30 Olympic athletes who dominated their events

22. Gert Fredriksson

Blessed with good looks and the physique of an action hero, Gert Fredriksson easily could have found his way to Hollywood and become a movie star – or at the very least, he could have headlined films in his native Sweden if the move to America appeared too daunting. But as it turned out, Fredriksson was made for one thing and one thing only: slicing through water in a canoe like a hot knife through butter.

If Steve Redgrave is the tortoise from Aesop’s Fable – steadfast, determined, unyielding in his mechanical pursuit of perfection – then Fredriksson is the story’s hare. Supple, light, swift, and merciless, the Swede really put the ‘sprint’ in canoe sprint as a sport, clocking some of the fastest times ever recorded over the course of his career.

Over a 10-year span, Fredriksson rampaged through his competition at the Swedish and World Championships, tallying over 80 medals before all was said and done. He was just as dominant at the Olympics, taking home eight separate medals over the course of four different Games – three-quarters of which were gold.

Statistically the most successful male canoeist of all time, he is also Sweden’s greatest Olympic athlete, a feat even more impressive considering the Scandinavian nation’s reputation for excellence in winter sports and cold weather competition.

Next: 21. Aladár Gerevich