The best known long-distance swim in the world is a crossing of the English Channel, connecting Dover, England and either Calais or Cap Griz Nez, France. It was first done in 1875 by Matthew Webb, but it was another 36 years before the feat was repeated, this time by Bill Burgess, a British swimmer who had competed at the 1900 Olympics, making him the first Olympian to swim the Channel.
Since that time, it has been performed multiple times by Olympians, as one would expect. In 1926 Trudy Ederle, who had won 2 bronze medals and a gold medal at the 1924 Olympics, became the first woman to make the crossing, swimming from Cap Griz Nez in France to Dover. Ederle was trained for her swim by Bill Burgess.
The most successful Olympic swimmer to have swum the English Channel was likely John Kinsella, who won a silver medal in the 1968 1,500 freestyle and a gold medal in the 1972 4×200 free relay. Kinsella crossed the Channel in 1979, swimming from England-to-France.
[table]
Athlete,Nation(s),Sport(s),Era,Channel Swims
Greta Andersen,DEN,SWI,1948-52,1957/58/59/64/65 Five successful attempts (Best 13:40). France-to-England in 1957/58/59; England-to-France in 1964/65.
Miguel Arrobas,POR,SWI,1992,2008 England-to-France (9:30).
Bill Burgess,GBR,SWI/WAP,1900,1911 England-to-France (22:35). Second swimmer to cross English Channel in 1911.
Petar Stoychev,BUL,SWI,2000-12,2006 England-to-France (7:21); 2007 England-to-France (6:57) – first crossing under 7 hours and record time from 2007-2012.
Edward Temme,GBR,WAP,1928-36,1927 France-to-England and 1934 England-to-France (15:34). First swimmer to cross English channel in both ways.
So we got asked what was the most common name for an Olympic athlete, which led to a little research into the names of Olympians.
First off, the answer to that question is Kim, the most common Korean name, with fully 597 Olympians so-named. Kim is followed by the second most common Korean name – Lee, although that name is used in other English-speaking nations as well. There have been 423 Lee Olympians. The remainder of the names used by more than 100 Olympians are as follows:
[table]
Name,Count
Kim,597
Lee,423
Li,277
Smith,260
Wang,151
Zhang,135
García,119
Andersson,117
González,111
Chen,110
Martin,108
Hansen,104
Liu,103
Park,103
Williams,101
Andersen,100
Singh,100
[/table]
Smith is the most common Anglo-Saxon name with 260 Olympians, although if we count the variants of Anderson (85) / Andersen (100) / Andersson (117), there are 302 of them. Another name that should be higher on the above list is Singh. Singh is the common male surname for Indian Sikhs, but it is often a compound surname, such as Singh Grewal. If you include all the Singhs with the compounds, there are 186 such Singh Olympians.
So what’s the shortest name of any Olympian. The award goes to North Korean table tennis player O Il who competed at the 2004 Athens Games. His name has only 3 letters. The only 4-letter names are E Jie, a 1992 Chinese female fencer, and Li Na, the well-known female Chinese tennis player. In all, there have been 48 Olympians with a single-letter surname, all vowels, and every vowel is represented, as follows:
[table]
Name,###
O,36
U,8
A,2
E,1
I,1
[/table]
All 48 are from either China, Hong Kong, DPR Korea (North), or Chinese Taipei (Taiwan).
So which Olympian has had the longest name? This is a more difficult question with multiple sub-categories. If we include titles, such as the Duchess of Cambridge, who is not an Olympian, the answer is easy. The longest name belongs to 1920 Spanish polo player Jacobo Fitz-James. Fitz-James has a title, in fact, he has a few titles, or more properly, he’s got a whole slew of them. His title is fully: XVII Duque de Alba de Tormes, 10th Duke of Berwick, Duque de Arjona, XVII Duque de Huescar, X Duque de Liria y Jérica, Duque de Montoro, XIII Conde-Duque de Olivares, Marqués del Carpio, Conde de Baños, Conde de Lemos, Conde de Lerín, Conde de Miranda del Castanar, Conde de Monterrey, Conde de Osorno, Conde de Siruela, Condestable de Navarra, XI Marqués de la Algaba, Marqués de Andrade, Marqués de Ardales, Marqués de Ayala, XIII Marqués de Barcarrota, Marqués de Casarrubios del Monte, XVIII Marqués de Coria, Marqués de Eliche, Marqués de Fuentes de Valdepero, Marqués de Fuentiduena, Marqués de Galve, Marqués de los Gelves, Marqués de Mirallo, Marqués de Modica, Marqués de la Mota, Marqués de Moya, Marqués de Osera, Marqués de Piedrahita, Marqués de Salvatierra, Marqués de San Esteban de Gormaz, Marqués de San Leonardo, Marqués de Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Marqués de Sárria, Marqués de Tarazona, Marqués de Valdunquillo, Marqués de Villalba, Marqués de Villanueva del Fresno, Marqués de Villanueva del Río, 10th Earl of Tinmouth, Vizconde de la Calzada, 10th Baron of Bosworth, Caballero del Orden del Toisón de Oro. Which takes up 1,126 characters – and most of a page on this blog.
So let’s omit titles. Now we have to look at what we term Used Names and Full Names. A Used Name is something like Carl Lewis, while his Full Name is Frederick Carleton “Carl” Lewis. Again we have a problem defining terms – should we include the female athletes with multiple hyphenated married names? If we do, the Olympian with the longest Used Name is Slovakian biathlete Martina Jašicová-Schwarzbacherová-Halinárová – 36 characters long.
If we omit hyphenated names, the longest used names are Patricia Galvin de la Tour d’Auvergne, an American equestrienne from 1960-64, and Jacques De Wykerslooth De Rooyesteyn, a 1924 Belgian modern pentathlete. But Galvin de la Tour d’Auvergne is her name after marriage (she was born Patricia Galvin), so De Wykerslooth De Rooyesteyn becomes the longest Used Name (28 characters).
But looking at non-hyphenated and non-compound names, we have three women with Used Names of 20+ characters, led by the Malagasy swimmer (2004-08) Tojohanitra Andriamanjatoarimanana (22), then the Thai weightlifter (2008) Prapawadee Jaroenrattanatarakoon (21), and finally the 1992 Fijian judoka Asenaca Lesivakaruakitotoiya (20). Among men, the two longest are 1972-76 Indian hockey player Govinda Billimogaputtaswamy (19) and 1948 Greek fencer Nikolaos Khristogiannopoulos (19).
Looking at Full Names, the two longest are two Liechtensteiner alpine skiiers – Max Emanuel Maria Alexander Vicot Bruno de la Santisima Trinidad y Todos los Santos von Hohenlohe Langenburg (107), and Konstantin Franz Nikolaus Karl Heinrich Dagobert Anton von Padua Ildefons Maria von Liechtenstein (96). For the record, their surnames are, respectively, von Hohenlohe Langenburg and von Padua Ildefons Maria von Liechtenstein.
If we again try to be restrictive and omit compound surnames, or those with particles (de, von, etc.), the longest full name belongs to an Austrian shooter from 1952-64 – Ladislaus Peter Maria Gabriel Antonius Benedikt Bonaventura Szapáry (66). The American record belongs to the renowned swimmer Duke Paoa Kahino Makoe Hulikohoa Kahanamoku, with a 42-character name.
So there you have it. Which proves, if nothing else, that its dangerous to ask the OlyMADMen a seemingly simple question about Olympic statistics.
With the Gay Games starting next week, and five-time Olympic Champion Ian Thorpe coming out in an interview, we were curious how many LGBT Olympians there are. While about 2-3% of people identify themselves as homosexual (per this study), Olympic athletes who have are publicly declared this – either before or after their Olympic career – are much rarer than that.
With over 10,000 athletes competing at the Summer Olympics every four years, one could expect around 250 athletes to be lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender (LGBT), assuming the figures of the general population also hold for Olympic athletes. However, at this point we have only identified 170 LGBT Olympians in total competing since 1896.
Approach
Of course, we are quite certain this number is wrong. Unlike, for example, birth dates or an athlete’s height, sexual preferences are not recorded for any of the competitors. That means that for our figures, we are dependent on athletes publicly “coming out” about their sexuality. And of course, many LGBT athletes will not come out in public, for various good reasons. First of all, disclosing information about your personal life is something many people avoid, homosexual or not. Furthermore, many athletes compete as youngsters, who may still be discovering their sexuality, or may focus on their sport as they train to achieve their Olympic goals.
On a darker note, many LGBT athletes may decide to keep their sexual orientation a secret. In many countries, homosexuality is still taboo – or even considered a criminal offense. Even if it has been accepted by the general public, the athlete in question may not feel comfortable coming out to their families or friends. And, finally, the sports world does have a reputation for being “anti-gay”. Especially in male-dominated sports, competitors may be afraid for homophobia or awkward situations in the locker room. Fortunately, this is slowly changing, as evidenced by coming-outs in male sports like basketball, rugby and football (both kinds).
So, how did we compose our list? We’ve used two main sources for this:
The athlete needs to have actually competed in the Olympics (excluding alternates, non-starters and Paralympians)
Given the sensitivity of the topic, there needs to be clear evidence the athlete was LGBT, such as an interview with the athlete, a known partner, etc.
A number of athletes from the above sources have been excluded for not meeting one of the two inclusion criteria, notably several athletes who were often rumored to be gay without any form of confirmation. Of course, we have almost certainly made errors here (either by including or excluding people), and we apologize upfront for those.
The first known LGBT Olympian, who competed in the 1928 Olympics, was German track athlete Otto Peltzer, later convicted for homosexual acts on several occasions. Since then, the numbers have gradually risen, with 47 known LGBT competitors at the Sydney 2000 Olympics as the highest number to date. Do note that the numbers for more recent Olympics are most likely to rise, as many athletes – like Thorpe – still come out after their competitive career.
Number of LGBT Summer Olympians
The rise in LGBT participation started in the 1980s, which coincides with the organization of the first Gay Games. Initiated by Olympic decathlete Tom Waddell, the Gay Games were founded as the Gay Olympic Games, but the USOC, in protection of the “Olympic” trademark, forced Waddell to change the name shortly before the first edition in 1982, held in San Francisco. The 9th edition is due to open on August 9, in Cleveland, with an estimated 10,000 athletes competing. Waddell, who himself won a gold medal at the 1986 Gay Games, sadly died of AIDS in 1987.
The first LGBT Winter Olympian was U.S. figure skater Ronnie Robertson, known for his relationship with actor Tab Hunter. Like at the Summer Olympics, the number has steadily risen, with a peak of 14 in 2006 and 2010.
Number of LGBT Winter Olympians
One finding worth noting is that almost two thirds of the known LGBT Olympians are women (110 out of 170), which is remarkable given the fact that more men than women compete in the Olympics (certainly historically speaking). We do not know why this is. Homosexuality might be more accepted among women (or women athletes) then among men. Or maybe the stereotypical, more masculine, lesbian woman is more likely to to be drawn to sports than the stereotypical more feminine gay man? Or perhaps our sources were more likely to include lesbian athletes?
So, which sports have drawn the most LGBT athletes? Perhaps surprisingly, this is football (that’s soccer to you Americans) with 23 – of which only two men. Two major participant sports, athletics and swimming both have 14 LGBT athletes, while figure skating (perhaps not a surprise) is the most popular winter sport with 13.
It may not be a shock to anybody that virtually all of the LGBT competitors come from Western Europe, North America or Oceania. With 41, the US has the most known LGBT competitors, which is in line with the fact that the United States have by far the largest collection of Olympians within its borders (9000+). Canada has 19, followed by Germany and Netherlands (both 16). Outside of the earlier mentioned zones, there are three Brazilians, one Dominican, one Israeli, a Puerto Rican, five South Africans and a Tongan.
Olympic Successes
Out of the 170 LGBT athletes, 43 have won one or more gold medals. Most successful is the earlier mentioned Ian Thorpe, who claimed five golds, three silvers and a bronze. He is followed by Dutch speed skater Ireen Wüst, who has almost the same tally, but with 4 golds. Famed US diver Greg Louganis also earned four golds, as did Canadian hockey player Jayna Hefford. In total, 93 of the 170 athletes on our list have medaled at least once.
A small group of athletes deserves special mention here. These are athletes that were either born with both male and female characteristics (intersexual) or who chose to change their gender through surgery (transgender).
High jumper Dora Ratjen, an intersexual, was (incorrectly) exposed as a man and stripped of her titles. Contemporary sprinter Stanisława Walasiewicz was shot by muggers, revealing her intersexual characteristics decades after her athletic successes. She had coached fellow Polish sprinter Ewa Kłobukowska, who in 1966 failed the then new “sex test”. These tests were always controversial (later editions of the test would have accepted Kłobukowska, for example), and were eventually abolished. This paved the way for Brazilian judoka Edinanci da Silva to compete in women’s judo at four consecutive Olympics.
Sydney 2000 participant Yvonne Buschbaum is the only transgender Olympian known thusfar. After her participation, the pole vaulter underwent surgery, and is now known as Balian Buschbaum.
The full list
Below is a year-by-year list of competitors, starting in 1928 and ending in 2014. As noted before, we do apologize for any incorrect information in this table – please leave a comment if you have a correction. We have tried to be very careful to be certain the athletes are out, as we do not wish to cause any problems for athletes related to their sexuality, and fully respect their privacy.
[table]
Athlete,Gender,NOC,Sport,Year,Season,Gold,Silver,Bronze
Otto Peltzer,M,GER,ATH,1928,S,,,
Otto Peltzer,M,GER,ATH,1932,S,,,
Stanisława Walasiewicz,F,POL,ATH,1932,S,1,,
Dora Ratjen,F,GER,ATH,1936,S,,,
Stanisława Walasiewicz,F,POL,ATH,1936,S,,1,
Ernst Van Heerden,M,RSA,ART,1948,S,,1,
Kin Hoitsma,M,USA,FEN,1956,S,,,
Susan Gray,F,USA,SWI,1956,S,,,
Ronnie Robertson,M,USA,FSK,1956,W,,1,
Norman Elder,M,CAN,EQU,1960,S,,,
Ewa Kłobukowska,F,POL,ATH,1964,S,1,,1
Marion Lay,F,CAN,SWI,1964,S,,,
Ondrej Nepela,M,TCH,FSK,1964,W,,,
Tom Waddell,M,USA,ATH,1968,S,,,
Norman Elder,M,CAN,EQU,1968,S,,,
Karin Janz,F,GDR,GYM,1968,S,,1,1
Marion Lay,F,CAN,SWI,1968,S,,,1
Ondrej Nepela,M,TCH,FSK,1968,W,,,
Scott Cranham,M,CAN,DIV,1972,S,,,
Karin Janz,F,GDR,GYM,1972,S,2,2,1
Peter Prijdekker,M,NED,SWI,1972,S,,,
Mark Chatfield,M,USA,SWI,1972,S,,,
Toller Cranston,M,CAN,FSK,1972,W,,,
John Curry,M,GBR,FSK,1972,W,,,
Ondrej Nepela,M,TCH,FSK,1972,W,1,,
Gail Marquis,F,USA,BAS,1976,S,,1,
Scott Cranham,M,CAN,DIV,1976,S,,,
Greg Louganis,M,USA,DIV,1976,S,,1,
Olivier Rouyer,M,FRA,FTB,1976,S,,,
Betty Baxter,F,CAN,VOL,1976,S,,,
Toller Cranston,M,CAN,FSK,1976,W,,,1
John Curry,M,GBR,FSK,1976,W,1,,
Randy Gardner,M,USA,FSK,1976,W,,,
Brian Pockar,M,CAN,FSK,1980,W,,,
Sabine Braun,F,FRG,ATH,1984,S,,,
Beate Peters,F,FRG,ATH,1984,S,,,
Greg Louganis,M,USA,DIV,1984,S,2,,
Robert Dover,M,USA,EQU,1984,S,,,
Holly Metcalf,F,USA,ROW,1984,S,1,,
Bruce Hayes,M,USA,SWI,1984,S,1,,
Rob McCall,M,CAN,FSK,1984,W,,,
Brian Orser,M,CAN,FSK,1984,W,,1,
Brian Boitano,M,USA,FSK,1984,W,,,
Edel Therese Høiseth,F,NOR,SSK,1984,W,,,
Brian Marshall,M,CAN,ATH,1988,S,,,
Sabine Braun,F,FRG,ATH,1988,S,,,
Beate Peters,F,FRG,ATH,1988,S,,,
Petra Rossner,F,GDR,CYC,1988,S,,,
Craig Rogerson,M,AUS,DIV,1988,S,,,
Patrick Jeffrey,M,USA,DIV,1988,S,,,
Greg Louganis,M,USA,DIV,1988,S,2,,
Robert Dover,M,USA,EQU,1988,S,,,
Sherry Cassuto,F,USA,ROW,1988,S,,,
Mark Tewksbury,M,CAN,SWI,1988,S,,1,
Dan Veatch,M,USA,SWI,1988,S,,,
Tine Scheuer-Larsen,F,DEN,TEN,1988,S,,,
Rob McCall,M,CAN,FSK,1988,W,,,1
Brian Orser,M,CAN,FSK,1988,W,,1,
Brian Boitano,M,USA,FSK,1988,W,1,,
Edel Therese Høiseth,F,NOR,SSK,1988,W,,,
Sabine Braun,F,GER,ATH,1992,S,,,1
Mark Leduc,M,CAN,BOX,1992,S,,1,
Petra Rossner,F,GER,CYC,1992,S,1,,
Craig Rogerson,M,AUS,DIV,1992,S,,,
Carl Hester,M,GBR,EQU,1992,S,,,
Blyth Tait,M,NZL,EQU,1992,S,,1,1
Robert Dover,M,USA,EQU,1992,S,,,1
Alyson Annan,F,AUS,HOK,1992,S,,,
Carole Thate,F,NED,HOK,1992,S,,,
Irene de Kok,F,NED,JUD,1992,S,,,1
Mark Tewksbury,M,CAN,SWI,1992,S,1,,1
Conchita Martínez,F,ESP,TEN,1992,S,,1,
Gigi Fernandez,F,USA,TEN,1992,S,1,,
Joan Guetschow,F,USA,BIA,1992,W,,,
Edel Therese Høiseth,F,NOR,SSK,1992,W,,,
Geert Blanchart,M,BEL,STK,1992,W,,,
Joan Guetschow,F,USA,BIA,1994,W,,,
Brian Boitano,M,USA,FSK,1994,W,,,
Edel Therese Høiseth,F,NOR,SSK,1994,W,,,
Chris Witty,F,USA,SSK,1994,W,,,
Geert Blanchart,M,BEL,STK,1994,W,,,
Lisa-Marie Vizaniari,F,AUS,ATH,1996,S,,,
Sabine Braun,F,GER,ATH,1996,S,,,
Kajsa Bergqvist,F,SWE,ATH,1996,S,,,
Sheryl Swoopes,F,USA,BAS,1996,S,1,,
Natalie Cook,F,AUS,BVO,1996,S,,,1
Michelle Ferris,F,AUS,CYC,1996,S,,1,
Graeme Obree,M,GBR,CYC,1996,S,,,
Judith Arndt,F,GER,CYC,1996,S,,,1
Patrick Jeffrey,M,USA,DIV,1996,S,,,
David Pichler,M,USA,DIV,1996,S,,,
Blyth Tait,M,NZL,EQU,1996,S,1,,1
Robert Dover,M,USA,EQU,1996,S,,,1
Guenter Seidel,M,USA,EQU,1996,S,,,1
Linda Medalen,F,NOR,FTB,1996,S,,,1
Bente Nordby,F,NOR,FTB,1996,S,,,1
Pia Sundhage,F,SWE,FTB,1996,S,,,
Lena Videkull,F,SWE,FTB,1996,S,,,
Kris Burley,M,CAN,GYM,1996,S,,,
Camilla Andersen,F,DEN,HAN,1996,S,1,,
Alyson Annan,F,AUS,HOK,1996,S,1,,
Carole Thate,F,NED,HOK,1996,S,,,1
Edinanci da Silva,F,BRA,JUD,1996,S,,,
Daniel Kowalski,M,AUS,SWI,1996,S,,1,2
Rennae Stubbs,F,AUS,TEN,1996,S,,,
Conchita Martínez,F,ESP,TEN,1996,S,,,1
Gigi Fernandez,F,USA,TEN,1996,S,1,,
Nancy Drolet,F,CAN,ICH,1998,W,,1,
Jayna Hefford,F,CAN,ICH,1998,W,,1,
Erika Holst,F,SWE,ICH,1998,W,,,
Ylva Lindberg,F,SWE,ICH,1998,W,,,
Stine Brun Kjeldaas,F,NOR,SNB,1998,W,,1,
Marieke Wijsman,F,NED,SSK,1998,W,,,
Edel Therese Høiseth,F,NOR,SSK,1998,W,,,
Chris Witty,F,USA,SSK,1998,W,,1,1
Lisa-Marie Vizaniari,F,AUS,ATH,2000,S,,,
Sabine Braun,F,GER,ATH,2000,S,,,
Yvonne Buschbaum,F,GER,ATH,2000,S,,,
Kajsa Bergqvist,F,SWE,ATH,2000,S,,,1
Peter Häggström,M,SWE,ATH,2000,S,,,
Sheryl Swoopes,F,USA,BAS,2000,S,1,,
Orlando Cruz,M,PUR,BOX,2000,S,,,
Natalie Cook,F,AUS,BVO,2000,S,1,,
Michelle Ferris,F,AUS,CYC,2000,S,,1,
Judith Arndt,F,GER,CYC,2000,S,,,
Petra Rossner,F,GER,CYC,2000,S,,,
Ina-Yoko Teutenberg,F,GER,CYC,2000,S,,,
Chris Witty,F,USA,CYC,2000,S,,,
Mathew Helm,M,AUS,DIV,2000,S,,,
David Pichler,M,USA,DIV,2000,S,,,
Carl Hester,M,GBR,EQU,2000,S,,,
Arjen Teeuwissen,M,NED,EQU,2000,S,,1,
Blyth Tait,M,NZL,EQU,2000,S,,,
Paul O’Brien,M,NZL,EQU,2000,S,,,
Robert Dover,M,USA,EQU,2000,S,,,1
Guenter Seidel,M,USA,EQU,2000,S,,,1
Robert Costello,M,USA,EQU,2000,S,,,
Imke Duplitzer,F,GER,FEN,2000,S,,,
Inka Grings,F,GER,FTB,2000,S,,,1
Steffi Jones,F,GER,FTB,2000,S,,,1
Bente Nordby,F,NOR,FTB,2000,S,1,,
Victoria Svensson,F,SWE,FTB,2000,S,,,
Camilla Andersen,F,DEN,HAN,2000,S,1,,
Lotte Kiærskou,F,DEN,HAN,2000,S,1,,
Mia Hundvin,F,NOR,HAN,2000,S,,,1
Alyson Annan,F,AUS,HOK,2000,S,1,,
Helen Richardson,F,GBR,HOK,2000,S,,,
Kate Walsh,F,GBR,HOK,2000,S,,,
Carole Thate,F,NED,HOK,2000,S,,,1
Marilyn Agliotti,F,RSA,HOK,2000,S,,,
Edinanci da Silva,F,BRA,JUD,2000,S,,,
Lauren Meece,F,USA,JUD,2000,S,,,
Daniel Kowalski,M,AUS,SWI,2000,S,1,,
Ian Thorpe,M,AUS,SWI,2000,S,3,2,
Francilla Agar,F,DMA,SWI,2000,S,,,
Johan Kenkhuis,M,NED,SWI,2000,S,,,1
Rennae Stubbs,F,AUS,TEN,2000,S,,,
Conchita Martínez,F,ESP,TEN,2000,S,,,
Amélie Mauresmo,F,FRA,TEN,2000,S,,,
Eleni Daniilidou,F,GRE,TEN,2000,S,,,
Ji Wallace,M,AUS,TMP,2000,S,,1,
Stacy Sykora,F,USA,VOL,2000,S,,,
Anja Pärson,F,SWE,ASK,2002,W,,1,1
Vibeke Skofterud,F,NOR,CCS,2002,W,,,
Jayna Hefford,F,CAN,ICH,2002,W,1,,
Erika Holst,F,SWE,ICH,2002,W,,,1
Ylva Lindberg,F,SWE,ICH,2002,W,,,1
Stine Brun Kjeldaas,F,NOR,SNB,2002,W,,,
Marieke Wijsman,F,NED,SSK,2002,W,,,
Chris Witty,F,USA,SSK,2002,W,1,,
Rob Newton,M,GBR,ATH,2004,S,,,
Sheryl Swoopes,F,USA,BAS,2004,S,1,,
Natalie Cook,F,AUS,BVO,2004,S,,,
Leigh-Ann Naidoo,F,RSA,BVO,2004,S,,,
Judith Arndt,F,GER,CYC,2004,S,,1,
Mathew Helm,M,AUS,DIV,2004,S,,1,1
Carl Hester,M,GBR,EQU,2004,S,,,
Blyth Tait,M,NZL,EQU,2004,S,,,
Robert Dover,M,USA,EQU,2004,S,,,1
Guenter Seidel,M,USA,EQU,2004,S,,,1
Darren Chiacchia,M,USA,EQU,2004,S,,,1
Imke Duplitzer,F,GER,FEN,2004,S,,1,
Sarah Walsh,F,AUS,FTB,2004,S,,,
Steffi Jones,F,GER,FTB,2004,S,,,1
Victoria Svensson,F,SWE,FTB,2004,S,,,
Abby Wambach,F,USA,FTB,2004,S,1,,
Angela Hucles,F,USA,FTB,2004,S,1,,
Lotte Kiærskou,F,DEN,HAN,2004,S,1,,
Rikke Skov,F,DEN,HAN,2004,S,1,,
Chantal de Bruijn,F,NED,HOK,2004,S,,1,
Edinanci da Silva,F,BRA,JUD,2004,S,,,
Ian Thorpe,M,AUS,SWI,2004,S,2,1,1
Dominik Koll,M,AUT,SWI,2004,S,,,
Johan Kenkhuis,M,NED,SWI,2004,S,,1,
Rennae Stubbs,F,AUS,TEN,2004,S,,,
Conchita Martínez,F,ESP,TEN,2004,S,,1,
Amélie Mauresmo,F,FRA,TEN,2004,S,,1,
Eleni Daniilidou,F,GRE,TEN,2004,S,,,
Lisa Raymond,F,USA,TEN,2004,S,,,
Martina Navratilova,F,USA,TEN,2004,S,,,
Stacy Sykora,F,USA,VOL,2004,S,,,
Anja Pärson,F,SWE,ASK,2006,W,1,,2
Jeff Buttle,M,CAN,FSK,2006,W,,,1
Johnny Weir,M,USA,FSK,2006,W,,,
Matt Savoie,M,USA,FSK,2006,W,,,
Ryan O’Meara,M,USA,FSK,2006,W,,,
Jayna Hefford,F,CAN,ICH,2006,W,1,,
Charlie Labonté,F,CAN,ICH,2006,W,1,,
Erika Holst,F,SWE,ICH,2006,W,,1,
Ylva Lindberg,F,SWE,ICH,2006,W,,1,
Kathleen Kauth,F,USA,ICH,2006,W,,,1
Caitlin Cahow,F,USA,ICH,2006,W,,,1
Cheryl Maas,F,NED,SNB,2006,W,,,
Ireen Wüst,F,NED,SSK,2006,W,1,,1
Chris Witty,F,USA,SSK,2006,W,,,
Seimone Augustus,F,USA,BAS,2008,S,1,,
Natalie Cook,F,AUS,BVO,2008,S,,,
Larissa,F,BRA,BVO,2008,S,,,
Judith Arndt,F,GER,CYC,2008,S,,,
Mathew Helm,M,AUS,DIV,2008,S,,,
Matt Mitcham,M,AUS,DIV,2008,S,1,,
Tom Daley,M,GBR,DIV,2008,S,,,
Hans Peter Minderhoud,M,NED,EQU,2008,S,,1,
Imke Duplitzer,F,GER,FEN,2008,S,,,
Nadine Angerer,F,GER,FTB,2008,S,,,1
Linda Bresonik,F,GER,FTB,2008,S,,,1
Isabell Herlovsen,F,NOR,FTB,2008,S,,,
Victoria Svensson,F,SWE,FTB,2008,S,,,
Hedvig Lindahl,F,SWE,FTB,2008,S,,,
Caroline Seger,F,SWE,FTB,2008,S,,,
Nilla Fischer,F,SWE,FTB,2008,S,,,
Jessica Landström,F,SWE,FTB,2008,S,,,
Robbie Rogers,M,USA,FTB,2008,S,,,
Angela Hucles,F,USA,FTB,2008,S,1,,
Tasha Kai,F,USA,FTB,2008,S,1,,
Alexandra Lacrabère,F,FRA,HAN,2008,S,,,
Nina Wörz,F,GER,HAN,2008,S,,,
Katja Nyberg,F,NOR,HAN,2008,S,1,,
Gro Hammerseng,F,NOR,HAN,2008,S,1,,
Helen Richardson,F,GBR,HOK,2008,S,,,
Kate Walsh,F,GBR,HOK,2008,S,,,
Beth Storry,F,GBR,HOK,2008,S,,,
Marilyn Agliotti,F,NED,HOK,2008,S,1,,
Maartje Paumen,F,NED,HOK,2008,S,1,,
Edinanci da Silva,F,BRA,JUD,2008,S,,,
Vicky Galindo,F,USA,SOF,2008,S,,1,
Lauren Lappin,F,USA,SOF,2008,S,,1,
Dominik Koll,M,AUT,SWI,2008,S,,,
Rennae Stubbs,F,AUS,TEN,2008,S,,,
Casey Dellacqua,F,AUS,TEN,2008,S,,,
Eleni Daniilidou,F,GRE,TEN,2008,S,,,
Tzipora Obziler,F,ISR,TEN,2008,S,,,
Jess Harrison,F,FRA,TRI,2008,S,,,
Carole Péon,F,FRA,TRI,2008,S,,,
Stacy Sykora,F,USA,VOL,2008,S,,1,
Anja Pärson,F,SWE,ASK,2010,W,,,1
Vibeke Skofterud,F,NOR,CCS,2010,W,1,,
Barbara Jezeršek,F,SLO,CCS,2010,W,,,
Johnny Weir,M,USA,FSK,2010,W,,,
Jayna Hefford,F,CAN,ICH,2010,W,1,,
Sarah Vaillancourt,F,CAN,ICH,2010,W,1,,
Charlie Labonté,F,CAN,ICH,2010,W,1,,
Erika Holst,F,SWE,ICH,2010,W,,,
Caitlin Cahow,F,USA,ICH,2010,W,,1,
Callan Chythlook-Sifsof,F,USA,SNB,2010,W,,,
Anastasia Bucsis,F,CAN,SSK,2010,W,,,
Ireen Wüst,F,NED,SSK,2010,W,1,,
Sanne van Kerkhof,F,NED,STK,2010,W,,,
Blake Skjellerup,M,NZL,STK,2010,W,,,
Karen Hultzer,F,RSA,ARC,2012,S,,,
Nadine Müller,F,GER,ATH,2012,S,,,
Seimone Augustus,F,USA,BAS,2012,S,1,,
Nicola Adams,F,GBR,BOX,2012,S,1,,
Natalie Cook,F,AUS,BVO,2012,S,,,
Larissa,F,BRA,BVO,2012,S,,,1
Judith Arndt,F,GER,CYC,2012,S,,1,
Ina-Yoko Teutenberg,F,GER,CYC,2012,S,,,
Matt Mitcham,M,AUS,DIV,2012,S,,,
Tom Daley,M,GBR,DIV,2012,S,,,1
Carl Hester,M,GBR,EQU,2012,S,1,,
Edward Gal,M,NED,EQU,2012,S,,,1
Imke Duplitzer,F,GER,FEN,2012,S,,,
Casey Stoney,F,GBR,FTB,2012,S,,,
Portia Modise,F,RSA,FTB,2012,S,,,
Hedvig Lindahl,F,SWE,FTB,2012,S,,,
Caroline Seger,F,SWE,FTB,2012,S,,,
Nilla Fischer,F,SWE,FTB,2012,S,,,
Abby Wambach,F,USA,FTB,2012,S,1,,
Megan Rapinoe,F,USA,FTB,2012,S,1,,
Mayssa Pessoa,F,BRA,HAN,2012,S,,,
Rikke Skov,F,DEN,HAN,2012,S,,,
Alexandra Lacrabère,F,FRA,HAN,2012,S,,,
Helen Richardson,F,GBR,HOK,2012,S,,,1
Kate Walsh,F,GBR,HOK,2012,S,,,1
Beth Storry,F,GBR,HOK,2012,S,,,1
Marilyn Agliotti,F,NED,HOK,2012,S,1,,
Maartje Paumen,F,NED,HOK,2012,S,1,,
Carlien Dirkse van den Heuvel,F,NED,HOK,2012,S,1,,
Kim Lammers,F,NED,HOK,2012,S,1,,
Ari-Pekka Liukkonen,M,FIN,SWI,2012,S,,,
Amini Fonua,M,TGA,SWI,2012,S,,,
Casey Dellacqua,F,AUS,TEN,2012,S,,,
Lisa Raymond,F,USA,TEN,2012,S,,,1
Jess Harrison,F,FRA,TRI,2012,S,,,
Carole Péon,F,FRA,TRI,2012,S,,,
Barbara Jezeršek,F,SLO,CCS,2014,W,,,
Jayna Hefford,F,CAN,ICH,2014,W,1,,
Sarah Vaillancourt,F,CAN,ICH,2014,W,1,,
Charlie Labonté,F,CAN,ICH,2014,W,1,,
John Fennell,M,CAN,LUG,2014,W,,,
Daniela Iraschko-Stolz,F,AUT,SKJ,2014,W,,1,
Belle Brockhoff,F,AUS,SNB,2014,W,,,
Cheryl Maas,F,NED,SNB,2014,W,,,
Anastasia Bucsis,F,CAN,SSK,2014,W,,,
Ireen Wüst,F,NED,SSK,2014,W,2,3,
Sanne van Kerkhof,F,NED,STK,2014,W,,,
[/table]
Gérard Blitz competed at four Olympics Games as a swimmer and water polo player, appearing four times in water polo and three times in swimming. Blitz won four Olympic medals, three in water polo in 1920, 1924, and 1936, and adding a bronze in the 1920 100 metre backstroke swimming. In 1921 Blitz set a world record of 5:59.2 for the 400 metre backstroke, a mark which lasted until 1927. A Jewish athlete, he was one of the few Jews to win a medal at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Gérard Blitz was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1990.
Blitz’s older brother, Maurice Blitz, competed alongside Gérard in water polo at the 1920 and 1924 Olympics, winning silver medals both times. Maurice later became an international referee, conducting the Olympic final in 1932, and was a member of the Belgian Olympic Committee and swimming federation. In 1948, Maurice Blitz founded the swimming and waterpolo club Zwemclub Scaldis in Antwerp.
Maurice Blitz’s son, also Gérard Blitz, never competed at the Olympics, but became known during World War II as a resistance fighter with the French Resistance. After the war, Gérard Blitz became famous when he founded a vacation resort named Club Méditerranée, opening the first resort on Majorca, which later became franchised with the name shortened to Club Med. Gérard Blitz, the younger, also studied yoga, and became secretary and then president of the European Union of Yoga from 1974 until his death in 1990.
1948 Summer,Fencing,Individual Foil,6 Pool 2 Round 1/4
[/table]
As a teenager Nadia Boudesoque became a model for a fashion house in Paris. She later met Mexican colonel Antonio Haro (Oliva), who was stationed in Paris, and they married, with Boudesoque returning to Mexico. She continued to fence for sport, but after the 1948 London Olympics, where she represented Mexico, Boudesoque became an actress. She acted under the name Nadia Haro Oliva, appearing in multiple films in Mexico in the 1950s and 60s, notably “Misterios de la magia negra” (1957) and “El ángel exterminador” (1962). In the 1970s and 80s she turned more to acting on stage and television. She and her husband also owned and operated the Teatro Arlequín. Nadia Haro Oliva retired from acting after suffering a fall in 2004.
Olympians are people who have achieved success in their sports at the highest level. Such success often translates to other fields, and it is no surprise that numerous Olympians have succeeded outside of sports. With the name recognition that comes from their sports prowess, it is also no surprise that many Olympians have moved into politics. Many of them have served in their national legislatures.
This is a fairly difficult list to track but following is what we consider a fairly complete list. But we’ll accept additions to this list from anybody who has further information.
[table]
Athlete,Nation(s),Sport(s),Era,Notes
David Anderson,CAN,ROW,1960,Member of the Canadian Parliament from 1968 through 1972 and again from 1993 through 2006 (Liberal)
Wendell Anderson,USA,ICH,1956,Member of US Senate; Minnesota 1976-78 (Democrat)
Nancy Arendt-Kemp,LUX,SWI/TRI,1988-00,Member of Luxembourgish D’Chamber from 23 January 1996 through 8 June 1999 and 3 June 2003 through 5 June 2004 and since 3 August 2004 (CSV)
Taro Aso,JPN,SHO,1976,Shugiin (House of Representatives) 1979-83; since 1986 Liberal Democratic Party
John Jacob Astor,GBR,RAQ,1908,Member of the UK House of Commons 1922-45. Member of the UK House of Lords 1956-71 (Conservative)
Mehmet Ali Aybar,TUR,ATH,1928,Member of Turkish Meclis from 1965 through 1973 (TİP)
Badmaanyambuugiin Bat-Erdene,Mgl MGL,JUD,1988-00,Member of Mongolian Ulsyn Ikh Khural since 2004 (MAN)
Philip Baker,GBR,ATH,1912-,Member of the UK House of Commons 1929-31 and 1936-70 (Labour)
Richard Barnett,GBR,SHO,1908,Member of the UK House of Commons 1916-29 (Conservative)
John Pius Boland,GBR,TEN,1896,Member of the UK House of Commons 1900-18 (Irish Parliamentary Party)
Valeriy Borzov,URS,ATH,1972-76,Member of Ukrainian Rada from 1998 through 2006 (Rukh; SDPU(o))
Robert Bourne,GBR,ROW,1912,Member of the UK House of Commons 1924-38 (Conservative)
James Bowman,CAN,CUR,1932,Member of Canadian House of Commons 1930 through 1935 (Conservative)
Svetlana Boyarkina-Zhurova,RUS,SSK,1994-06,Member of Russian Duma since 2007 (Edinaya Rossiya)
József Bozsik,HUN,FTB,1952,Member of Hungarian Országgyűlés from 1950 through 1953 (MDP)
Bill Bradley,USA,BAS,1964,Member of US Senate; New Jersey; 1979-97 (Democrat)
Adam Brodecki,POL,FSK,1972,Member of Polish Sejm from 1989 through 1991 (PZPR)
Sergey Bubka,URS/UKR/EUN,ATH,1988-00,Member of Ukrainian Rada from 2002 through 2006 (PR)
David; Lord Burghley,GBR,ATH,1924-32,Member of the UK House of Commons 1931–1943. Member of the UK House of Lords 1956-81 (Conservative)
William Burns,CAN,CUR,1932,Member of Canadian House of Commons 1930 through 1935 (Conservative)
David Butler,ZIM,SAI,1960-64,Member of Rhodesian Legislative Assembly from 1962 through 11 November 1965 (UFP and RP)
Ben Campbell,USA,JUD,1964,Member of US Senate; Colorado; 1993-05 (Democrat/Republican)
Menzies Campbell,GBR,ATH,1964,Member of the UK House of Commons 1983- (Liberal 1983-88; Liberal Democrat 1988- )
Chris Chataway,GBR,ATH,1952-56,Member of the UK House of Commons 1959-66 and 1969-74 (Conservative)
Seb Coe,GBR,ATH,1980-84,Member of the UK House of Commons 1992-97; Member of the UK House of Lords 2000- (Conservative)
Eamonn Coghlan,IRL,ATH,1976-88,Member of the Irish Senate since 2011 (Fine Gael)
Amedeo D’Albora,ITA,ART,1936,Member of Italian Senato from 25 May 1958 through 15 May 1963 (Gruppo Misto; MSI; PDI)
William; Lord Desborough,GBR,FEN,1906,Member of the UK House of Commons 1880-1882; 1885-1886; 1892-1893 and 1900-05 (Liberal 1880-1893 Conservative 1900-05). Member of the UK House of Lords 1905-45.
Heike Drechsler,GDR/GER,ATH,1988-00,Member of East-German Volkskammer from 1986 through 1990 (FDJ)
Guy Drut,FRA,ATH/IOC,1972-76 / 1996 – Present,Member of French Assemblée nationale; Seine-et-Marne; 16 March 1986 through 25 June 2007 (RPR; UMP)
Arsen Fadzayev,URS/EUNUZB,WRE,1988-96,Member of Russian Duma from 2003 through 2011 (SPS; Edinaya Rossiya)
Pedro Figari,URU,ART,1932,Member of Uruguayan Cámara de Representantes from 1897 through 1905 (?) (Partido Colorado)
Anatoly Firsov,URS,ICH,1964-72,Member of USSR Syezd narodnykh deputatov SSSR from 1989 through 1991
Robert Fournier-Sarlovèze,FRA,POL,1900,Member of French Assemblée nationale; Oise; from 24 April 1910 through 31 May 1914 (Républicain Progressiste); 16 November 1919 through 31 May 1932 (ERD/URD)
Ruth Fuchs,GDR,ATH,1972-80,Member of East-German Volkskammer from 18 March 1990 through 2 October 1990 (PDS). Member of German Bundestag from 3 October 1990 through 20 December 1990 and from 11 March 1992 through 2002 (PDS)
Eberhard Gienger,FRG,GYM,1972-76,Member of German Bundestag since 22 September 2002 (CDU)
Oliver St. John Gogarty,IRL,ART,1924,Member of Irish Seanad Éireann from 1922 through 1936 (Cumann na nGaedheal)
Nancy Greene,CAN,ASK,1960-68,Member of Canadian Senate; British Columbia; since 2 January 2009 (Conservative)
John Gretton Jr.,GBR,SAI,1900,Member of the UK House of Commons 1895-06; 1907-43. Member of the UK House of Lords 1944-47 (Conservative)
Kelpo Gröndahl,FIN,WRE,1948-52,Member of Finnish Eduskunta from 20 February 1962 through 22 March 1970 (SKDL)
Gunnar Gundersen,Nor NOR,SWI,1976,Member of Norwegian Storting since 2005 (Høyre)
Dezső Gyarmati,HUN,WAP,1948-64,Member of Hungarian Országgyűlés from 1990 through 1994 (MDF)
Han Pil-Hwa,PRK,SSK,1964-72,Member of North-Korean Choego Inmin Hoe-ui from 1998 through ?
John Harun,KEN,SHO,1968-72,Member of Kenyan National Assembly; Kilome; from 2007 through 4 March 2013 (PICK)
Hiroshi Hase,JPN,WRE,1984,Shugiin (House of Representatives) since 2000 Liberal Democratic Party
Seiko Hashimoto,JPN,CYC/SSK,1984-96,Member of Japanese Sangiin since 26 July 1995 (LDP)
Heikki Hasu,FIN,CCS/NCO,1948-52,Member of Finnish Eduskunta from 20 February 1962 through 4 April 1966 and 25 April 1967 through 22 March 1970 (Suomen Keskusta)
Terry Higgins,GBR,ATH,1952,Member of the UK House of Commons 1964-97 (Conservative)
Manabu Horii,JPN,SSK,1994-02,Member of Japanese Shugiin since 17 December 2012 (LDP)
Robert Jaworski,PHI,BAS,1968,Member of 11th and 12th Congress of the Philippines from 1998 through 2004 (Independent)
Alina Kabayeva,RUS,RGY,2000-04,Member of Russian Duma since 2007 (Edinaya Rossiya)
Kunishige Kamamoto,JPN,FTB,1964-68,Shugiin (House of Councillors) 1995-98 Liberal Democratic Party
Pantelis Karasevdas,GRE,SHO,1896,Member of Greek Vouli ton Ellinon from 1910 through ? (Komma Fileleutheron)
Aleksandr Karelin,RUS/URS/EUN,WRE,1988-00,Member of Russian Duma since 1999 (Edinaya Rossiya)
Wilfred Kent-Hughes,Aus AUS,ATH,1920,Member of Australian House of Representatives; Chisholm; from 10 December 1949 through 31 July 1970 (Liberal)
Leri Khabelovi,RUS/URS/EUN,WRE,1988-96,Member of Georgian Sakartvelos parlament’i since 2012 (K’art’uli ots’neba – demokratiuli Sak’art’velo)
Makharbek Khadartsev,RUS/URS/EUN/UZB,WRE,1988-00,Member of Russian Duma since 21 December 2011 (Edinaya Rossiya)
Svetlana Khorkina,RUS,GYM,1996-04,Member of Russian Duma from 2007 through 2011 (Edinaya Rossiya)
Serik Konakbayev,URS,BOX,1980,Member of Kazakh Majilis from 1999 through 2012
Grigorios Lambrakis,GRE,ATH,1936,Member of the Greek Vouli ton Ellinon 1961 through 27 May 1963 (EDA)
Victor de Laveleye,BEL,HOK/TEN,1920-28,Member of Belgian Kamer van Volksvertegenwoordigers from 1939 through 14 December 1945 (Liberale Partij)
Bob Mathias,USA,ATH,1948-52,Member of US House of Representatives; California; 1967-75 (Republican)
Marjo Matikainen,FIN,CCS,1984-88,Member of Finnish Eduskunta from 19 March 2003 through 27 March 2003 and since 21 July 2004 (Kansallinen Kokoomus). Member of European Parliament from 11 November 1996 through 19 July 2004 (Kansallinen Kokoomus / ED)
Tom McMillen,USA,BAS,1972,Member of US House of Representatives; Maryland; 1987-93 (Democrat)
Pietro Mennea,ITA,ATH,1972-88,Member of European Parliament from 1999 through 2004 (I Democratic / ELDR)
Daniel Mérillon,FRA,GYM/SHO,1900-12,Member of French Assemblée nationale; Gironde; from 18 October 1885 through 11 November 1889 (Union républicaine)
Ralph Metcalfe,USA,ATH,1932-36,Member of US House of Representatives; Illinois; 1971-78 (Democrat)
Juha Mieto,FIN,CCS,1972-84,Member of Finnish Eduskunta from 21 March 2007 through 19 April 2011 (Suomen Keskusta)
Colin Lord Moynihan,GBR,ROW,1980-84,Member of the UK House of Commons 1983-92; Member of the UK House of Lords 1997- (Conservative)
Kenji Ogiwara,JPN,NCO,1992-02,Member of Japanese Sangiin from 26 July 2004 through 25 July 2010 (LDP)
Katsuo Okazaki,JPN,ATH,1924,Shugiin (House of Representatives) 1949-58 Liberal Democratic Party
Kiyoko Ono,JPN,GYM,1960-64,Shugiin (House of Councillors) 1986-98; 2001-07 Liberal Democratic Party
Rudolph Baron van Pallandt,Ned NED,SHO,1908,Member of Dutch Eerste Kamer from 20 September 1910 through 15 March 1913 (death) (CHU)
Vladimir Parfenovich,URS,CAN,1980,Member of Belarussian Palata Pradstawnikow from 2000 through ?
Zbigniew Pietrzykowski,POL,BOX,1956-64,Member of Polish Sejm from 14 October 1993 through 10 October 1997 (BdP)
Hugh Plaxton,CAN,ICH,1928,Member of Canadian House of Commons 14 October 1935 through 1940 (Liberal)
Pavel Ploc,TCH,SKJ,1984-88,Member of Czech Poslanecká sněmovna since 3 June 2006 (CSSD)
Payao Poontarat,THA,BOX,1976,Member of Thai from 2001 through his death (?) (Phak Prachathipat)
Rolf Rämgård,SWE,CCS,1960,Member of the Swedish Riksdag 1974 through 1985 (Centerpartiet)
Jozef Regec,TCH,CYC,1988,Member of Czech Senát since 23 October 2010 (CSSD; SPOZ)
Philip Richardson,GBR,SHO,1908-12,Member of the UK House of Commons 1922–1931 (Conservative)
Roman Rurua,URS,WRE,1964-68,Member of Georgian Sakartvelos parlament’i from 1999 though 2003 (Sportuli Sakartvelo)
Jim Ryun,USA,ATH,1964-72,Member of US House of Representatives; Kansas; 1996-07 (Republican)
Yasutaro Sakagami,JPN,WAP,1932-36,Shugiin (House of Representatives) 1958-76 Socialist Party
Viktor Savchenko,URS,BOX,1976-80,Member of Ukrainian Rada from 7 August 1994 through 12 May 1998 (Independent)
Friedel Schirmer,GER,ATH,1952,Member of German Bundestag from 28 September 1969 through 5 March 1983 (SPD)
Ilona Schoknecht-Slupianek,GDR,ATH,1976-80,Member of East German Volkskammer from 1976 through 1986 (FDJ)
Gustav-Adolf Schur,GER,CYC,1956-60,Member of East German Volkskammer 1958 through 1990 (FDJ; SED; PDS). Member of German Bundestag from 1998 through 2002 (PDS).
James Sharpe,AHO,ATH,1992,Member of Dutch Tweede Kamer 17 June 2010 through 19 November 2010 (PVV)
Jyotirmoyee Sikdar,IND,ATH,1996,Member of Indian Lok Sabha; Krishnanagar; from 2003 through 2009 (CPI(M))
Karni Singh,IND,SHO,1960-80,Member of Indian Lok Sabha; Bikaner; from 1952 through 1977 (Independent)
Jiří Šlégr,CZE/TCH,ICH,1992-98,Member of Czech Poslanecká sněmovna since 29 May 2010 through 14 June 2013 (CSSD; LEV 21)
Peter Šťastný,TCH/SVK,ICH,1980-94,Member of European Parliament since 2004 (SDKÚ-DS / EPP)
Marcus Stephen,NRU/SAM,WLT,1992-00,Member of Parliament of Nauru since 3 May 2003 (Independent)
Mieke Sterk,NED,ATH,1968,Member of Dutch Tweede Kamer 30 August 1994 through 19 May 1998 (PvdA)
Joe Sullivan,CAN,ICH,1928,Member of Canadian Senate; Ontario; from 12 October 1957 through 18 February 1985 (Progressive Conservative)
Jaan Talts,URS,WLT,1968-72,Member of Estonian Riigikogu from 11 March 1995 through 17 April 1995 and 6 November 1995 through 1 December 1996 (Eesti Reformierakond)
Jüri Tamm,EST/URS,ATH,1980-96,Member of Estonian Riigikogu 1999 through 2003 (Mõõdukad)
Harald Tammer,EST,ATH/WLT,1920-24,Member of the Estonian Rahvuskogu from 1937 through 1940
Ryoko Tamura-Tani,JPN,JUD,1992-08,Shugiin (House of Councillors) since 2013 Liberal Democratic Party
Masami Tanabu,JPN,ICH,1960-64,Shugiin (House of Representatives) 1979-96 various parties
Erica Terpstra,NED,SWI,1960-64,Member of Dutch Tweede Kamer 8 June 1977 through 22 August 1994 and 19 May 1998 through 15 December 2003 (both VVD)
Arto Tiainen,FIN,CCS,1956-68,Member of Finnish Eduskunta from 22 January 1970 through 22 March 1970 (SDP)
Daulet Turlykhanov,KAZ/URS/EUN,WRE,1988-96,Member of Kazakh Majilis from 1995 through 2004
Cenaida Uribe,Per PER,VOL,1988,Member of Peruvian Congreso de la República since 2006 (Partido Nacionalista Peruano)
Lasse Virén,FIN,ATH,1972-80,Member of Finnish Eduskunta from 24 March 1993 through 20 March 2007 and 19 October 2010 through 19 April 2011 (Kansallinen Kokoomus)
Ingrid Wendl,AUT,FSK,1956,Member of Austrian Nationalrat from 20 December 2002 through 29 October 2006 (ÖVP)
Ulla Werbrouck,BEL,JUD,1992-00,Member of Belgian Kamer van Volksvertegenwoordigers from 2007 through 2 July 2009 (LDD)
Jack Lord Wodehouse,GBR,POL,1908-,Member of the UK House of Commons 1906-10. Member of the UK House of Lords 1932-41 (Liberal)
James Snook, twice a shooting gold medalist at the 1920 Olympics, made national headlines in 1929 and 1930, but not for anything to do with his shooting ability. Snook was a 1908 graduate of the Ohio State Veterinary School and in 1920 was a professor of veterinary medicine at Ohio State. In June 1929 he was practicing at the Ohio State rifle range when he was arrested and accused of the murder of Theora K. Hix, a medical student at Ohio State.
It turned out that Snook and Hix had posed as man and wife for three years, sharing an apartment near the school’s campus. On 13 June 1929, Snook claimed that Hix asked him to divorce his wife and marry her, threatening to kill his wife and child if she was refused. Snook confessed to then beating Hix several times with a hammer before severing her jugular vein with a pocket-knife to “relieve her suffering.” On 14 August 1929 a jury deliberated only 28 minutes before finding Snook guilty of first degree murder. A week later he was sentenced to be put to death, and at 7:10 p.m. on 28 February 1930, he died in the electric chair at the Ohio State Penitentiary.
Recently I posted about the United States’ dominance of the all-time Olympic medal lists (hey, I’m a Merkan – give me a break). But there are some things that can be analyzed a bit more closely.
Firstly, the United States is the world’s 3rd most populous country, after China and India. It would stand to reason that a country with more people would have a larger pool from which to draw great athletes. The US is also the world’s 3rd (or possibly 4th) largest country, after Russia and Canada, although not certain if that has any effect. (China and the United States are almost the exact same size and sometimes China is listed the 3rd largest nation.)
Secondly, the United States is a wealthy country, with the world’s largest gross domestic product (GDP). Again, a country with great wealth has several advantages in terms of producing great athletes and Olympic medalists. Not only is there more money to support the athletes, theoretically, but people from wealthy nations typically have more leisure time allowing them to train more for sports.
So let’s look at the Olympic medal lists in a couple different ways. Remember that North America and Europe/International analyze medal lists differently – in North America the nations are ranked by 1) medals, 2) gold, 3) silver, and 4) bronze; while in Europe they are ranked by 1) gold, 2) silver, and 3) bronze. So we’ll compare lists both by total medals won and gold medals won (we can’t use silver and bronze well in the analysis that will follow).
Second, a caveat is in order. We are going to eliminate any nations that no longer exists – you’ll see why soon.
We will then look at medals won in terms of 1) medals won per capita, or divided by the nation’s population, to eliminate the advantage gained by larger nations; 2) medals won per GDP, to eliminate the advantage gained by wealthier nations; and 3) medals won per GDP per capita, which is probably a better way to measure a nation’s wealth.
Here is the basic top 25 medal list, uncorrected, with ranks on the left both in US system and the European system:
[table]
RankUS,RankEur,NOC,G,S,B,Meds
1,1,United States,1083,863,760,2706
2,2,Soviet Union,473,376,355,1204
3,3,Germany,292,326,312,930
4,4,Great Britain,254,288,287,829
5,6,France,250,265,314,829
6,5,Italy,243,206,231,680
7,8,Sweden,194,210,236,640
8,10,Russia,183,166,179,528
9,7,China,213,166,147,526
10,9,German Demo. Rep.,192,165,162,519
11,13,Australia,144,159,185,488
12,12,Hungary,169,151,170,490
13,11,Norway,174,162,142,478
14,14,Finland,145,147,175,467
15,15,Japan,140,143,160,443
16,16,Canada,122,156,167,445
17,17,The Netherlands,115,125,140,380
18,19,Switzerland,101,116,114,331
19,21,Austria,82,115,119,316
20,20,Romania,88,94,120,302
21,18,Korea (South),107,99,90,296
22,23,Poland,70,89,132,291
23,24,Fed. Rep. of Germany,67,82,94,243
24,26,Bulgaria,52,87,81,220
25,22,Cuba,71,65,66,202
[/table]
This is as we noted, with the USA on top, in both systems. We will eliminate the Soviet Union, Federal Republic of Germany (West), German Democratic Republic (East), and other non-extant nations, such as Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia. The reason now becomes more obvious – we are using current figures for population (2014) and gross domestic product (2013), and those figures don’t exist any more for those nations, and there is no good way to extrapolate to them. Here are the population, GDP, and GDP per capita figures (Source: US CIA Factbook) for the top 25 nations on the “raw” medal list:
[table]
NOC,Population,GDP,GDP PC,Status
United States,318892103,$16720000,$52800,
Soviet Union,,,,NLE
Germany,80996685,$3593000,$39500,
Great Britain,63742977,$2490000,$37300,
France,66259012,$2739000,$35700,
Italy,61680122,$2068000,$29600,
Sweden,9723809,$552000,$40900,
Russia,142470272,$2113000,$18100,
China,1355692576,$9330000,$9800,
German Democratic Republic,,,,NLE
Australia,22507617,$1488000,$43000,
Hungary,9919128,$130600,$19800,
Norway,5147792,$515800,$55400,
Finland,5268799,$259600,$35900,
Japan,127103388,$5007000,$37100,
Canada,34834841,$1825000,$43100,
The Netherlands,16877351,$800500,$41400,
Switzerland,8061516,$646200,$46000,
Austria,8223062,$417900,$42600,
Romania,21729871,$188900,$13200,
Korea (South),49039986,$1198000,$33200,
Poland,38346279,$513900,$21100,
Federal Republic of Germany,,,,NLE
Bulgaria,6924716,$53700,$14400,
Cuba,11047251,$72300,$10200,
[/table]
NLE=No Longer Exists
Here is what happens if we look at medals and gold medals per million population:
[table]
Rank,NOC,Meds,Meds/Pop
1,Liechtenstein,9,241.203
2,Norway,478,92.855
3,Finland,467,88.635
4,Sweden,640,65.818
5,Hungary,490,49.400
6,Switzerland,331,41.059
7,Austria,316,38.429
8,The Bahamas,12,37.286
9,Denmark,185,33.219
10,Estonia,40,31.798
11,Bulgaria,220,31.770
12,New Zealand,101,22.945
13,Jamaica,67,22.867
14,The Netherlands,380,22.515
15,Australia,488,21.682
16,Cuba,202,18.285
17,Slovenia,34,17.100
18,Belgium,155,14.833
19,Trinidad & Tobago,18,14.707
20,Bermuda,1,14.319
21,Romania,302,13.898
22,Greece,144,13.364
23,Great Britain,829,13.005
24,Canada,445,12.775
25,Iceland,4,12.604
[/table]
[table]
Rank,NOC,Gold,Gold/Pop
1,Liechtenstein,2,53.601
2,Norway,174,33.801
3,Finland,145,27.521
4,Sweden,194,19.951
5,Hungary,169,17.038
6,The Bahamas,5,15.536
7,Switzerland,101,12.529
8,Estonia,13,10.335
9,Austria,82,9.972
10,New Zealand,42,9.541
11,Grenada,1,9.078
12,Denmark,46,8.260
13,Bulgaria,52,7.509
14,The Netherlands,115,6.814
15,Cuba,71,6.427
16,Australia,144,6.398
17,Jamaica,17,5.802
18,Romania,88,4.050
19,Great Britain,254,3.985
20,Italy,243,3.940
21,Belgium,41,3.924
22,Luxembourg,2,3.841
23,France,250,3.773
24,Germany,292,3.605
25,Greece,38,3.526
[/table]
One thing of note above – the top nations are predominately winter sports nations. Liechtenstein, in particular, owes all of its medals to two winter sports families – the Wenzels and the Frommelts. Also, if you look at the two lists above, they are quite similar when using both ranking systems.
Now let’s look at how the nations do if we compare medals won per GDP, in million $:
[table]
Rank,NOC,Meds,Meds/GDP
1,Jamaica,67,4656.011
2,Bulgaria,220,4096.834
3,Hungary,490,3751.914
4,Cuba,202,2793.914
5,Mongolia,24,2154.399
6,Tonga,1,2096.436
7,Kenya,86,1898.036
8,Finland,467,1798.921
9,Liechtenstein,9,1760.219
10,Korea DPR (North),49,1750.000
11,Estonia,40,1647.446
12,Romania,302,1598.729
13,Georgia,25,1567.398
14,The Bahamas,12,1433.178
15,Belarus,91,1314.269
16,Grenada,1,1233.046
17,Sweden,640,1159.420
18,Armenia,12,1153.846
19,Ethiopia,45,950.570
20,Norway,478,926.716
21,Moldova,7,882.501
22,Latvia,26,855.826
23,Zimbabwe,8,763.359
24,Austria,316,756.162
25,Slovenia,34,726.185
[/table]
[table]
Rank,NOC,Gold,Gold/GDP
1,Hungary,169,1294.028
2,Grenada,1,1233.046
3,Jamaica,17,1181.376
4,Cuba,71,982.019
5,Bulgaria,52,968.343
6,The Bahamas,5,597.158
7,Finland,145,558.552
8,Kenya,25,551.755
9,Estonia,13,535.420
10,Korea DPR (North),14,500.000
11,Romania,88,465.855
12,Ethiopia,21,443.599
13,Liechtenstein,2,391.160
14,Georgia,6,376.176
15,Burundi,1,373.692
16,Sweden,194,351.449
17,Norway,174,337.340
18,Zimbabwe,3,286.260
19,Belarus,18,259.965
20,New Zealand,42,231.916
21,Surinam,1,199.641
22,The Ukraine,35,199.430
23,Austria,82,196.219
24,Mongolia,2,179.533
25,Croatia,10,169.090
[/table]
Again, the lists are similar, although Jamaica leads in terms of medals won per capita while Hungary leads in terms of gold medals won per capita. But Jamaica, Bulgaria, Cuba, and Hungary are in the top 5 on both systems.
Finally, looking at the medal lists in terms of GDP per $1,000 per capita:
[table]
Rank,NOC,Meds,Meds/GDPPC
1,China,526,53.673
2,United States,2706,51.250
3,Kenya,86,47.778
4,Ethiopia,45,37.500
5,Russia,528,29.171
6,Korea DPR (North),49,27.222
7,Hungary,490,24.747
8,Germany,930,23.544
9,France,829,23.221
10,Italy,680,22.973
11,Romania,302,22.879
12,Great Britain,829,22.225
13,Cuba,202,19.804
14,The Ukraine,122,16.486
15,Sweden,640,15.648
16,Bulgaria,220,15.278
17,Poland,291,13.791
18,Zimbabwe,8,13.333
19,Finland,467,13.008
20,Japan,443,11.941
21,Australia,488,11.349
22,Canada,445,10.325
23,The Netherlands,380,9.179
24,Brazil,108,8.926
25,Korea (South),296,8.916
[/table]
[table]
Rank,NOC,Gold,Gold/GDPPC
1,China,213,21.735
2,United States,1083,20.511
3,Ethiopia,21,17.500
4,Kenya,25,13.889
5,Russia,183,10.110
6,Hungary,169,8.535
7,Italy,243,8.209
8,Korea DPR (North),14,7.778
9,Germany,292,7.392
10,France,250,7.003
11,Cuba,71,6.961
12,Great Britain,254,6.810
13,Romania,88,6.667
14,Zimbabwe,3,5.000
15,Sweden,194,4.743
16,The Ukraine,35,4.730
17,Finland,145,4.039
18,Japan,140,3.774
19,Bulgaria,52,3.611
20,Australia,144,3.349
21,Poland,70,3.318
22,Korea (South),107,3.223
23,Norway,174,3.141
24,Canada,122,2.831
25,The Netherlands,115,2.778
[/table]
Again, many of the “standard” powerful Olympic nations come out on top by this analysis – with China 1st and the United States 2nd. The main reason for this is that while population and GDP differ by several magnitudes among nations, there is not the same magnitude of difference in terms of GDP per capita, which varies from $102,100 per person for Qatar, down to about $1,000 for the very poor nations. But many of those nations have never won an Olympic medal.
(Note: The below is from Paul Tchir, aka Canadian Paul, one of our group of OlyMADMen. Paul’s specialty is looking at the oldest Olympians, by sport, by medals, by nation, and almost every permutation thereof, and he is absolutely the world’s expert on this topic. You can find his specific page related to this at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Canadian_Paul/Olympics.)
The recent death of American sport shooter Walter Walsh, the longest-lived Olympian, meant that the mantle of “oldest living Olympian” passed to a new title-holder. This distinction went, almost certainly, to Swiss artist Hans Erni, who competed in the art competitions at the 1948 Summer Olympics. Born on 21 February 1909 in Lucrene, Erni achieved international fame as a painter, sculptor, graphic artist, and ceramist and is, as of 9 July 2014, the third longest-lived Olympian of all time, behind Walsh (who was less than a week shy of his 107th birthday at his death) and American gymnast Rudolf Schrader, the latter of whom competed at the 1904 Summer Olympics and died in January 1981 at the age of 105 years, 307 days. Although there are a handful of Olympians older than Erni whose death has not been confirmed, it seems unlikely that someone would have reached 105 years of age in the era of the internet and escaped any notice whatsoever.
As art competitions were removed from the program after 1948, however, this answer may not satisfy everyone. The oldest Olympian from an athletic competition known to be living is Guo Jie of China, who took part in the men’s discus throw at the 1936 Summer Olympics. Guo, born 16 January 1912 in Dalian, is his nation’s longest-lived competitor, the last member of its delegation to the 1936 Games, and was still physically active at his 102nd birthday. He is one of seven Olympic centenarians known to be living, a list that includes:
Swedish diver Ingeborg Sjöqvist, born 19 April 1912, who took part in the 1932 and 1936 Summer Olympics and was runner-up in platform diving at the 1931 and 1934 European Championships.
American athlete Simone Schaller, born 22 August 1912, who participated in the 80 m hurdles tournament in 1932 and 1936 and is the longest-lived American female Olympian.
Baron Eduard von Falz-Fein, born 14 September 1912, who represented Liechtenstein in bobsled at the 1936 Winter Olympics and is second behind Norway’s Hans Kleppen, who died in April 2009 at the age of 102 years, 27 days, among the longest-lived Winter Olympians.
Sándor Tarics, born 23 September 1913, who was a member of Hungary’s gold medal-winning water polo team in 1936 and is confirmed as the oldest living Olympic champion (the longest-lived Olympic champion is James Stillman Rockefeller, who died in August 2004 at the age of 102 years, 63 days).
Evelyn Furtsch, born 17 April 1914, who earned a gold medal with the United States’ 4x100m relay team in 1932 and, earlier this year, surpassed Britain’s Godfrey Rampling as the longest-lived Olympic track and field gold medalist.
Three more Olympians will hopefully join them by the end of 2014: Olga Tőrös (born 4 August 1914), who won a bronze medal for Hungary in women’s team gymnastics in 1936, American John Lysak (born 16 August 1914), who competed in canoeing that same year, and Helen Johns (born 25 September 1914), who won a gold medal with the American team in the 4×100 m freestyle swimming event in 1932. Also worthy of mention is athlete Mien Klaver, born 26 February 1911, who was an alternate for the Dutch team in Furtsch’s event.
Outside of centenarians, Carla Marangoni (born 13 November 1915) is notable as the last known survivor of the 1928 Summer Olympics: she won a silver medal for Italy in the team gymnastics competition that year. Moreover, due to the increased attention that they receive, it is also possible to produce a definitive list of the seven oldest Olympic champions:
Durward Knowles also won bronze in 1956 and competed in 1948, 1952, 1960, 1968, 1972, and 1988. He originally competed for GBR in 1948.
Martin Lundström won two golds in 1948 and also bronze in 1952.
Jack Günthard also won a silver in 1952.
(Note: This is a difficult topic because it is always hard to know if somebody is definitely alive. If any astute readers have information on Olympians over 90 years old, or older Olympians who have recently died, please contact us via this blog.)
