Top Paralympic Medal Winners
The goal of many athletes is to win, though for many Paralympic athletes just making the Paralympics at all, or being able to compete in the sport, is a great achievement.
It is clear that athletes from certain sports have an advantage, for example there are many more swimming and athletics medals up for grabs than for a team sport like wheelchair basketball, goalball, or sitting volleyball. Also, the number of events in which medals are available overall have changed over time, so recent participants may have an advantage.
Trischa Zorn has the Most Gold Medals
Here is the list of the top-10 athletes (males and females) with the most gold medals in total from all summer Paralympic Games (including Tokyo 2021). US swimmer Trischa Zorn is the clear winner, with the highest-ranked male being swimmer Michael Edgson. Zorn has a total of 55 medals, with 9 silver and 5 bronze to go with her 41 gold medals. Swimmers and track & field athletes dominate this list as many medals are available in these sports, compared to team sport athletes.
Top male and female (gold medals)
| Rank | Total Gold Medals | Athlete | Country | Sport | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 41 | Trischa Zorn | United States | F | Swimming |
| 2 | 20 | Béatrice Hess | France | F | Swimming |
| 3 | 18 | Michael Edgson | Canada | M | Swimming |
| 4 | 17 | Sarah Storey | Great Britain | F | Swimming, Cycling |
| 17 | Jonas Jacobsson | Sweden | M | Shooting | |
| 6 | 16 | Jessica Long | USA | F | Swimming |
| 16 | Roberto Marson | Italy | M | Athletics, Fencing | |
| 16 | Mike Kenny | Great Britain | M | Swimming | |
| 9 | 15 | Zipora Rubin-Rosenbaum | Israel | F | Athletics, Swimming, Wheelchair basketball, Table tennis |
| 15 | Mayumi Narita | Japan | F | Swimming | |
| 11 | 14 | Heinz Frei | Switzerland | M | Athletics, Cycling |
| 14 | Daniel Dias | Brazil | M | Swimming | |
| 14 | Franz Nietlispach | Switzerland | M | Athletics | |
| 14 | Chantal Petitclerc | Canada | F | Athletics | |
| 14 | Erin Popovich | United States | F | Swimming |
Trischa Zorn has the Most Total Medals
Here is the list of the top-10 athletes (male and female) with the most medals in total (includes all gold, silver and bronze medals won), from all summer Paralympic Games (including Tokyo 2021). US swimmer Trischa Zorn again is the clear winner. Some of these athletes have also won medals in the Winter Paralympics, but those are not counted in this list.
Top male and female Paralympians (total medals)
| Rank | Total Medals | Athlete | Country | Sport | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 55 | Trischa Zorn | United States | F | Swimming |
| 2 | 30 | Jonas Jacobsson | Sweden | M | Shooting |
| 30 | Zipora Rubin-Rosenbaum | Israel | F | Athletics, Swimming, Wheelchair basketball, Table tennis | |
| 4 | 29 | Jessica Long | USA | F | Swimming |
| 5 | 28 | Sarah Storey | Great Britain | F | Swimming, Cycling |
| 27 | Heinz Frei | Switzerland | M | Athletics, Cycling | |
| 7 | 26 | Roberto Marson | Italy | M | Athletics, Fencing |
| 25 | Béatrice Hess | France | F | Swimming | |
| 9 | 25 | Claudia Hengst | Germany | F | Swimming |
| 10 | 24 | Daniel Dias | Brazil | M | Swimming |
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