouse
a veteran of five Olympic Games between
1992 and 2006 grouse competed in four
different competitive formats individual
sprint pursuit and relay however it was
the latter where he made a name for
himself as one of the greatest by
athletes of his generation over that
14-year span
he and his varied cast of teammates
bagged four gold medals and one silver
in the event making him the only buy
athlete to win four golds in the relay
in the history of the Winter Olympics
number seven Eric Hyden USA if you’re
basing your picks for the greatest
Winter Olympic athletes of all time
solely on numbers then Eric Hyden might
not make the skating cut seeing is how
he only won five during his time as a
long track speed skater however context
is everything and the way the legendary
Hyden won his medals is crucial when
discussing his insane achievements he
won all five of his medals at the 1980
Games in Lake Placid when he was just 21
years old oh and they were all gold in
fact that year Hyden won more gold
medals himself than all but two
countries number six
klaudia peck Stein Germany Claudia Peck
Stein’s Olympic stats are the stuff of
legend as a speed skater she competed in
six Winter Olympics from 1992 to 2014
and in the process managed to win nine
medals five gold to silver to bronze and
set two Olympic records her haul was
good enough to make her the most
decorated German Winter Olympian of all
time and the most decorated speed skater
ever as well it’s important to mention
that she didn’t even compete at the 2010
Olympics due to a ban for blood doping a
charge she’s continually denied but in
2018 she made a return to the Olympics
competing at almost 46 years old number
five
Raisa smitten inna USSR and the unified
team
one word comes to mind when you think of
it Isis met Annina winner a
cross-country skier sometta Nina
competed for both the Soviet Union and
the unified team of former Soviet
republics between 1976 and 1992 it was
during those years that she became the
woman of firsts that we know today
Antonina is the first female athlete to
win a whopping 10 Olympic medals and
when she won gold at the age of 39 in
Albertville in 1992 she became at that
time the oldest female winner in Winter
Olympic history so basically Iesus Mehta
Nina was badass
number four stephania Belmondo italy
remember when we said that Raisa Smitha
Nina was the first Olympian to win ten
medals guess who was second standing at
just five feet two inches tall
Stefania Belmondo was considered quite
small for the sport of cross-country
skiing but even so she won ten medals
spread across five Olympics making her
the most successful Italian Winter
Olympic athlete of all time
her career included a multi-year hiatus
brought on by a disappointing turn at
the 94 Games and by disappointing we
mean she only won a couple of bronze
medals the incomparable talent capped
off her career in 2002 by winning gold
in Salt Lake City number three only
einar bjørndalen Norway bare with us
here because only einar bjørndalen has
accomplished a lot the norwegian
biathlete holds the record for most
medals won by a Winter Olympian with 13
and is tied with Bjorn Dahle for the
most gold medals of all time with eight
Buuren Dawn’s Olympic career began in
1994 but he didn’t get his first taste
of gold until four years later from
there he began to amass medals at an
alarming rate until one day he found
himself looking down on every other buy
athlete in history unfortunately he
didn’t qualify for the 2018 Olympics in
Pyeongchang so he won’t be adding to his
totals number two Sonja Henie Norway
quick what were you doing when you were
11 years old
if your answer was competing at the 1924
Winter Olympics and sham Oney France
congratulations your Norwegian figure
skating legend Sonja Henie that’s right
penny competed in her first Olympic
at the tender age of eleven and although
she finished dead last she just kept on
truckin
well skating she eventually won gold in
1928 1932 and 1936 and finished her
career as the most decorated female
figure skater she went on to achieve
success in Hollywood as well starring in
numerous films before her untimely death
in 1969 number one Bjorn dolly Norway
Norway yes way if our lists were an
Olympic podium then Norway just pulled
off the sweep coming in at number one is
Bjorn dolly winner of twelve Olympic
medals between 1992 and 1998 tack on an
additional 17 World Championship medals
and you have the most metaled
cross-country skier in history as
mentioned dolly is tied with Ollie einar
bjørndalen for the most medals in Winter
Olympics history but even with the tie
dolly is often considered one of the
greatest Olympians of all time winter or
summer he’s managed to translate his
success on snow into even greater
success in business as his companies
have made him one of the 400 richest
you [Music]