Medals by athlete
| Athlete | Nat | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michael Phelps |  USA | 23 | 3 | 2 | 28 |
| Larisa Latynina |  URS UKR | 9 | 5 | 4 | 18 |
| Paavo Nurmi |  FIN | 9 | 3 | 0 | 12 |
| Mark Spitz | USA | 9 | 1 | 1 | 11 |
| Carl Lewis | USA | 9 | 1 | 0 | 10 |
| Marit Bjørgen |  NOR | 8 | 4 | 3 | 15 |
| Ole Einar Bjørndalen | NOR | 8 | 4 | 1 | 13 |
| Birgit Fischer-Schmidt |  GDR GER | 8 | 4 | 0 | 12 |
| Bjørn Dæhlie | NOR | 8 | 4 | 0 | 12 |
| Sawao Kato |  JPN | 8 | 3 | 1 | 12 |
| Jenny Thompson | USA | 8 | 3 | 1 | 12 |
| Matt Biondi | USA | 8 | 2 | 1 | 11 |
| Ray Ewry | USA | 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Usain Bolt |  JAM | 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Nikolay Andrianov |  RUS URS | 7 | 5 | 3 | 15 |
| Isabell Werth | GER | 7 | 5 | 0 | 12 |
| Boris Shakhlin | URS UKR | 7 | 4 | 2 | 13 |
| Věra Čáslavská |  CZE TCH | 7 | 4 | 0 | 11 |
| Viktor Chukarin | URS UKR | 7 | 3 | 1 | 11 |
| Allyson Felix | USA | 7 | 3 | 1 | 11 |
| Katie Ledecky | USA | 7 | 3 | 0 | 10 |
| Jason Kenny |  GBR | 7 | 2 | 0 | 9 |
| Aladár Gerevich |  HUN | 7 | 1 | 2 | 10 |
| Svetlana Romashina |  ROC RUS | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| Caeleb Dressel | USA | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |