A half-heard comment on the Today Show this morning prompted this question. The comment, which I may not have heard exactly right, was that someone would be the first to win Olympic gold in 3 Olympics in a row. (Matt Lauer was speaking of someone in the Winter Olympics.) I knew that someone duplicated that feat, and surpassed it as well. In fact, at least two people have surpassed that, winninmg the same event in four straight Olympics, both competing in Track & Field. Who were they and what was the event of each? Each of the two also, in their last Olympic medal-winning performance set or tied another Olmpic record. What are those two records?
One final question - The forst person to accomlish the above did something even more remarkable a few years later, again, in his event. What was that?

Jackie Joyner Kersee has got to be there with 3 Gold, 1 Silver and 1 Bronze medals. That's only part of the answer of course.

I can add that Carl Lewis won four Olympic golds in the men's long jump. I watched most of them on TV. I suppose he was the later of the two to achieve it. I'll try and think of the other.

Joyner-Kersee did not win an Olympic Event in 3 straight Olympics. She won the Heptathlon in 1998 and 1992. But in 1988, she took second, and in 1996, she didn't place. Her third Gold was in the Long Jump.

Lewis did get 4 straight Olympic Gold medals. He won the Long Jump in 1984, 1988, 1992, and 1996, and you are right that he is the second person to get 4 in a row in the same event. However, you haven't said what Olympic record he set or tied in his last Olympics, and we still need the name of the first person.

Carl Lewis was a sprinter too, so my guess is that ar running and jumpin,g combined he set or tied the record for winning more gold medals at the Olympics than anyone else before.

Nope. In the 1972 Olympics, Mark Spitz won 7 Gold Medals (three in relays, two in freestyle and two in butterfly), and he set new world records in all seven events. But Spitz only won gold in the 1968 and 1972 Olympics.

How about Al Oerter??

Al Oerter is one of only two track stars (Carl Lewis being the other) to win the same Olympic event four times in a row. He is the only athlete to set four consecutive Olympic records. Seen as a longshot for a medal in the 1956 Games, the 20-year-old youngster surprised the Melbourne crowd by winning the Gold Medal on his first throw and setting his first Olympic record. Four years later in Rome, he exceeded his winning distance in Melbourne by 10 feet to win his second consecutive Olympic Gold Medal. Oerter's third Olympic Games, 1964 Tokyo, brought another Gold Medal despite a severe rib cage injury. Then, in 1968 in Mexico City, Oerter made Olympic history by becoming the first Olympian to win the same event in four consecutive Games.

I also came across this tidbit concerning Olympic sailing while researching the question:

Paul Elvstrom, of Denmark, is one of the sport's greatest names. He won four straight Olympic gold medals from 1948 to 1960 - one in the Firefly and three in the Finn, a single-handed dinghy. Elvstrom is one of only three athletes in any sport to win four consecutive Olympic gold medals in the same event.


So, technically, there are three athletes to win gold in four straight Olympics.

With his long jump gold in 1996, Carl Lewis tied Paavo Nurmi's record for most number of gold medals for a male athlete. Nurmi ran long distance for Finland in the 1920s.

Elvstrom, Oerter and Lewis are the only guys to win individual title in four consecutive Olympics. It must be right - Wikipedia says so

In 1948, the Olympic single-handed sailing competition was held in Firefly dinghies; it was Elvstrom’s first Olympics and his first gold medal. The Olympic single-handed class changed to Finns for 1952 and Elvstrom went on to win three successive gold medals in this physically demanding class. - SailNet.com

Your call whether or not Elvstrom's first Gold counts as one of four in the same event. In any case, I missed him.
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Nurmi's Olympic Gold Statistics, from DatabaseOlympics.com -


1920 23 Track & Field 10000m Men GOLD FIN 31:45.8
1920 23 Track & Field Cross-Country, Individual GOLD FIN 27:15.0
1920 23 Track & Field Cross-Country, Team Race GOLD FIN 10
1924 27 Track & Field 1500m Men GOLD FIN 3:53.6
1924 27 Track & Field 5000m Men GOLD FIN 14:31.2
1924 27 Track & Field Cross-Country, Individual GOLD FIN 32:54.8
1924 27 Track & Field Cross-Country, Team Race GOLD FIN 11
1924 27 Track & Field 3000m Team Race GOLD FIN 8
1928 31 Track & Field 10000m Men GOLD FIN 30:18.8

As you can see, Nurmi didn't even compete in the same event in 4 straight Olympics. In fact, he only competed in three Olympic Games.
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Oerter was the one I thought no one would get.

Oerter's Olympics Statistics, from the same source -

1956 20 Track & Field Discus Throw Men GOLD USA 56.36
1960 23 Track & Field Discus Throw Men GOLD USA 59.18
1964 28 Track & Field Discus Throw Men GOLD USA 61.00
1968 32 Track & Field Discus Throw Men GOLD USA 64.78

From AlOerter.com, Oerter's official site -

1956 - Gold Medalist - Olympic Record - Melbourne

1960 - Gold Medalist - Olympic Record - Rome

1964 - Gold Medalist - Olympic Record - Tokyo

1968 - Gold Medalist - Olympic Record - Mexico City

Oerter set an Olympic record in each of the four Games in which he won a gold. His last definitely was a record for most Olympic records in teh same event by one person. Lewis, as pointed out, tied Nurmi for most number of gold medals for a male athlete.
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Just a bit more on Oerter, one of the most incredible athletes ever to participate in any sport -

Although his original goal was to win five gold medals, Oerter retired from Olympic competition after the 1968 Games with four because of the sacrifices and pressures of being an Olympic champion. He resumed training in 1976, however. While he narrowly failed to qualify for the U.S. Olympic team in 1980, which ultimately did not compete (there being a U.S. boycott), he made the longest throw of his career and the world's longest that year, 69.46 metres (227 feet 10.75 inches). Though active at a world-class level into his 40s, he fell short again in bids for the U.S. Olympic team in 1984 and 1988.
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Unfortunately, I have totally forgotten what the title of this tread referred to. If I remembetr it, I will post it.

Nice job, all four of you!

Lest we forget Steven Redgrave, who was not in Track & Field, but did manage to earn a Gold Medal in 5 straight Olympics !