In tenth place, we have a three-way tie between athletes who all received the same number and breakdown of medals: four gold, two silver, and two bronze. Kulakova rocked cross-country skiing in the 1970s and boasted an illustrious career, despite disqualification in one event due to using a nasal spray that contained a banned substance. Fischer was an accomplished biathlete (cross-country skiing and rifle shooting) in the 1990s and 2000s, while Aamodt is the only alpine skier to win eight Olympic medals.
Biathlete Ricco Groß racked up the medals throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, both in individual events as well as in relay. Being a first sergeant in the unified armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany may have helped him some in shooting, but his four gold, three silver, and one bronze proved he was quick on the skis as well.
Ursula, or Uschi Disl, earned her nine medals in the biathlon with two gold, four silver, and three bronze. As a member of the German border patrol guard, she refined her shooting skills throughout her 19-year career (including five Olympic appearances) throughout the 1990s and 2000s. She was even dubbed “Turbo Disl” by the German media and was named German Sportswoman of the Year in 2005 — the first biathlete to win the award.
Sixten Jernberg’s nine medals came in cross-country skiing: four gold, three silver, and two bronze. His decade-long career stretched from 1954-1964, and he was known for his skill and endurance in the longer races of 50 kilometers or more. The year after his retirement, he was awarded the Mohammed Taher Trophy by the International Olympic Committee for his contributions to cross-country skiing.
German speed skater Claudia Pechstein and her nine medals (five gold, two silver, and two bronze) is the most-decorated Olympic speed skater of all time, not to mention the top German Winter Olympian of all time as well. But while she has been competing since 1992, she was recently served a two-year ban from competitive speed skating due to circumstantial evidence that suggested she may have been doping during competition.
Lyubov Yegorova’s nine medals, comprised of six gold and three silver, came as a result of her cross-country skiing proclivity, but could have been even more. In 1997, Yegorova was disqualified from the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Trondheim after she was found to have used the anabolic steroid onbromantan. She was stripped of her gold medal in that event, and her illustrious career came to a halt.
4. Stefania Belmondo – 10medals, Italy
The only athlete representing Italy on this list, Stefania Belmondo earned her 10 medals in cross-country skiing, learning her sport from an early age on the Piedmontese mountains in her home town of Piedmont. Her two gold, three silver, and five bronze medals came both before and after an injury and subsequent surgery on her right hallux, an impressive feat for anybody not to mention an Olympic athlete!
Raisa Smetanina became the first woman ever to win 10 Winter Olympic medals (beating out Stefania Belmondo by a few years), with a career from 1976 to the 1990s that earned her four gold, five silver, and one bronze. In fact, at the 1992 Winter Olympics at the age of 39, she earned her tenth medal, a gold, while competing for the Commonwealth of Independent States – the oldest woman (at that time) to ever win a Winter Olympic gold.
Norwegian biathlete Ole Einar Bjørndalen earned his six gold, four silver, and one bronze medals in five Winter Olympic appearances beginning in 1994. Incredibly, the accomplished biathlete also competes in cross-country skiing from time to time, and actually won the 2006 FIS Cross-Country World Cup — becoming the first biathlete to ever do so. While he did compete in the 2012 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, he is not expected to compete in 2014 in Sochi.
1. Bjørn Dæhlie – 12 medals, Norway
With his eight gold and four silver medals, Bjørn Dæhlie is the most decorated cross-country skier and Winter Olympian in history, narrowly beating out fellow Norwegian Ole Einar Bjørndalen. In just three Olympic appearances throughout the 1990s, he racked up 12 medals until his career was ended by a roller skiing accident in 1999. While his decision to officially retire in 2001 shocked his adoring fans in Norway, he remains an extremely popular figure and has made a name for himself in business and non-profit work, supporting multiple organizations that work towards curing multiple sclerosis. In 2011, Dæhlie announced a comeback, the success of which has yet to be determined.
