3. MEDALISTS 4 - 2
4. Edoardo Mangiarotti - 13 Medals, 6 Gold
Country: Italy
Sport: Fencing
Mangiarotti was born in Renate, Italy to a father who was a renowned fencer himself. A natural right-hander, he learned to fence as a lefty because his father believed it would be an advantage in competition. Mangiarotti went on to an amazing 40-year career in fencing which began at the 1936 Olympics at the age of 17, helping to secure a team gold for Italy, and continued past his final summer games in 1960, where he won individual medals as well as team honors. Touché!
3. Boris Shakhlin - 13 Medals, 7 Gold
Country - USSR
Sport: Gymnastics
Boris was a true Russian for his times. A national celebrity because of his success in international gymnastics, he was also a longtime member of the Communist Party, beginning in 1964 after his last Olympics, and was awarded the Order of Lenin. He won a buttload of medals, including golds for his specialty, the pommel horse. After retiring from competition in 1964, Shakhlin went on to become a judge in international competition.
2. Nikolay Andrianov - 15 Medals, 7 Gold
Country - USSR
Sport: Gymnastics
Because we haven't had enough of them, Andrianov is yet another gymnast who won a ton of medals. Born in Vladimir, Russia, Andrianov began his career at the relatively late age of 12. He made his first foray into the Olympics at Munich in 1972, where he won his first gold. He then won 7 medals at Montreal in 1976. Piece o' cake.
Coming back home to Mother Russia for the Moscow Olympics of 1980, he continued his winning ways, garnering 2 gold, 2 silver, and 1 bronze medal. He is a three-time world champ, and was the first person to land the triple somersault dismount in competition. We have no idea why this is any more or less insane than all the other things these people do, but gymnasts apparently believe that it is quite significant.
