This is a list of career medal leaders at the World Championships/Olympics when only medals won on in Event Finals are counted. Other articles in this series can be found below:
All-Around
Vault
Uneven Bars
Balance Beam
Floor Exercise
| Name | Country | Medals |
| Simone Biles | United States | 25 |
| Larissa Latynina | Soviet Union | 19 |
| Svetlana Khorkina | Russia | 15 |
| Gina Gogean | Romania | 13 |
| Ludmilla Turischeva | Soviet Union | 11 |
| Oksana Chusovitina | Soviet Union Germany Uzbekistan | 11 |
| Vera Caslavska | Czechoslovakia | 11 |
| Aliya Mustafina | Russia | 10 |
| Daniela Silivas | Romania | 10 |
| Lavinia Milosovici | Romania | 10 |
| Ecaterina Szabo | Romania | 9 |
| Elena Shushunova | Soviet Union | 9 |
| Nastia Liukin | United States | 9 |
| Nellie Kim | Soviet Union | 9 |
| Rebeca Andrade | Brazil | 9 |
| Eva Bosakova | Czechoslovakia | 8 |
| Olga Korbut | Soviet Union | 8 |
| Shannon Miller | United States | 8 |
| Simona Amanar | Romania | 8 |
| Agnes Keleti | Hungary | 7 |
| Jade Carey | United States | 7 |
| Maxi Gnauck | East Germany | 7 |
| Nadia Comaneci | Romania | 7 |
| Tamara Manina | Soviet Union | 7 |
| Alicia Sacramone | United States | 6 |
| Andreea Raducan | Romania | 6 |
| Beth Tweddle | United Kingdom | 6 |
| Catalina Ponor | Romania | 6 |
| Cheng Fei | China | 6 |
| Emilia Eberle | Romania | 6 |
| Erika Zuchold | East Germany | 6 |
| Karin Janz | East Germany | 6 |
| Lilia Podkopayeva | Ukraine | 6 |
| Natalia Kuchinskaya | Soviet Union | 6 |
| Svetlana Boginskaya | Soviet Union | 6 |
| Elena Zamolodchikova | Russia | 5 |
| Helena Rakoczy | Poland | 5 |
| Henrietta Onodi | Hungary | 5 |
| Keiko Ikeda | Japan | 5 |
| Mai Murakami | Japan | 5 |
| Maria Gorokhovskaya | Soviet Union | 5 |
| Nina Derwael | Belgium | 5 |
| Polina Astakhova | Soviet Union | 5 |
| Sofia Muratova | Soviet Union | 5 |
| Steffi Kraker | East Germany | 5 |
| Zinaida Voronina | Soviet Union | 5 |
| Aly Raisman | United States | 4 |
| Angelina Melnikova | Russia | 4 |
| Cristina Bontas | Romania | 4 |
| Dominique Dawes | United States | 4 |
| Hong Un Jong | North Korea | 4 |
| Larissa Petrik | Soviet Union | 4 |
| Lavinia Agache | Romania | 4 |
| Maria Paseka | Russia | 4 |
| Sui Lu | China | 4 |
| Sunisa Lee | United States | 4 |
| Tatiana Gutsu | Soviet Union | 4 |
| Vanessa Ferrari | Italy | 4 |
| Ann-Sofi Pettersson | Sweden | 3 |
| Aurelia Dobre | Romania | 3 |
| Chellsie Memmel | United States | 3 |
| Dagmar Kersten | East Germany | 3 |
| Deng Linlin | China | 3 |
| Dina Kochetkova | Russia | 3 |
| Elena Davydova | Soviet Union | 3 |
| Elena Mukhina | Soviet Union | 3 |
| Gabriela Potorac | Romania | 3 |
| He Kexin | China | 3 |
| Julianne McNamara | United States | 3 |
| Kim Zmeskal | United States | 3 |
| Lauren Mitchell | Australia | 3 |
| Ling Jie | China | 3 |
| Ludmila Ezhova | Russia | 3 |
| Ma Yanhong | China | 3 |
| Margit Korondi | Hungary | 3 |
| Mary Lou Retton | United States | 3 |
| McKayla Maroney | United States | 3 |
| Melita Ruhn | Romania | 3 |
| Mo Huilan | China | 3 |
| Natalia Shaposhnikova | Soviet Union | 3 |
| Pauline Schaefer | Germany | 3 |
| Rebecca Bross | United States | 3 |
| Sandra Izbasa | Romania | 3 |
| Shawn Johnson | United States | 3 |
| Tatiana Lysenko | Soviet Union | 3 |
| Vlasta Dekanova | Czechoslovakia | 3 |
| Ana Porgras | Romania | 2 |
| Aniko Ducza | Hungary | 2 |
| Annia Hatch | Cuba United States | 2 |
| Betty Okino | United States | 2 |
| Bi Wenjing | China | 2 |
| Boriana Stoyanova | Bulgaria | 2 |
| Courtney Kupets | United States | 2 |
| Daria Spiridonova | Russia | 2 |
| Ekaterina Lobaznyuk | Russia | 2 |
| Elena Gomez | Spain | 2 |
| Elena Piskun | Belarus | 2 |
| Elena Produnova | Russia | 2 |
| Fan Yilin | China | 2 |
| Gertrude Kolar | Austria | 2 |
| Giulia Steingruber | Switzerland | 2 |
| Hana Ricna | Czechoslovakia | 2 |
| Huang Huidan | China | 2 |
| Irina Pervuschina | Soviet Union | 2 |
| Jordan Chiles | United States | 2 |
| Kathy Johnson | United States | 2 |
| Kaylia Nemour | Algeria | 2 |
| Ksenia Afanasyeva | Russia | 2 |
| Kui Yuanyuan | China | 2 |
| Kyla Ross | United States | 2 |
| Larisa Iordache | Romania | 2 |
| Liu Tingting | China | 2 |
| Liu Xuan | China | 2 |
| Lu Li | China | 2 |
| Madison Kocian | United States | 2 |
| Maria Neculita | Romania | 2 |
| Morgan Hurd | United States | 2 |
| Mykayla Skinner | United States | 2 |
| Olesia Dudnik | Soviet Union | 2 |
| Olga Mostepanova | Soviet Union | 2 |
| Qiu Qiyuan | China | 2 |
| Sanne Wevers | Netherlands | 2 |
| Shilese Jones | United States | 2 |
| Stella Zakharova | Soviet Union | 2 |
| Tamara Lazakovich | Soviet Union | 2 |
| Tamara Lyukhina | Soviet Union | 2 |
| Teodora Ungureanu | Romania | 2 |
| Viktoria Komova | Russia | 2 |
| Wei Xiaoyuan | China | 2 |
| Yang Yilin | China | 2 |
| Yao Jinnan | China | 2 |
| Yeo Seo Jeong | South Korea | 2 |
| Zhou Yaqin | China | 2 |
| Alexa Moreno | Mexico | 1 |
| Alexandra Eremia | Romania | 1 |
| Alexandra Lemoine | France | 1 |
| Alexandra Marinescu | Romania | 1 |
| Alice D’Amato | Italy | 1 |
| Amy Chow | United States | 1 |
| Amy Tinkler | United Kingdom | 1 |
| Ana Barbosu | Romania | 1 |
| Ana Padurariu | Canada | 1 |
| Anastasia Ilyankova | Russia | 1 |
| Andreea Cacovean | Romania | 1 |
| Anna Pavlova | Russia | 1 |
| Annelore Zinke | East Germany | 1 |
| Ariella Kaslin | Switzerland | 1 |
| Asia D’Amato | Italy | 1 |
| Ashley Postell | United States | 1 |
| Bai Yawen | China | 1 |
| Becky Downie | United Kingdom | 1 |
| Birgit Radochla | East Germany (EUA) | 1 |
| Bozena Perdykulova | Czechoslovakia | 1 |
| Brandy Johnson | United States | 1 |
| Carly Patterson | United States | 1 |
| Carola Dombeck | East Germany | 1 |
| Cassy Vericel | France | 1 |
| Cathy Rigby | United States | 1 |
| Chen Yongyan | China | 1 |
| Christine Schmitt | East Germany | 1 |
| Claudia Fragapane | United Kingdom | 1 |
| Coline Devillard | France | 1 |
| Daiane Dos Santos | Brazil | 1 |
| Dana Sofronie | Romania | 1 |
| Daniele Hypolito | Brazil | 1 |
| Diana Chelaru | Romania | 1 |
| Diana Dudeva | Bulgaria | 1 |
| Dominique Moceanu | United States | 1 |
| Dorte Thummler | East Germany | 1 |
| Dumitrita Turner | Romania | 1 |
| Ekaterina Kalinchuk | Soviet Union | 1 |
| Elena Eremina | Russia | 1 |
| Elena Leusteanu | Romania | 1 |
| Elisabeth Seitz | Germany | 1 |
| Ellie Black | Canada | 1 |
| Ellie Downie | United Kingdom | 1 |
| Elvira Saadi | Soviet Union | 1 |
| Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs | Canada | 1 |
| Emilie Le Pennec | France | 1 |
| Eugenia Golea | Romania | 1 |
| Evy Berggren | Sweden | 1 |
| Fan Di | China | 1 |
| Fan Ye | China | 1 |
| Flavia Saraiva | Brazil | 1 |
| Gabriele Fahnrich | East Germany | 1 |
| Galina Minaicheva | Soviet Union | 1 |
| Galina Shamrai | Soviet Union | 1 |
| Guan Chenchen | China | 1 |
| Hazuki Watanabe | Japan | 1 |
| Hollie Vise | United States | 1 |
| Hong Su Jong | North Korea | 1 |
| Huang Mandan | China | 1 |
| Huang Qiushuang | China | 1 |
| Irina Krasnyanskaya | Ukraine | 1 |
| Irina Yarodskaya | Ukraine | 1 |
| Isabelle Severino | France | 1 |
| Ivana Hong | United States | 1 |
| Jade Barbosa | Brazil | 1 |
| Jana Bieger | United States | 1 |
| Jessica Gadirova | United Kingdom | 1 |
| Ji Liya | China | 1 |
| Jordyn Wieber | United States | 1 |
| Kang Yun Mi | North Korea | 1 |
| Katalin Makray | Hungary | 1 |
| Katie Heenan | United States | 1 |
| Kayla Williams | United States | 1 |
| Kim Gwang Suk | North Korea | 1 |
| Koko Tsurumi | Japan | 1 |
| Ksenia Semenova | Russia | 1 |
| Laurie Hernandez | United States | 1 |
| Leanne Wong | United States | 1 |
| Li Shanshan | China | 1 |
| Li Shijia | China | 1 |
| Li Yifang | China | 1 |
| Licia Macchini | Italy | 1 |
| Lidia Ivanova | Soviet Union | 1 |
| Ludivine Furnon | France | 1 |
| Luo Li | China | 1 |
| Luo Rui | China | 1 |
| Lyubov Burda | Soviet Union | 1 |
| Lyubov Sheremeta | Ukraine | 1 |
| Maggie Nichols | United States | 1 |
| Manila Esposito | Italy | 1 |
| Marcia Frederick | United States | 1 |
| Margarita Nikolaeva | Soviet Union | 1 |
| Maria Filatova | Soviet Union | 1 |
| Maria Olaru | Romania | 1 |
| Marja Nutti | Italy | 1 |
| Marta Egervari | Hungary | 1 |
| Matulda Palfyeva | Czechoslovakia | 1 |
| Meng Fei | China | 1 |
| Mirela Pasca | Romania | 1 |
| Monica Rosu | Romania | 1 |
| Natalia Bobrova | Russia | 1 |
| Natalia Ilienko | Soviet Union | 1 |
| Natalia Ziganshina | Russia | 1 |
| Nina Bocharova | Soviet Union | 1 |
| Oana Ban | Romania | 1 |
| Oana Petrovschi | Romania | 1 |
| Oksana Fabrichnova | Russia | 1 |
| Oksana Omelianchik | Soviet Union | 1 |
| Olga Karaseva | Soviet Union | 1 |
| Olga Lemhenyi-Tass | Hungary | 1 |
| Olga Roschupkina | Ukraine | 1 |
| Olga Strazheva | Soviet Union | 1 |
| Patricia Moreno | Spain | 1 |
| Phan Thi Ha Thanh | Vietnam | 1 |
| Phoebe Mills | United States | 1 |
| Regina Grabolle | East Germany | 1 |
| Renske Endel | Netherlands | 1 |
| Rusudan Sikharulidze | Soviet Union | 1 |
| Samantha Sheehan | United States | 1 |
| Shallon Olsen | Canada | 1 |
| Shoko Miyata | Japan | 1 |
| Simona Pauca | Romania | 1 |
| Sophie Scheder | Germany | 1 |
| Stefania Reindlowa | Poland | 1 |
| Steliana Nistor | Romania | 1 |
| Sun Xiaojiao | China | 1 |
| Suzanne Harmes | Netherlands | 1 |
| Tabea Alt | Germany | 1 |
| Taniko Mitsukuri | Japan | 1 |
| Tang Xijing | China | 1 |
| Tatiana Nabieva | Russia | 1 |
| Tereza Kocis | Yugoslavia | 1 |
| Terin Humphrey | United States | 1 |
| Tracee Talavera | United States | 1 |
| Ulrike Klotz | East Germany | 1 |
| Urara Ashikawa | Japan | 1 |
| Vera Cerna | Czechoslovakia | 1 |
| Verona van de Leur | Netherlands | 1 |
| Wu Jiani | China | 1 |
| Yang Yun | China | 1 |
| Youna Dufournet | France | 1 |
| Zhou Duan | China | 1 |
| Zoya Grancharova | Bulgaria | 1 |

Mike: This is a nice treatment.
I know you don’t focus on the men much, if at all, in your blog, but I thought that I would share that I did something *similar* for the men. Also, in my own writings which are scattered (I don’t have my own website as I don’t have the money or the savvy for it), I have increasingly incorporated the importance of the fact of Vitaly Scherbo being the only male gymnast ever to win all 8 World and/or Olympic titles. I didn’t realize that there wasn’t a properly cited source for that fact in his Wikipedia bio, and the even bigger shock was that on the Wikipedia article for the Republic of Belarus, no mention of him nor of his country’s former greats in Artistic Gymnastics was mentioned within the “Culture-Sport” subsection, so I made a little insertion there with the properly cited source from a Las Vegas newspaper (Scherbo has a gym in that city). There is such a shortage of gymnastics data and facts from which one can easily cite into the places where it would be needed/helpful on Wikipedia and elsewhere, especially whereas compared to sports like Football, Baseball, Tennis, Hockey, so I was extremely relieved to find the Las Vegas newspaper article on him.
I *USED* to have a hard drive that had a TON of work I did related to gymnastics history and data, but it is gone. Some things were such a lot of work that reconstructing them is too daunting for me for right now. However, the collection of things you have on here, as well as being curious about who would be closest to Scherbo in such a schema, inspired me to put together a list. Over yesterday evening and today I have culled all the data for the men and women. What I wanted to know was which men and which women have won a World Championship and/or Olympic individual title in more than one event (AA & EFs). I discovered that there were 84 men and 52 women who have done this – that is, if my calculations are correct. I checked and double-checked and triple-checked the data that I culled and am satisfied that what I am presenting is correct, although it is entirely possible that in the earliest stage (data culling) that I accidentally made an omission or two.
For the men, which present more problems that the women due to the longer and more complicated history, I have had to nuance it more than for the women. During the 1st 4 World Championships (1903, 1905, 1907, 1909), there seems to have been an inconsistency in which apparatuses were used. It wasn’t until the 5th Worlds in 1911 that all 4 classic apparatuses (Pommel Horse, Rings, Parallel Bars, Horizontal Bar) were used, and used consistently. (One of many things I discovered when putting this data together is that the ONLY 2 apparatuses that have been involved at EVERY Worlds/Olympics where individual medals on them were at stake, WERE BOTH BARS – Parallel and Horizontal). Anyway…also, it wasn’t until 1924 that apparatus medals were consistently awarded at the Olympics, and it wasn’t until the 1932 Olympics that we have the medal format that we see now – AA, and all 6 apparatuses. Because, during the Interwar Period, there was a period of time where the opportunity to win medals on FX and VT was halved compared to the other apparatuses, I decided that whereas those gymnasts who DID win FX and VT medals during this Interwar period were concerned, I counted that as only half a medal, in order to be fair to those who retired too early to be able to win them, and other similar reasons, and that half a medal works into the percentage of total titles they won and affects how they are stratified within the various sub-tiers. So, anybody who made their World/Olympic debut before 1932 who won a VT or FX medal either before or after, they are given only half the credit so as to be fair to the rest of the individuals from that timeframe.
So, I arranged this list of 84 into 7 tiers, with the main underlying principle of % of total available titles determining the stratification. For anybody who made their debut before 1932, I count the total number of possible individual medals out of 5. For anybody who made their debut in 1932 or later, I count the total number of possible individual medals out of 7. Within each of these 7 tiers, there are sub-tiers, depending on the total percentage they won. Also, I give AA medals greater importance than EF medals and use them to break ties and stratify the tiers in a more nuanced way.
For example, Tier 1 is the “100%’ers’, of which there is only 1 – Scherbo. Tier 2 is the “Minus 1’ers”, of which there are only 3. Theoretically, within Tier 2, there are multiple sub-tiers, with preference for anybody who won 6/7 over anybody who won 4/5, and within that 6/7 sub-tier, there is a split between those who won an AA medal and those who didn’t. Because there are so few people on tier 2, and also because it was easier to accomplish this in the Pre-WWI and Interwar Era, there is only one sub-tier represented. However, in Tiers 3-7, there are multiple populated sub-tiers, except for Tier 5 – that’s just the way it worked out.
Lastly, I should add that THIS IS NOT AN ALL-TIME RANKING!!! I repeat, THIS IS NOT AN ALL-TIME RANKING!!! It is merely a substantively meaningful data set, albeit a quite imperfect one. Without pointing out some obvious backwards-looking or unjust manifestations within the data, itself, or singling anybody out for positive/negative comment, I should also point out that NUMEROUS Olympic All-Around Champions are completely absent from this list. This was the case for the women, too, which I shall share next. I should also add that, yes, I did include the Alternate Olympics for both 1980 and 1984.
So, without any further ado, here is the breakdown:
Tier 1 (100%’ers): Scherbo, Vitaly – 7 – AA, FX, PH, RG, VT, PB, HB
Tier 2 (Minus-1’ers): Martinez, Joseph – 4 – AA, RG, PB, HB; Stukelj, Leon – 4 – AA, RG, PB, HB; Zampori, Giorgio – 4 – AA, PH, RG, PB. (3 TOTAL INDIVIDUALS IN THIS HIGH TIER)
Tier 3 (70%+’ers): SUB-TIER A: Misyutin, Hrihoriy – 5 – AA, FX, RG, VT, HB; Nemov, Alexei – 5 – AA, FX, PH, VT, HB; Shakhlin, Boris – 5 – AA, PH, VT, PB, HB; SUB-TIER B: (none); SUB-TIER C: Mack, Eugen – 3.5 – AA, PH, VT, PB; Primozic, Josip – 3.5 – AA, FX, PH, PB; SUB-TIER D: Pelle, Istvan – 3.5 – FX, PH, PB, HB. (7 TOTAL INDIVIDUALS IN THIS HIGH TIER)
Tier 4 (Majority’ers): SUB-TIER A: Lalu, Marcel – 3 – AA, PB, HB; Savolainen, Heikki – 3 – AA, PH, HB; Sumi, Peter – 3 – AA, RG, HB; Torres, Marco – 3 – AA, RG, HB; SUB-TIER B: (none); SUB-TIER C: Andrianov, Nikolai – 4 – AA, FX, RG, VT; Bilozerchev, Dmitry – 4 – AA, PH, RG, HB; Chukarin, Viktor – 4 – AA, PH, VT, PB; Dityatin, Alexander – 4 – AA, RG, VT, PB; Kasamatsu, Shigeru – 4 – AA, FX, VT, HB; Korolyov, Yuri – 4 – AA, FX, RG, VT; Muratov, Valentin – 4 – AA, FX, VT, HB; Uchimura, Kohei – 4 – AA, FX, PB, HB; Voronin, Mikhail – 4 – AA, RG, VT, HB; SUB-TIER D: Nakayama, Akinori – 4 – FX, RG, PB, HB. (14 TOTAL INDIVIDUALS IN THIS HIGH TIER)
PRETTY MUCH ANYBODY ABOVE IN TIERS 1-4 SHOULD BE CONSIDERED GOAT-ISH. A select few from the bottom 3 tiers also should be.
Tier 5: (50%’ers): Hudec, Alois – 2.5 – AA, FX, RG; Miez, Georges – 2.5 – AA, FX, HB. (2 TOTAL INDIVIDUALS)
Tier 6: (40+%’ers): SUB-TIER A: Artemov, Vladimir – 3 – AA, PB, HB; Endo, Yukio – 3 – AA, FX, PB; Gushiken, Koji – 3 – AA, RG, PB; Kato, Sawao – 3 – AA, FX, PB; Kenmotsu, Eizo – 3 – AA, PB, HB; Titov, Yuri – 3 – AA, RG, VT; SUB-TIER B: Aaltonen, Paavo – 3 – PH, VT, HB; Fei, Tong – 3 – FX, PH, HB; Ning, Li – 3 – FX, PH, RG; Reusch, Michael – 3 – PH, PB, HB; Stalder, Josef – 3 – FX, PH, HB; Yun, Lou – 3 – FX, VT, PB; SUB-TIER C: Cada, Josef – 2 – AA, HB; Neri, Romeo – 2 – AA, PB; Steiner, Ferdinand – 2 – AA, RG; SUB-TIER D: Boni, Guido – 2 – RG, PB; Erben, Frantisek – 2 – PH, HB; Eyser, George – 2 – RG, PH; Klinger, Miroslav – 2 – PH, HB; Lux, Joseph – 2 – PH, PB. (20 TOTAL INDIVIDUALS)
Tier 7: (Made-A-Tough-List’ers): SUB-TIER A: Dalaloyan, Artur – 2 – AA, FX; Hamm, Paul – 2 – AA, FX; Hashimoto, Daiki – 2 – AA, HB; Huhtanen, Veikko – 2 – AA, PH; Kajitani, Nobuyuki – 2 – AA, RG; Korobchinsky, Igor – 2 – AA, FX; Lehmann, Walter – 2 – AA, RG; Nagornyy, Nikita – 2 – AA, VT; Ruoteng, Xiao – 2 – AA, PH; Schwarzmann, Alfred – 2 – AA, VT; Shinnosuke, Oka – 2 – AA, HB; Wei, Yang – 2 – AA, PB; Xiaoshuang, Li – 2 – AA, FX; SUB-TIER B: Cerar, Miroslav – 2 – PH, PB; Dragulescu, Marian – 2 – FX, VT; Frey, Konrad – 2 – FX, PH; Gebedinger, Ernst – 2 – FX, VT; Jarman, Jake – 2 – FX, VT; Jing, Li – 2 – PH, PB; Kai, Zou – 2 – FX, HB; Kashima, Takehiro – 2 – PH, HB; Kharkov, Sergey – 2 – FX, HB; Kroll, Sylvio – 2 – VT, PB; Mogilny, Valentin – 2 – PH, PB; Ono, Takashi – 2 – VT, HB; Shahinyan, Hrant – 2 – PH, RG; Shirai, Kenzo – 2 – FX, VT; Thomas, Kurt – 2 – FX, HB; Tkachyov, Aleksandr – 2 – PB, HB; Tsukahara, Mitsuo – 2 – VT, HB; Whitlock, Max – 2 – FX, PH; Xiaopeng, Li – 2 – VT, PB; Xuwei, Hu – 2 – PB, HB; Yovchev, Yordan – 2 – FX, RG; Yulo, Carlos – 2 – FX, VT; SUB-TIER C: Gajdos, Jan – 2 – AA, FX; SUB-TIER D: Hanggi, Hermann – 2 – PH, VT. (37 TOTAL INDIVIDUALS)
In Summary: Tiers 1-7: 1, 3, 7, 14, 2, 20, 37 – 84 TOTAL MALE INDIVIDUALS WHO HAVE WON WORLD/OLYMPIC TITLES ON MULTIPLE INDIVIDUAL EVENTS.
————-
Women:
This is much easier to present. Less than 2/3 of the data, plus I already articulated why I am doing this and my methodology in the previous post. Also, no half-medals represented because the history is less problematic.
Tier 1: Caslavska, Vera – 5 – AA, UB, BB, FX; Latynina, Larisa – 5 – AA, VT, UB, BB, FX. (2 INDIVIDUALS TOTAL)
Tier 2: SUB-TIER A: Biles, Simone – 4 – AA, VT, BB, FX; Boginskaya, Svetlana – 4 – AA, VT, BB, FX; Comaneci, Nadia – 4 AA, UB, BB, FX; Miller, Shannon – 4 – AA, UB, BB, FX; Mostepanova, Olga – 4 – AA, VT, BB, FX; Rakoczy, Helena – 4 – AA, VT, BB, FX; SUB-TIER B: Gnauck, Maxi – 4 – VT, UB, BB, FX; Milosovici, Lavinia – 4 – VT, UB, BB, FX. (8 INDIVIDUALS TOTAL)
TIER 3: SUB-TIER A: Andrade, Rebeca – 3 – AA, VT, FX; Dekanova, Vlasta – 3 – AA, UB, BB; Johnson-East, Shawn – 3 – AA, BB, FX; Khorkina, Svetlana – 3 – AA, VT, UB; Kim, Nellie – 3 – AA, VT, FX; Liukin, Nastia – 3 – AA, UB, BB; Mustafina, Aliya – 3 – AA, UB, BB; Podkopayeva, Lilia – 3 – AA, VT, FX; Shushunova, Yelena – 3 – AA, VT, FX; Tourischeva, Ludmilla – 3 – AA, BB, FX; Zmeskal, Kim – 3 – AA, BB, FX; SUB-TIER B: Gogean, Gina – 3 – VT, BB, FX; Keleti, Agnes – 3 – UB, BB, FX; Korbut, Olga – 3 – VT, BB, FX; Kuchinskaya, Natalia – 3 – UB, BB, FX; Silivas, Daniela – 3 – UB, BB, FX; Szabo, Ecaterina – 3 – VT, BB, FX. (17 TOTAL INDIVIDUALS)
TIER 4: SUB-TIER A: Amanar, Simona – 2 – AA, VT; Dobre, Aurelia – 2 – AA, BB; Memmel, Chellsie – 2 – AA, UB; Melnikova, Angelina – 2 – AA, VT; Omelianchik, Oksana – 2 – AA, FX; Yurchenko, Natalia – 2 – AA, VT. SUB-TIER B: Amanar, Simona – 2 – AA, VT; Dobre, Aurelia – 2 – AA, BB; Memmel, Chellsie – 2 – AA, UB; Melnikova, Angelina – 2 – AA, VT; Omelianchik, Oksana – 2 – AA, FX; Yurchenko, Natalia – 2 – AA, VT. (23 TOTAL INDIVIDUALS)
In Summary: Tiers 1-4: 2, 8, 17, 25 – 52 TOTAL FEMALE INDIVIDUALS WHO HAVE WON WORLD/OLYMPIC TITLES ON MULTIPLE INDIVIDUAL EVENTS.
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As always, I am quick to post and then quick to discover errors. For the men, within SUB-TIER 3c, Heida, Anton – 3.5 – AA, PH, VT, HB belongs. Also, at the bottom, I meant to rearticulate both Gajdos and Hanggi at 1.5.
Again, don’t shoot me. This is NOT an all-time ranking, by any means. It is merely a substantively meaningful if also quite imperfect dataset based strictly on objective criteria.
Also, for women Tier 4, I meant to type 25 at the end of the paragraph, although I got it right in the summary.
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I should also add that these lists would look VERY different with continental games (Europeans, most notably) and World Cup Finals (1975-2008) added in, and both of those at least halfway belong. The list is very Euro-centric, also, as it took non-Europeans a good bit longer to start participating regularly and mature their programs and make an impact, although part of that is political, of course. I don’t want to make any comments regarding individuals, but I did want to point out trends and these are a couple of articulations I meant to add in earlier.
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And, yes, Vera Caslavska – VT.
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CORRECTED/FINALIZED POST (albeit with probably a few “minor” errors). I didn’t realize, as it appears upon loading this post into your comment, that formatting, (boldface, italics, perhaps even centering), might show up in a comment if used in the preliminary write-up.
Mike: This is a nice treatment.
I know you don’t focus on the men much, if at all, in your blog, but I thought that I would share that I did something *similar* for the men. Also, in my own writings which are scattered (I don’t have my own website as I don’t have the money or the savvy for it), I have increasingly incorporated the importance of the fact of Vitaly Scherbo being the only male gymnast ever to win all 8 World and/or Olympic titles. I didn’t realize that there wasn’t a properly cited source for that fact in his Wikipedia bio, and the even bigger shock was that on the Wikipedia article for the Republic of Belarus, no mention of him nor of his country’s former greats in Artistic Gymnastics was mentioned within the “Culture-Sport” subsection, so I made a little insertion there with the properly cited source from a Las Vegas newspaper (Scherbo has a gym in that city). There is such a shortage of gymnastics data and facts from which one can easily cite into the places where it would be needed/helpful on Wikipedia and elsewhere, especially whereas compared to sports like Football, Baseball, Basketball, Football, Hockey, Soccer/Futbol, Tennis, so I was extremely relieved to find the Las Vegas newspaper article on him.
I *USED* to have a hard drive that had a TON of work I did related to gymnastics history and data, but it is gone. Some things were such a lot of work that reconstructing them is too daunting for me for right now. However, the collection of things you have on here, as well as being curious about who would be closest to Scherbo in such a schema, inspired me to put together a list. Over yesterday evening and today I have culled all the data for the men and women. What I wanted to know was –
“Which men and which women have won a World Championship and/or Olympic individual title in more than one event (AA & EFs)?”
I discovered that there were 84 men and 52 women who have done this – that is, if my calculations are correct. I checked and double-checked and triple-checked the data that I culled and am satisfied that what I am presenting is correct, although it is entirely possible that in the earliest stage (data culling) that I accidentally made an omission or two.
For the men, which present more problems than the women due to the longer and more complicated history, I have had to nuance it more than for the women. During the 1st 4 World Championships (1903, 1905, 1907, 1909), there seems to have been an inconsistency in which apparatuses were used. It wasn’t until the 5th Worlds in 1911 that all 4 classic apparatuses (Pommel Horse, Rings, Parallel Bars, Horizontal Bar) were used, and used consistently. (One of many things I discovered when putting this data together is that the ONLY 2 apparatuses that have been involved at EVERY Worlds/Olympics where individual medals on them were at stake, WERE BOTH BARS – Parallel and Horizontal). Anyway…also, it wasn’t until 1924 that apparatus medals were consistently awarded at the Olympics, and it wasn’t until the 1932 Olympics that we have the medal format that we see now – AA, and all 6 apparatuses. Because, during the Interwar Period, there was a period of time where the opportunity to win medals on FX and VT was halved compared to the other apparatuses, I decided that whereas those gymnasts who DID win FX and VT medals during this Interwar period were concerned, I counted that as only half a medal, in order to be fair to those who retired too early to be able to win them, and other similar reasons, and that half a medal works into the percentage of total titles they won and affects how they are stratified within the various sub-tiers. So, anybody who made their World/Olympic debut before 1932 who won a VT or FX medal either before or after, they are given only half the credit so as to be fair to the rest of the individuals from that timeframe.
So, I arranged this list of 84 into 7 tiers, with the main underlying principle of % of total available titles determining the stratification. For anybody who made their World/Olympic debut before 1932, I count the total number of possible individual medals out of 5. For anybody who made their debut in 1932 or later, I count the total number of possible individual medals out of 7. Within each of these 7 tiers, there are sub-tiers, depending on the total percentage they won. Also, I give AA medals greater importance than EF medals and use them to break ties and stratify the tiers in a more nuanced way.
For example, Tier 1 is the “100%’ers’, of which there is only 1 – Scherbo. Tier 2 is the “Minus 1’ers”, of which there are only 3. Theoretically, within Tier 2, there are multiple sub-tiers, with preference for anybody who won 6/7 over anybody who won 4/5, and within each of those sub-tiers, there is a split (another sub-tier) between those who won an AA medal and those who didn’t – hence up to 4 sub-tiers per tier. Because there are so few people on tier 2, and also because it was easier to accomplish this in the Pre-WWI and Interwar Eras, there is only one sub-tier represented. However, in Tiers 3-7, there are multiple populated sub-tiers, except for Tier 5 – that’s just the way it worked out.
Lastly, I should add that THIS IS NOT AN ALL-TIME RANKING!!! I repeat, THIS IS NOT AN ALL-TIME RANKING!!! It is merely a substantively meaningful data set, albeit a quite imperfect one, created according to certain objective criteria. Without pointing out some obvious backwards-looking or unjust manifestations within the data, itself, or singling anybody out for positive/negative comment, I should also point out that NUMEROUS Olympic All-Around Champions are completely absent from this list. This was the case for the women, too, which I shall share next. I should also add that, yes, I did include the Alternate Olympics for both 1980 and 1984.
One last caveat: I should also add that these lists would look VERY different with continental games (Europeans, most notably) and World Cup Finals (1975-2008) added in, and both of those at least halfway belong. The list is very Euro-centric, also, as it took non-Europeans a good bit longer to start participating regularly and mature their programs and make an impact, although part of that is political, of course.
So, without any further ado, here is the breakdown:
MEN:
Tier 1 (100%’ers): Scherbo, Vitaly – 7 – AA, FX, PH, RG, VT, PB, HB
Tier 2 (All-But-1’ers): Martinez, Joseph – 4 – AA, RG, PB, HB; Stukelj, Leon – 4 – AA, RG, PB, HB; Zampori, Giorgio – 4 – AA, PH, RG, PB. (3 TOTAL INDIVIDUALS IN THIS HIGH TIER)
Tier 3 (70%+’ers): SUB-TIER A: Misyutin, Hrihoriy – 5 – AA, FX, RG, VT, HB; Nemov, Alexei – 5 – AA, FX, PH, VT, HB; Shakhlin, Boris – 5 – AA, PH, VT, PB, HB; SUB-TIER B: (none); SUB-TIER C: Heida, Anton – 3.5 – AA, PH, VT, HB; Mack, Eugen – 3.5 – AA, PH, VT, PB; Primozic, Josip – 3.5 – AA, FX, PH, PB; SUB-TIER D: Pelle, Istvan – 3.5 – FX, PH, PB, HB. (7 TOTAL INDIVIDUALS IN THIS HIGH TIER)
Tier 4 (Majority’ers): SUB-TIER A: Lalu, Marcel – 3 – AA, PB, HB; Savolainen, Heikki – 3 – AA, PH, HB; Sumi, Peter – 3 – AA, RG, HB; Torres, Marco – 3 – AA, RG, HB; SUB-TIER B: (none); SUB-TIER C: Andrianov, Nikolai – 4 – AA, FX, RG, VT; Bilozerchev, Dmitry – 4 – AA, PH, RG, HB; Chukarin, Viktor – 4 – AA, PH, VT, PB; Dityatin, Alexander – 4 – AA, RG, VT, PB; Kasamatsu, Shigeru – 4 – AA, FX, VT, HB; Korolyov, Yuri – 4 – AA, FX, RG, VT; Muratov, Valentin – 4 – AA, FX, VT, HB; Uchimura, Kohei – 4 – AA, FX, PB, HB; Voronin, Mikhail – 4 – AA, RG, VT, HB; SUB-TIER D: Nakayama, Akinori – 4 – FX, RG, PB, HB. (14 TOTAL INDIVIDUALS IN THIS HIGH TIER)
PRETTY MUCH ANYBODY ABOVE IN TIERS 1-4 SHOULD BE CONSIDERED GOAT-ISH. Several from the bottom 3 tiers also should be.
Tier 5: (50%’ers): Hudec, Alois – 2.5 – AA, FX, RG; Miez, Georges – 2.5 – AA, FX, HB. (2 TOTAL INDIVIDUALS)
Tier 6: (40+%’ers): SUB-TIER A: Artemov, Vladimir – 3 – AA, PB, HB; Endo, Yukio – 3 – AA, FX, PB; Gushiken, Koji – 3 – AA, RG, PB; Kato, Sawao – 3 – AA, FX, PB; Kenmotsu, Eizo – 3 – AA, PB, HB; Titov, Yuri – 3 – AA, RG, VT; SUB-TIER B: Aaltonen, Paavo – 3 – PH, VT, HB; Fei, Tong – 3 – FX, PH, HB; Ning, Li – 3 – FX, PH, RG; Reusch, Michael – 3 – PH, PB, HB; Stalder, Josef – 3 – FX, PH, HB; Yun, Lou – 3 – FX, VT, PB; SUB-TIER C: Cada, Josef – 2 – AA, HB; Neri, Romeo – 2 – AA, PB; Steiner, Ferdinand – 2 – AA, RG; SUB-TIER D: Boni, Guido – 2 – RG, PB; Erben, Frantisek – 2 – PH, HB; Eyser, George – 2 – RG, PH; Klinger, Miroslav – 2 – PH, HB; Lux, Joseph – 2 – PH, PB. (20 TOTAL INDIVIDUALS)
Tier 7: (Made-A-Tough-List’ers): SUB-TIER A: Dalaloyan, Artur – 2 – AA, FX; Hamm, Paul – 2 – AA, FX; Hashimoto, Daiki – 2 – AA, HB; Huhtanen, Veikko – 2 – AA, PH; Kajitani, Nobuyuki – 2 – AA, RG; Korobchinsky, Igor – 2 – AA, FX; Lehmann, Walter – 2 – AA, RG; Nagornyy, Nikita – 2 – AA, VT; Ruoteng, Xiao – 2 – AA, PH; Schwarzmann, Alfred – 2 – AA, VT; Shinnosuke, Oka – 2 – AA, HB; Wei, Yang – 2 – AA, PB; Xiaoshuang, Li – 2 – AA, FX; SUB-TIER B: Cerar, Miroslav – 2 – PH, PB; Dragulescu, Marian – 2 – FX, VT; Frey, Konrad – 2 – FX, PH; Gebedinger, Ernst – 2 – FX, VT; Jarman, Jake – 2 – FX, VT; Jing, Li – 2 – PH, PB; Kai, Zou – 2 – FX, HB; Kashima, Takehiro – 2 – PH, HB; Kharkov, Sergey – 2 – FX, HB; Kroll, Sylvio – 2 – VT, PB; Mogilny, Valentin – 2 – PH, PB; Ono, Takashi – 2 – VT, HB; Shahinyan, Hrant – 2 – PH, RG; Shirai, Kenzo – 2 – FX, VT; Thomas, Kurt – 2 – FX, HB; Tkachyov, Aleksandr – 2 – PB, HB; Tsukahara, Mitsuo – 2 – VT, HB; Whitlock, Max – 2 – FX, PH; Xiaopeng, Li – 2 – VT, PB; Xuwei, Hu – 2 – PB, HB; Yovchev, Yordan – 2 – FX, RG; Yulo, Carlos – 2 – FX, VT; SUB-TIER C: Gajdos, Jan – 1.5 – AA, FX; SUB-TIER D: Hanggi, Hermann – 1.5 – PH, VT. (37 TOTAL INDIVIDUALS)
In Summary: Tiers 1-7: 1 + 3 + 7 + 14 +2 + 20 + 37 = 84 TOTAL INDIVIDUALS WHO HAVE WON WORLD/OLYMPIC TITLES ON MULTIPLE INDIVIDUAL EVENTS.
————-
WOMEN:
(This is much easier to present. Less than 2/3 of the data, plus I already articulated why I am doing this and my methodology in the previous post. Also, no half-medals represented because the history is less problematic. Also, no more than 2 sub-tiers per tier.)
Tier 1: Caslavska, Vera – 5 – AA, VT, UB, BB, FX; Latynina, Larisa – 5 – AA, VT, UB, BB, FX. (2 INDIVIDUALS TOTAL)
Tier 2: SUB-TIER A: Biles, Simone – 4 – AA, VT, BB, FX; Boginskaya, Svetlana – 4 – AA, VT, BB, FX; Comaneci, Nadia – 4 AA, UB, BB, FX; Miller, Shannon – 4 – AA, UB, BB, FX; Mostepanova, Olga – 4 – AA, VT, BB, FX; Rakoczy, Helena – 4 – AA, VT, BB, FX; SUB-TIER B: Gnauck, Maxi – 4 – VT, UB, BB, FX; Milosovici, Lavinia – 4 – VT, UB, BB, FX. (8 INDIVIDUALS TOTAL)
TIER 3: SUB-TIER A: Andrade, Rebeca – 3 – AA, VT, FX; Dekanova, Vlasta – 3 – AA, UB, BB; Johnson-East, Shawn – 3 – AA, BB, FX; Khorkina, Svetlana – 3 – AA, VT, UB; Kim, Nellie – 3 – AA, VT, FX; Liukin, Nastia – 3 – AA, UB, BB; Mustafina, Aliya – 3 – AA, UB, BB; Podkopayeva, Lilia – 3 – AA, VT, FX; Shushunova, Yelena – 3 – AA, VT, FX; Tourischeva, Ludmilla – 3 – AA, BB, FX; Zmeskal, Kim – 3 – AA, BB, FX; SUB-TIER B: Gogean, Gina – 3 – VT, BB, FX; Keleti, Agnes – 3 – UB, BB, FX; Korbut, Olga – 3 – VT, BB, FX; Kuchinskaya, Natalia – 3 – UB, BB, FX; Silivas, Daniela – 3 – UB, BB, FX; Szabo, Ecaterina – 3 – VT, BB, FX. (17 TOTAL INDIVIDUALS)
TIER 4: SUB-TIER A: Amanar, Simona – 2 – AA, VT; Dobre, Aurelia – 2 – AA, BB; Memmel, Chellsie – 2 – AA, UB; Melnikova, Angelina – 2 – AA, VT; Omelianchik, Oksana – 2 – AA, FX; Yurchenko, Natalia – 2 – AA, VT. SUB-TIER B: Bosakova, Eva – 2 – BB, FX; Buttner-Jan, Karin – 2 – VT, UB; Carey, Jade – 2 – VT, FX; Chusovitinia, Oksana – 2 – VT, FX; Fei, Cheng – 2 – VT, FX; Frederick, Marcia – 2 – VT, UB; Izbasa, Sandra – 2 – VT, FX; Kochetkova, Dina – 2 – BB, FX; Manina, Tamara – 2 – BB, FX; Palfyova, Matylda – 2 – VT, FX; Pettersson, Ann-Sofi – 2 – VT, UB; Piskun, Elena – 2 – VT, UB; Ponor, Catalina – 2 – BB, FX; Raducan, Andreea – 2 – BB, FX; Sacramone, Alicia – 2 – VT, FX; Tweddle, Beth – 2 – UB, FX; Yanhong, Ma – 2 – UB, BB; Zamolodchikova, Elena – 2 – VT, FX; Zuchold, Erika – 2 – VT, BB. (25 TOTAL INDIVIDUALS)
In Summary: Tiers 1-4: 2 + 8 +17 + 25 = 52 TOTAL INDIVIDUALS WHO HAVE WON WORLD/OLYMPIC TITLES ON MULTIPLE INDIVIDUAL EVENTS.
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