who is the most decorated us olympian of all time
List of multiple Olympic medalists American swimmer Michael Phelps has won the most Olympic medals with 28 medals (23 gold, 3 silver, 2 bronze). He is also the most decorated Olympian in individual events, with 16 medals (13 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze). Norwegian cross-country skier Marit Bjørgen is the most decorated Winter Olympian, with 15 medals (8 gold, 4 silver, and 3 bronze).
List of 2008 Summer Olympics medal winners American swimmer Michael Phelps was the most successful athlete, winning eight gold medals and setting a new record for most golds won in a single edition of the Olympics (the previous record, seven, had been set in 1972 by Mark Spitz).[19] Phelps also set a new record for most career gold medals (14), and his 16 total medals were ranked second all-time behind Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina (18) at the time. In 2012 Phelps set a record for most total medals.[20] Several records for career medals in a sport were tied or surpassed, including cycling (Bradley Wiggins of the United Kingdom won two gold, tied for record with six career medals); judo (Ryoko Tani of Japan won a bronze, five career medals); softball (Laura Berg of the United States won a gold and Natalie Ward, Melanie Roche and Tanya Harding of Australia won a bronze; all have four career medals); swimming (Michael Phelps, 16 career medals); taekwondo (Steven López of the United States won a bronze and Hadi Saei of Iran won a gold, both three career medals); and table tennis (Wang Nan of China won a gold and silver medal, five career medals).[20]