Athletes dedicate their lives to the dream of an opportunity to compete at an Olympic Games. Throughout the existence of the Olympics, there have been over 120 athletes who have participated at both the Winter and Summer Games. There is a small, elite group among those athletes who have won medals at both the Winter and Summer Games. (Athletes who won medals at both the Summer and Winter Games in the same sport are not listed below.)

Eddie Eagan (USA)

The only athlete ever to win a gold medal at both the Winter and Summer Games, Eagan won gold in boxing at the 1920 Summer Games, then won gold at the 1932 Winter Games in bobsled.

Jacob Tullin Thams (Norway)

The Norwegian won gold in individual large hill ski jumping in 1924 and won silver as part of a sailing team at the 1936 Summer Games.

Christa Luding-Rothenburger (Germany, then East Germany)

Luding-Rothenburger is the only Olympian to win winter and summer medals in the same year. Up until 1994, the Winter and Summer Games occurred in the same calendar year. Luding-Rothenburger won Olympic medals at both the Winter and Summer Games in 1988, the first and only person to do so. The German won gold in the women’s 500m speed skating event at the 1984 Winter Games. At the 1988 Winter Games, she won gold in the 1000m speed skating competition, and that same year she won silver in the track cycling sprint event.

Clara Hughes (Canada)

Hughes is the only athlete to earn multiple medals at both the Winter and Summer Games. The Canadian won two bronze medals at the 1996 Summer Games in the cycling individual road race and the individual time trial. At the Winter Games, she competed in the 500m in speed skating, winning the bronze in 2002 and 2010 and gold in 2006.

Lauryn Williams (USA)

The track and field athlete won silver in the 100m at the 2004 Summer Olympics and won gold in the 4x100m relay in 2012. At the 2014 Winter Games, she won silver in the two-woman bobsled event.

Eddy Alvarez (USA)

Alvarez won silver in the 5000m speed skating race at the 2014 Winter Games. At the 2020 Summer Games, he won silver competing in the team sport of baseball. Baseball was reintroduced at those Games after not being contested since 2008. It was removed again in 2024 but will be return once more in 2028 in Los Angeles.

Alexandra Burghardt (Germany)

The most recent Olympian to achieve this feat, Burghardt won silver in the two-woman bobsled at the 2022 Winter Games. The German won bronze in the 4x100m relay at the 2024 Paris Games.

At these Games, Ashleigh Nelson is among the athletes with prior Summer Olympic experience, making her Winter Olympics debut in bobsled after previously competing at the 2008 Beijing and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics as a short-distance runner.