Jenny Thompson is the most decorated female swimmer in Olympic history. The American won a total of 12 medals, including eight, over the course of four Olympic Games, the most ever by a female swimmer and tied for second-most in Olympic history among all female athletes.
Thompson’s Olympic debut in Barcelona in 1992 was a bit of a disappointment as she failed to win a gold medal in any individual event, settling for two golds in the team events of 4x100m freestyle relay and 4x100m medley relay and a silver in the 100m freestyle. She was widely expected to win as many as five golds.
In Atlanta, Thompson won three golds, all in the relay events as she failed to qualify for any of the individual events during the U.S. Olympic trials. This was followed by another three relay golds and a 100m freestyle bronze in Sydney in 2000 that hiked her total to 8-1-1.
After a brief retirement, Thompson returned to anchor the 4x100m freestyle relay team to a silver medal finish, and won another silver as part of the 4x100m medley relay team.
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