Canadian Ian Millar in a 2007 picture. At London 2012 he participated in a record 10th Olympics
Only a small fraction of the world's population ever competes at the Olympic Games; an even smaller fraction competes in multiple Games. 861 athletes[1] (601 men[2] and 260 women[3]) have participated in at least five Olympics from Athens 1896 to Beijing 2022, but excluding the 1906 Intercalated Games. 211 of these have gone on to make at least a sixth Olympic appearance.
Multiple appearances
Several athletes would have made more appearances at the Olympics but for reasons out of their control, such as World Wars (no Olympics were held in 1916, 1940 or 1944), politically motivated boycotts, financial difficulties, or ill-timed injuries.
Canadian equestrian athlete Ian Millar has competed at ten Olympic games.[4] Austrian sailor Hubert Raudaschl, Latvian shooter Afanasijs Kuzmins (representing Soviet Union until 1988) and Georgian sports shooter Nino Salukvadze (representing Soviet Union in 1988 and Unified Team in 1992) have each made nine Olympic appearances.
Well over half of six-time Olympians belong to the shooting, equestrian, sailing and fencing disciplines, which are known for allowing athletes more longevity at the elite level. Athletics and cross-country skiing also provide a large number of athletes who have competed at five Olympics.
Number of athletes who have appeared at multiple Olympics from 1896 to 2022 inclusive
Exact number of Olympic appearances
Minimum number of Olympic appearances
5
6
7
8
9
10
5
6
7
8
9
10
Men
457
106
26
9
2
1
601
145
38
12
3
1
Women
193
48
13
5
1
0
260
67
19
6
1
0
Total
650
154
39
14
3
1
861
211
57
18
4
1
This table shows the number of athletes who have appeared at exactly (or at least) n Olympic Games between 1896 and 2022, as n varies from 5 to 10. For example, 26 men have appeared at exactly seven Olympics while 38 men have appeared in at least seven Olympics. Appearances at the 1906 Intercalated Games are not included. Winter and Summer Olympics are counted as 'different' Olympics even if they occurred in the same year. While these numbers are believed to be correct, it is possible that one or two athletes have been missed, particularly with five-time Olympians.
Approximately a quarter of long-competing athletes are female. Italian canoeist Josefa Idem became the first woman to take part in eight Olympics, eventually reaching the final of the K1-500m event at the age of 48.[5] Before her, the closest a female athlete had come to competing at eight Olympics was 0.028 seconds, which was the time by which Jamaican-Slovenian sprinter Merlene Ottey had failed to meet the qualification time required for appearance at the 2008 Summer Olympics, at age 48. At the 2020 Summer Olympics, Georgian sports shooter Nino Salukvadze competed in her ninth consecutive Olympic Games at age 52, becoming the first female athlete in history to do so.[6]
Four six-time Olympians here have participated in Olympic Games over a period of 40 years: Bahamian sailor Durward Knowles (8 Olympics), Danish sailor Paul Elvstrøm (8), Danish fencer Ivan Osiier (7), and Norwegian sailor Magnus Konow (6). Note should also be made of Japanese equestrian Hiroshi Hoketsu, whose first and third Olympic appearances in 1964 and 2012 were 48 years apart. Uzbek gymnast Oksana Chusovitina has competed at every Olympics from 1992-2020. She continues to compete at the elite level in her late 40s in a sport where few competitors continue past their mid-20s or compete at two or three Olympics.
Two five-time Olympians competed under four different flags at the Olympics, one of whom never actually changed nationality. Both shooter Jasna Šekarić (7 Olympics) and table tennis player Ilija Lupulesku (5) competed for Yugoslavia at the 1988 Olympics. In 1992, since Yugoslavia was under UN sanctions, they (and fifty other Serbians, Montenegrins and Macedonians) competed as Independent Olympic Participants before competing at the next Olympics under the flag of Serbia and Montenegro. Lupulesku became an American citizen and competed for the USA in 2004, while Šekarić finally competed for Serbia in 2008.
56 athletes who have competed in at least five Olympics participated in two sports: 23 of them competing at both the Winter and Summer Olympics, 20 competing at the Summer Olympics and 13 competing at the Winter Olympics. The most common cross-over sports are athletics/bobsleigh (8 competitors) and cycling/speed skating (3 competitors).
List of athletes with at least six Olympic appearances
So far, there have been 211 athletes who have appeared at Olympic Games at least six times. 61 of them have never won an Olympic medal. Athletes in bold are believed to be still active, i.e., have yet to announce their retirement. Female athletes are displayed with a pink background. Sorting is by number of appearances, Games of last appearance, date of birth.
861 athletes have competed in at least five Olympic Games (870 if the 1906 Games are counted) between 1896 and 2022 inclusive. They are listed here, grouped by discipline. The columns labelled 'N+' denote the number of athletes who have competed in at least N Olympics. The number of male and female athletes who have competed in at least five Olympics are also listed, in the columns labelled 'M' and 'F'.
Athletes who have competed in more than one sport are counted once per sport.
Athletes with uncertain 5 or 6 Olympic appearances
These 25 athletes[13] are listed here, grouped by discipline. The columns labelled 'N+' denote the number of athletes who have competed in at least N Olympics. The number of male and female athletes who have competed in at least five Olympics are also listed, in the columns labelled 'M' and 'F'. These athletes have at least one DNS in the Olympic and Olympedia websites or an appearance in a non-Olympic event.
Athletes who have competed in more than one sport are counted once per sport.
Many Olympians have competed in two or more sports. These athletes are listed below, with the number of times they competed in each sport. Sometimes an individual has competed in two disciplines at the same Games; such instances are noted.
187 athletes competed in both Summer and Winter Olympics.
The most common combinations of disciplines are athletics/bobsleigh (51 competitors; summer and winter sports respectively), ice hockey (18 athletes: in the 1920 Summer Olympics there was exceptionally ice hockey, a typical winter sport) and speed skating/track cycling (12 athletes; winter and summer sports respectively).
^This athlete have participated at 5 Olympics but in different sports, so he hasn't participated at 5 Olympics in one sport and he is written twice in the sports he has participated
^There are written 27 athletes but Raoul Paoli is counted 3 times
^In other websites he has a 6th Olympic appearance in 1900 Summer Olympics with a bronze medal in rowing but it's not clear
^In the Olympics database he results as a competitor in football at 1924 Summer Olympics but he didn't start, so I'm not sure if insert him in this list or not
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