The 7 Athletes Who’ve Won A Medal At The Summer And Winter Olympics

Most people who compete in the Olympic Games have devoted their lives to a single sport. However, there are some exceptional athletes who’ve earned the right to represent their country in multiple disciplines, including some who’ve managed to win a medal at the Summer and Winter Olympics.

These are the only athletes who’ve managed to win a medal at the Summer Olympics and Winter Olympics

The first modern version of the competition we now refer to as the Summer Olympics took place in Athens in 1896, and the Winter Olympics were added to the fold in 1924.

Prior to the start of the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina, a grand total of 139 athletes had competed in the warm and chilly versions of the game. However, only a handful of them managed to win a medal in each of them, just one of whom managed to secure a gold in both.

It’s worth noting that there are a little more than two dozen athletes who technically competed in both versions, as a number of events that were part of the Summer Olympics in 1920 were spun off into the Winter Olympics four years later. However,  I’m only going to be considering people who tackled more than one discipline.

Alexandra Burghardt, Germany: Track and Bobsled

I’m going to start with the most recent medal winner and work my way back, which means we’re kicking things off with Alexandra Burghard.

The German made her Olympic debut in Tokyo in 2021 as a member of the 4 x 100 relay team that ended up in fifth place. She ended up in Beijing around six months later and earned a silver alongside Mariama Jamanka in the two-woman bobsled, and got some redemption in Paris in 2024 when the relay team walked away with the bronze.

Eddy Alvarez, United States: Baseball and Speed Skating

There isn’t a single person on this list who’s had a more interesting journey than Eddy Alvarez, who grew up dreaming of becoming a speed skater at the Olympics before he found himself balancing that pastime with baseball.

The shortstop turned down a full ride at St. Thomas University to focus on his skating, and he overcame severe knee injuries to clinch a spot on Team USA in 2014 before earning a silver in the 5000 m relay in Sochi.

He signed a minor league contract with the White Sox later that year, and he was playing for Miami’s Triple-A affiliate when he headed to Tokyo in 2021 before winning another silver with Team USA’s baseball team. The 36-year-old appeared in 62 MLB games during brief stints with the Marlins, Dodgers, and Mets before retiring last year after one last ride in the Braves farm system.

Lauryn Williams, United States: Track and Bobsled

We’ve got our second runner-bobsledder combo courtesy of Lauryn Williams, who made her Olympics debut as a sprinter for Team USA in Athens in 2004. She earned a silver medal in the 100 m sprint, and while she failed to reach the podium in Beijing in 2008, she added a gold to her collection as a member of the 4 x 100 m relay team in London.

She subsequently turned her attention to bobsledding and was paired with Elana Meyers for the two-woman event in 2014. The duo walked away with the silver after narrowly losing the gold to Canada, which edged them by .1 seconds in the event.

Clara Hughes, Canada: Cycling and Speed Skating

Clara Hughes kicked off her Olympic career as a cyclist for Canada in Atlanta in 1996, and she won the bronze in the road race and time trial that year. That was the first of three times she competed in the Summer Olympics (she returned in 2000 and staged a comeback in 2012), but it was also the only time she managed to medal.

Hughes also competed in the Winter Olympics as a speed skater on three straight occasions starting in Salt Lake City in 2002, where she got a bronze in the 5000 m. She snagged a gold in the same race in Turin four years later along with a bronze in the team pursuit, and she capped things off with another bronze in what ended up being her signature event on home turf in Vancouver in 2010.

The six medals she won make her the most decorated Olympian on this list, followed by…

Christa Luding-Rothenburger, Germany: Cycling and Speed Skating

Christa Luding-Rothenburger was technically representing East Germany when she experienced the Olympics for the first time as a speed skater in Sarajevo in 1984.

She won a gold medal in the 500 m that year, and got a silver in the same event in Calgary in 1988 while adding another gold in the 1000 m. She suited up for a unified Germany in France in 1992 and got her last medal (and first bronze) in the 500 m.

Luding-Rothenburger also gave cycling a try at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, a showing that resulted in a silver medal in the sprint.

Jacob Tullin Thams, Norway: Sailing and Skiing

The last two athletes on this list are a couple of throwbacks, as the first, Jacob Tullin Thams, competed as a ski jumper for Norway in the very first Winter Olympics in 1924.

He won a gold medal in that event before being shut out in Switzerland in 1928, but he also got a silver in the 8-meter sailing event in Berlin in 1936.

Eddie Eagan, United States: Boxing and Bobsled

Last, and certainly not least, we have Eddie Eagan, who has the distinction of being the only person to win a gold medal in two different events at the Summer and Winter Olympics.

The World War I vet was still enrolled at Yale when he earned the gold medal as a boxer in the light heavyweight division at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp. He returned as a heavyweight in 1924 but missed the podium after losing in the opening round of 16.

Eagan eventually decided to pivot to bobsledding, and he was one of four Americans who got a gold in the team event at Lake Placid in 1932.