1. Artem Dolgopyat
Olympic champion (Tokyo 2020), world champion, two-time European champion and Olympic silver medalist (Paris 2024) in floor exercise
The core of Olympic sport rests on three premier disciplines: athletics, swimming and gymnastics. Medalists in these events are regarded as Olympic royalty, producing the Games’ most enduring legends. At Paris 2024, Simone Biles again demonstrated gymnastics’ global draw, filling arenas each night she competed.
Until Tokyo, Israel’s Olympic medals had largely come in less central sports such as judo and sailing. Dolgopyat shattered that ceiling with a historic gold in floor exercise, one of the Games’ marquee events, establishing himself among the world’s elite gymnasts and, by this ranking, Israel’s greatest athlete.
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