5 incredible medal streaks at the Olympics

India hockey
Indian hockey team after winning their third straight Olympic gold in 1936

The Olympic Games have thrown up innumerable stories of grit and determination over the years and it's a true testimony to grit and determination that some names have got them etched in the history of the Olympics by coming back to the grandest stage and pulling off incredible feats again and again. Here is a list of some of the most memorable and longest streaks.

Some of the usual suspects like Mark Spitz, Larisa Latynina, and Michael Phelps miss out for their rich hauls were spread across few Olympics. This list is instead about athletes and teams who came again and again to Olympics and won medals across several editions of the Games.

So here is a look at five glorious streaks in the history of Olympics

1. Edoardo Mangiarotti, 1936-1960, 6 Gold, 5 Silver and 2 Bronze

Edoardo Mangiarotti
Edoardo Mangiarotti sharpening his skills

Born into a family of fencing, Mangiarotti was an Italian fencer who won 13 medals in Olympics. He was a champion of both the epee and foil events. By the time he last featured in Rome Olympics of 1960, 24 years after his first appearance in the Berlin Olympics of 1936, Mangiarotti had 13 Olympic medals to his name that included 6 Gold, 5 Silver 2 Bronze.

8 of these medals came in team events while he bagged 4 individual medals. Dario Mangiarotti, Edoardo’s elder brother, also had two Olympic medals to his name.

2. Dawn Fraser, 1956-1964, 3 Gold

Dawn Fraser
Dawn Fraser showing her Gold medal

Dawn Fraser of Australia won 3 Gold Medals between 1956 and 1964 in 100m freestyle swimming. In October 1962, she became the first woman to swim 100 metres freestyle in less than one minute. But her swimming dominance met a controversial end when she was accused of stealing an Olympic flag from a flagpole outside Emperor Hirohito's palace. This incident saw her being suspended from Swimming for 10 years by the Australian Swimming Union.

They lifted the ban ahead of the games in 1968, but by then Fraser was 31 and no more of the same quality that had helped her to maintain that three Olympic streak.

3. USA in Pole Vault, 1896 – 1968, 17 Gold

USA Pole Vault
USA's Bill Miller in action to win the gold medal

When Wolfgang Nordwig of Germany won the Gold in Pole Vault in the 1972 Olympics, it was the first time in the history of Olympics that anyone from outside the US had won a gold in Pole Vault. From 1896 to 1968, all the Olympics had seen an American run away with the Gold medal. So, this was the first time the 76-year-old dominance came to an end.

Quite interestingly, post-1968, only twice have American athletes managed the gold again in Pole Vault.

4. Anky van Grunsven, 1992-2012, 3 Gold, 5 Silver and 1 Bronze

Anky van Grunsven
Netherland's dressage rider Anky van Grunsven rides on her horse 'Salinero'

Theodora Elisabeth Gerarda "Anky" van Grunsven is a Dressage champion from Netherland and has appeared in seven Olympics and except for her first appearance in 1988, Grunsven has managed a medal in every Olympic she has participated in. She holds the record for the most Olympic medals won by any equestrian athlete and is the only rider to record three successive Olympic wins in the same event.

She performed this feat when she won a Gold in 2004, 2008 and 2012 Dressage event. In all, in the seven Olympics, Grunsven has accumulated 9 Olympic medals, 3 Gold, 5 silvers and one Bronze.

5. India’s men’s hockey team, 1928-1956, 6 gold

India Hockey
Indian hockey was at its prime in the 30s and 40s

India sent its hockey team for the first time in 1928 Olympics and well they didn’t only come back with Gold, they kept going back to Olympics and win back Gold every time for the first six times. Till 1956, India’s men’s hockey team brushed aside very opponent to bag gold. India finished second in the 1960 edition but bounced back in style to add one more to their tally when they won the Gold again in Tokyo in 1964.

In all, India remains the most successful hockey team in Olympics with 8 Gold medals to their name.

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Edited by Staff Editor