Great Olympic athletes are measured by the number of medals they have won. In that case, the greatest of all Olympic athletes was a woman!
Larisa Latynina, a young Russian gymnast, won a total of six medals in 1956. Four were gold medals: for individual combined, team combined, horse vault, and floor exercises. She took a silver medal in the parallel bars and a bronze medal in the team (portable apparatus).
In 1960 Larisa won another six medals. Three were gold medals: for individual combined, team combined, and floor exercises. She won two silvers, for balance beam and parallel bars, plus one bronze in the horse vault.
In 1964 Larisa was again one of the stars of the Olympics, winning six more medals. She got two golds for team combined and floor exercises, two silvers for individual combined and horse vault, and two bronzes for balance beam and parallel bars.
Larisa Latynina won a total of 18 medals in Olympic competition. It is very difficult to imagine that any athlete will ever reach that total again.
From The Giant Book of More Strange But True Sports Stories by Howard Liss. Illustrations by Joe Mathieu.
Not wishing to disagree; however, the googles lists Michael Phelps as the ‘Greatest Olympian of All-Time’ with his 28 total medals, 23 of gold, and 3 of silver, plus 2 of bronze.[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_multiple_Olympic_medalists]
Yeah, sorry, work has been crazy today so I didn’t get a chance to get in here when this posted to explain that, as of the publication year of the book (1981), this was true. Michael Phelps became the most decorated Olympian in 2016. Latynina is still #2 for now.
However, Larisa Semyonovna Latynina is the ‘Greatest (Female) Olympian of All-Time’. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larisa_Latynina]