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All athletes dream of winning an Olympic medal, and while a lucky – and talented – few get to take home a gold, silver or bronze prize, some can’t help but come back for more.

We celebrate the most decorated figure skaters in Olympic history, and reveal the most successful nation…

High five

Canada’s Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir are looking back at an unique career which has earned them a record five Olympic medals – three gold and two silver. The Ice Dancers claimed their first gold as debutants at their home Olympic Winter Games Vancouver 2010. Four years later in Sochi, they took silver in the individual competition and in the first edition of the Olympic Team Event with their team. Coming back after a break, Virtue & Moir struck gold again in 2018 in PyeongChang, once more both in the individual and team events. 

Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir (CAN) won their record-breaking fourth and fifth Olympic medals at PyeongChang 2018 © Getty Images

Four figures

Behind the Canadians, three athletes have four Olympic medals on their resumé. Evgeni Plushenko of Russia won gold in 2006, silver in 2002 and 2010 as well as gold in the Team Event in 2014. 

Gold in the Team Event in 2014 made Evgeni Plushenko (RUS) the most decorated Olympic Figure Skater in more than 80 years 2026 © ISU

Russian Ice Dancer Nikita Katsalapov has a gold from the team and bronze in the individual event with Elena Ilinykh from 2014. In Beijing 2022, he returned to the Olympic podium with Victoria Sinitsina, claiming silver in the individual and bronze in the team competition.

Almost a hundred years earlier, Gilles Grafström of Sweden had collected a total of four Olympic medals (three gold, one silver) between 1920 and 1932.

Hat-trick heroes

Legendary Norwegian Sonia Henie is the only female skater with three Olympic medals to her name - all of them gold - won at the Games of 1928, 1932 and 1936.

Several Pair Skaters have collected three Olympic medals, some of them with different partners. For example, Aljona Savchenko of Germany won gold with Bruno Massot in 2018 and two bronze medals with Robin Szolkowy in 2010 and in 2014. 

Her partnership with Bruno Massot finally brought Aljona Savchenko (GER) her first gold in 2018 after two bronze medals © Getty Images

Russian Artur Dmitriev has two Olympic gold medals, one with Natalia Mishkutienok (1992) and one with Oksana Kazakova (1998) as well as a silver with Mishkutienok from 1994. 

Irina Rodnina, who competed for the Soviet Union, is another three-time Olympic Champion, winning her first title in 1972 with Alexander Ulanov and then the second and third in 1976 and 1980 with Alexander Zaitsev. 

The top nations

Athletes from the United States of America lead the overall Olympic figure skating medal table with 54 medals. They are followed by Russia (27) and the Soviet Union (24). However, Russia is not participating at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 and the Soviet Union was dissolved in 1991.

Olympic medalists competing in Milan 

Six Olympic medalists from 2018 and 2022 are competing in Milan in the figure skating events aiming at a third or second medal: Pair skaters Wenjing Sui & Cong Han (CHN) won gold in 2022 and silver in 2018. Ice Dancer Guillaume Cizeron of France is the 2022 Olympic Champion and 2018 silver medalist with Gabriella Papadakis and comes back with new partner Laurence Fournier Beaudry. 

Wenjing Sui & Cong Han are aiming to join the ranks of three-time medalists when they defend their Pairs crown in Milan © Getty Images

Japan’s Kaori Sakamoto got the bronze in the individual and silver in the Team Event in 2022. Her teammate Yuma Kagiyama has two silver medals from the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 in the individual and in the Team Event. 

Ice Dancers Madison Chock & Evan Bates (USA) earned gold with the Team Event in 2022 while Pair Skaters Riku Miura & Ryuichi Kihara (JPN) took silver with the team in 2022.

Where are they now? Find out more about the Olympic Champions of 2022