Medal count: Which American Olympians have the most medals all time?

2. Jenny Thompson

Medal count: 12 (8 gold, 3 silver, 1 bronze)

Sport: Swimming

Games attended: 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004

Swimmer Jenny Thompson took home more Olympic gold medals throughout her career than any other American athlete not named Michael Phelps, Mark Spitz, or Carl Lewis.

A butterfly and freestyle specialist, Thompson’s eight golds all came in relay events, which the American women dominated from 1992 to 2000. With a silver and bronze in the 100 m freestyle in 1992 and 2000 respectively and two relay silvers at Athens 2004, the former Stanford Cardinal amassed a total of 12 medals over four Olympic Games.

Now an anesthesiologist with a medical degree from Columbia University, Thompson has a pool named after her in her adopted hometown of Dover, New Hampshire. She’ll be watching Tokyo 2021 and cheering on Katie Ledecky, who could surpass her as the female American Olympian with the highest gold medal count of all time.