50 greatest Summer Olympians in history
By John Buhler
27. Viktor Chukarin, Gymnastics.
In the 1950s, there wasn’t a better Soviet male gymnast than Viktor Chukarin. Over the course of the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki and the ’56 Games in Melbourne, Chukarin won 11 Olympic medals, including seven gold.
Chukarin was simply dominate in 1952, becoming the most decorated athlete of that Olympiad with six medals (four gold, two silver), including gold in the team competition, the all-around, the pommel horse, and the vault.
Churakin finished out his Olympic career in 1956 with five more medals in the Melbourne Games (three gold, one silver, and one bronze), winning gold in the team competition, the all-around, and the parallel bars.
Chukarin, along with fellow gymnast Larisa Latynina, were the first two Soviet athletes to be bestowed with the Order of Lenin honor. Chukarin passed away in 1984 at the age of 62.
Next: 26. Wilma Rudolph.