The 8 Greatest Olympic Gymnasts of All Time

From the first perfect 10 to record-breaking medal hauls and gravity-defying elements named after their inventors, the list spans decades of impossible athletic genius. Who gets the gold?

1

Simone Biles

The most decorated gymnast in history with 11 Olympic medals and 25 World Championship gold medals, and has four skills named after her.

1000pts

2

Kerri Strug

Completed a perfect vault on a torn ankle ligament at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, clinching the first-ever U.S. women's team gold.

777pts

3

Kohei Uchimura

Japanese all-around master who won six consecutive World Championship all-around titles and back-to-back Olympic all-around golds in 2012 and 2016.

583pts

4

Mary Lou Retton

The first American woman to win Olympic all-around gold, scoring perfect 10s on vault at the 1984 Los Angeles Games to become a national icon.

583pts

5

Nadia Comaneci

Romanian legend who became the first gymnast in history to score a perfect 10 at the 1976 Montreal Olympics, winning three gold medals.

466pts

6

Olga Korbut

The Soviet pixie whose dazzling backflips at the 1972 Munich Olympics sparked a global gymnastics craze and earned her four gold medals.

466pts

7

Shannon Miller

America's most decorated gymnast before Biles, winning seven Olympic medals including two golds at the 1996 Atlanta Games.

291pts

8

Nastia Liukin

Won five medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, including the women's all-around gold, dazzling audiences with her graceful balletic style.

0pts