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The Greatest Triathlete at the Olympic Games

Who is the greatest triathlete of all time based on Olympic Games performances? We have used a weighted total medal count of each male and female Triathlete from all modern Olympic Games to rank their overall performance, using data from all Olympics including the Tokyo 2020 Games.

In the short history of the triathlon at the Olympics, the best all-time performing triathlete is Alistair Brownlee who has won two gold medals (2012, 2016). His brother Jonathan Brownlee has also won two medals in the same races, to which he added a gold medal in 2020. For the females, Swiss athlete Nicola Spirig has won one gold and one silver.

See also the best athlete from each sport, and the best overall.



Top Olympic Games Triathletes

Here are the top-ranked athletes from the sport of triathlon for performances at all Olympiads since 2000, using the Topend Sports Weighted Ranking System to order the athletes, awarding points for both gold (6 points) and other medals (silver 2 pts, bronze 1 pt). All Olympic gold medalists with more than one medal are shown.

Table: The Top Ranked Athletes from Triathlon at the Olympic Games (including 2021)

rank name country gender Gold Silver Bronze total
medals
rating
1 Alistair Brownlee  Great Britain M 2 0 0 2 12
2 Jonathan Brownlee  Great Britain M 1 1 1 3 9
=3 Simon Whitfield  Canada  M 1 1 0 2 8
=3 Nicola Spirig Hug  Switzerland  F 1 1 0 2 8
=3 Georgia Taylor-Brown  Great Britain F 1 1 0 2 8
=3 Alex Yee  Great Britain M 1 1 0 2 8

notes: initial data from Wikipedia (gold medal winners with at least 2 medals, including results from 2021). For the ranking order, we have used the Topend Sports Weighted Ranking System.



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Olympics Extra

The next Olympics will be in LA 2028, the next Winter edition in Milan-Cortina 2026. Check out the list of Olympic Games sports, as well as discontinued and demonstration sports.

Major Events Extra

The largest sporting event in the world is the Olympic Games, but there are many other multi-sport games. In terms of single sport events, nothing beats the FIFA World Cup. To see what's coming up, check out the calendar of major sporting events.

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