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This Is What These Olympic Gold Medalists Look Like Now
Olympians are the greatest athletes in the world, and apart from dawning their country’s colors in competition, they are also some of the youngest celebrities out there. Usually in competition, we see these athletes in their prime, usually below 30, and in many cases under 20.
And with Olympic events only happening every four years, it’s no surprise that they grow up fast. But many times after retirement, we seldom hear from athletes or know what they’re up to! Well, you’re in luck, because we tracked the best down so you can see what they’re up to now!
Shawn Johnson
She began gymnastics when she was just three years old. By 2008, she brought home the gold for balance beaming. The following year Forbes concluded that she was “America’s Most-Liked Sports Figure”.
Alicia Sacramone
Alicia began gymnastics at age 8 and won 12 medals at the US National Championships between 2004-2008. She has since become the second-most decorated American gymnast, with a total of ten medals.
Michael Phelps
Michael Phelps simply holds the record for everything. He holds the record for gold medals (23), gold medals in individual events (13), and a further 16 medals in individual events. In grand total, he has 28 medals to his name, making the most decorated Olympic athlete of all time.
Aly Raisman
Aly was captain of the US Women’s Gymnastics team called the Fierce Five in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. She acquired the gold both for her team and individually. In 2016 at Rio de Janeiro, she won gold again for the team and also silver for her individual efforts.
Dara Torres
Dara is the first Olympic swimmer to represent the United States in five Olympic Games. She has accumulated 12 medals (four gold) and, at 41, was the oldest swimmer to be placed in an Olympic team. Outside of swimming, she has worked as reporter and announcer for several networks including NBC, ESPN, and Fox, and has had an illustrious career in modeling.
Greg Louganis
Greg Louganis was a gold medalist winner at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics (he was championed for the 1980 Olympics, but couldn’t participate due to the USA’s boycott). He has won awards for his outstanding achievements as an amateur diver. He has since been a mentor for the US diving teams in 2012 and 2016.
Nastia Liukin
Nastia’s parents were both highly qualified gymnasts, and her extensive time in the gym motivated her to pursue gymnastics at age 3. In 2005 and 2007 she was the world champion on the balance beam, and in 2008 she was the Olympic individual all-around champion.
Apolo Ohno
Apolo has been the considered the face of short track in the United States after winning eight medals (two gold, two silver, four bronze) at the 2002 Winter Olympics.
Kristi Yamaguchi
Kristi won the World Figure Skating Championship two years in a row in 1991 and ‘92, and went on to compete and win the gold in the 1992 Winter Olympics. She was inducted into the US Olympic Hall of Fame in 2005.
Mary Lou Retton
Mary Lou Retton is credited as being a pioneer figure in women’s gymnastics. Her achievements in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics made her the first woman to win the all-around gold medal (a title she held for 20 years after). She even has a gymnast maneuver named after her, dubbed “The Retton Flip”. She was inducted into the Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 1997.
Michelle Kwan
Figure skater Michelle Kwan was considered the most popular female athlete during the 2000s and is the most decorated Olympic skater. She is also heralded as the greatest figure skater. She won two Olympic medals in ‘98 and ‘02, as well as 14 other prestigious awards.
Bruce/Caitlyn Jenner
Jenner won the 1976 Olympics decathlon title at the Montreal Summer Olympics, giving him, according to tradition, the unofficial title of “world’s greatest athlete”. He set a third successive world record following his victory, which dubbed him an “all-American hero.” In 2015, Jenner underwent gender-change surgery and is currently known as Caitlyn.
McKayla Rose Maroney
McKayla was a part of the US Women’s Gymnastics team called the Fierce Five in the 2012 Summer Olympics. She won a gold medal for her team and earned a silver medal for herself in vaulting.
Shaun White
Shaun is widely considered to be the greatest snowboarder in Olympic history. At the 2006 Winter Olympics he won gold in the half-pipe and scored just 3 points under a perfect score. At the 2010 Games he scored high enough to win the gold without having to do a second run, but decided to run it anyway. This time, he ended up getting just 1.5 points under a perfect score.
Nadia Comăneci
Nadia was the first gymnast in Olympic history to be awarded a perfect score of 10.0 – and at the age of 14, nonetheless! Her achievements at the Montreal games in 1976 earned her six more perfect scores and three gold medals. In total, she has accumulated nine gold medals and four World Championship medals throughout her career.
Mark Spitz
Mark Spitz is a swimmer and won nine Olympic golds, a silver, and a bronze; five Pan American golds; 31 Amateur Athletic Union titles; and eight National Collegiate Athletic Association titles in a span of four years. His achievements at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich earned him seven gold medals, a record held until Michael Phelps won eight medals in 2008. In 2002, Spitz became a stockbroker and currently travels around the world delivering around 25 motivational speeches a year.
Natalie Coughlin
During her time at the University of California, Natalie Coughlin became the first woman to swim the 100-meter backstroke in less than a minute. At the 2008 Summer Olympics, she became the first US female athlete to win six medals in one Olympiad, and the first woman ever to win gold for the 100-meter backstroke in two consecutive Olympics.
Gabrielle Douglas
Gabrielle was among the five gymnasts who comprised the Fierce Five at the 2012 Summer Olympics, where she contributed to her team’s gold medal achievements. She was the first African American to become the individual all-around champion.
Jackie Joyner-Kersee
Jackie is rated among the all-time greatest athletes in the heptathlon and the long jump. She acquired three gold, one silver, and two bronze medals at four different Olympic Games. She was voted as the Greatest Female Athlete of All-Time by Sports Illustrated for Women.
Shannon Lee Miller
Miller was the All-Around World Champion in 1993 and ‘94 and the balance beam gold medalist of the 1996 Summer Olympics. Up until 2016 when Simone Biles competed in the games, she was the most-decorated gymnast in Olympic history with a total of seven medals.
George Foreman
He may have a personal grill named after him, but the professional boxer has made other achievements as well. He is a two-time world heavyweight champion and an Olympic gold medalist. During his boxing career, he amassed 76 wins out of 81. Outside of boxing, he went to become an ordained minister, author, and entrepreneur.
Mia Hamm
Mia is a FIFA Women’s World Cup Winner and two-time Olympic gold medalist. She was chosen to carry the American flag at the Athens Closing Ceremony in 2004. She was named Sportswoman of the Year by the Women’s Sports Foundation in 1997, and in 1999 she broke the all-time international goal record with her 108th goal.
Janet Evans
Janet Evans is a swimmer who earned three gold medals at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. There she set a new world record in the 400-, 800-, and 1,500-meter freestyle events, all of which she held for multiple years.
Carl Lewis
During his career from 1979 to 1996, Carl Lewis won nine gold medals for track and field. He is one of merely three Olympic athletes who won four gold medals in a single event. He tried to run for the New Jersey Senate in 2011 but discovered he was unqualified.
Larisa Latynina
Larisa currently holds the most amount of gold medals for a gymnast, with 9 in total. For 48 years she held the title as most decorated Olympic athlete until Michael Phelps surpassed that number. Her achievements helped cement the Soviet Union’s dominance in the field of gymnastics.
Ole Einar Bjørndalen
Ole Einar Bjørndalen is known as “The King of Biathlon” and is the most decorated Olympian in the history of the Winter Games. He is also the most successful biathlete, with a record total of 44 medals through the Biathlon World Championship.
Dorothy Hamill
At the 1976 Winter Olympics, Dorothy Hamill came 2nd in figure skating and then won the short and long programs, giving her the gold. In fact, she is the only figure skater since then to win the gold without using a triple jump. She even created a new skating move – a camel spin that turns into a sit spin – which ultimately was dubbed the “Hamill camel”.
Rulon Gardner
Rulon defeated Russian wrestler Aleksandr Karelin – who for 13 years had gone undefeated – at the 2000 Summer Olympic Games, earning him the gold. It was also the first gold medal won by an American for wrestling in a full international field.
Birgit Fischer
Birgit Fischer was an Olympic canoeing champion at age 18 and 41, making her both the youngest and the oldest champion in the field. Over the course of six Olympic Games, she has acquired eight gold medals, an achievement shared by only one other.
Mike Eruzione
Mike Eruzione was the captain of the 1980 United States Olympic hockey team, the team that is most remembered as beating the undefeated Soviet Union. The game has since been dubbed the “Miracle on Ice”. Eruzione led his team to their unprecedented victory (and even shot the winning goal), which ultimately earned them the gold medal.
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