List of medal sweeps in Olympic athletics explained

A podium sweep is when one team wins all available medals in a single event in a sporting event. At the highest level, that would be when one nation wins all the medals in the Summer Olympics Athletics.[1] Many Olympic sports or events do not allow three entries into a single event in the Olympics, making a sweep impossible. But in Athletics (excluding relays) the maximum for a single country is three.

In the beginning, before the Olympics became a global event, sweeps were more common amongst fewer competing countries and larger numbers of entries from a single country. After the 1908 Olympics, a sweep became an increasingly treasured status symbol of national dominance in an event. 1964 was the first Olympiad to have no sweeps. Since then there were no sweeps in 1972, 1996 and 2000.

Sweeps have happened in every long term event in the individual program, except the 5000 metres. It has happened eight times in the 200 metres and 110 metres hurdles, seven in the Shot Put. A steeplechase event has had a sweep five times, by four countries.

Ray Ewry led 5 sweeps, including three from 1904, with Irving Baxter, Charles King and Joseph Stadler joining him in two each and Robert Garrett in one, plus adding a different sweep in 1900. That other sweep joined Josiah McCracken who was part of a different sweep. Ellery Clark, Robert Garrett and James Connolly swept two events together in 1896. Archie Hahn, Nate Cartmell and William Hogenson duplicated that in 1904. More recently, Carl Lewis has led three Olympic sweeps, Mike Powell has finished behind him in two. Yuriy Sedykh, Glenn Davis and Lee Calhoun have also led two sweeps, Sedykh later a participant in a third in 1988 that involved a reordering of the same three from 1980. Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce led the Jamaican 100m sweep in 2008 and participated in the 2020 Tokyo 100m sweep, with a silver.

Men

OlympiadEvent CountryGoldSilverBronzeSource
1896
Athens
High jump
Ellery Clark 1.81m James Connolly 1.65mnone awarded[2] [3]
Robert Garrett 1.65m
Long jump
Ellery Clark 6.35m Robert Garrett 6.00mJames Connolly 5.84m[4] [5]
1900
Paris
110 metres hurdles
Alvin Kraenzlein 15.4s John McLean at 3yardsFrederick Moloney at 1foot[6] [7]
4000 metres steeplechase
John Rimmer 12:58.4Charles Bennett 12:58.6Sidney Robinson 12:58.8
Triple jump
Myer Prinstein 14.47 mJames Connolly 13.97 mLewis Sheldon 13.64 m
Standing triple jump
Ray Ewry 10.58 mIrving Baxter 9.95 mRobert Garrett 9.50 m
Standing high jump
Ray Ewry 1.655 mIrving Baxter 1.525 mLewis Sheldon 1.500 m
Shot put
Richard Sheldon 14.10 mJosiah McCracken 12.85 mRobert Garrett 12.37 m
Hammer throw
John Flanagan 51.01 mTruxtun Hare 46.26 mJosiah McCracken 43.58 m
1904
St. Louis
60 metres
Archie Hahn 7.0 sWilliam Hogenson 7.2 sFay Moulton 7.2 s
100 metres
Archie Hahn 11.0 sNate Cartmell 11.2 sWilliam Hogenson 11.2 s
200 metres
Archie Hahn 21.6 sNate Cartmell 21.9 sWilliam Hogenson
400 metres
Harry Hillman 49.2 sFrank Waller 49.9 sHerman Groman 50.0 s
800 metres
James Lightbody 1:56.0Howard Valentine 1:56.3Emil Breitkreutz 1:56.4
1500 metres
James Lightbody 4:05.4Frank Verner 4:06.8Lacey Hearn
Marathon
Thomas Hicks 3:28:53Albert Corey 3:34:52Arthur Newton 3:47:33
110 metres hurdles
Fred Schule 16.0 sThaddeus Shideler 16.3 sLesley Ashburner 16.4 s
200 metres hurdles
Harry Hillman 24.6 sFrank Castleman 24.9 sGeorge Poage
400 metres hurdles
Harry Hillman 53.0 sFrank Waller 53.2 sGeorge Poage 56.8 s
Long jump
Myer Prinstein 7.34 mDaniel Frank 6.89 mRobert Stangland 6.88 m
Triple jump
Myer Prinstein 14.35 mFred Englehardt 13.90 mRobert Stangland 13.36 m
Pole vault
Charles DvorakLeRoy SamseLouis Wilkins
Standing long jump
Ray EwryCharles KingJohn Biller
Standing triple jump
Ray EwryCharles KingJoseph Stadler
Standing high jump
Ray EwryJoseph StadlerLawson Robertson
Shot put
Ralph RoseWesley CoeLawrence Feuerbach
Hammer throw
John FlanaganJohn DeWittRalph Rose
Triathlon
Max EmmerichJohn GriebWilliam Merz
1908
London
110 metres hurdles
Forrest Smithson 15.0 WRJohn Garrels 15.7Arthur Shaw 15.8
10 miles walk
George Larner 1:15:57.4 WRErnest Webb 1:17:31.0Edward Spencer 1:21:20.2
Discus throw
Martin Sheridan 40.89 m Merritt Giffin 40.70 mBill Horr 39.45 m
1912
Stockholm
100 metres
Ralph CraigAlvah MeyerDonald Lippincott
800 metres
Ted MeredithMel SheppardIra Davenport
110 metres hurdles
Fred KellyJames WendellMartin Hawkins
Triple jump
Gustaf LindblomGeorg ÅbergErik Almlöf
Shot put
Pat McDonaldRalph RoseLawrence Whitney
Two handed javelin throw
Julius SaaristoVäinö SiikaniemiUrho Peltonen
1920
Antwerp
Javelin throw
Jonni MyyräUrho PeltonenPekka Johansson
400 metres hurdles
Frank LoomisJohn NortonAugust Desch
1924
Paris
Pole vault
Lee BarnesGlenn GrahamJames Brooker
Shot put
Bud HouserGlenn HartranftRalph Hills
1928
Amsterdam
3000 metres steeplechase
Toivo Loukola 9:21.8 WRPaavo Nurmi 9:31.2Ove Andersen 9:35.6
Pole vault
Sabin Carr 4.20William Droegemuller 4.10Charles McGinnis 3.95
1932
Los Angeles
200 meters
Eddie Tolan 21.2George Simpson 21.4Ralph Metcalfe 21.5
Javelin throw
Matti Järvinen 72.71 mMatti Sippala 69.80 mEino Penttilä 68.70 m
1936
Berlin
10,000 metres
Ilmari Salminen 30:15.4Arvo Askola 30:15.6Volmari Iso-Hollo 30:20.2
High jump
Cornelius Johnson 2.03 mDave Albritton 2.00 mDelos Thurber 2.00 m
Decathlon
Glenn Morris 7900Bob Clark 7601Jack Parker 7275
1948
London
110 metres hurdles
William Porter 13.9Clyde Scott 14.1Craig Dixon 14.1
3000 metres steeplechase
Tore Sjöstrand 9:04.6Erik Elmsäter 9:08.2Göte Hagström 9:11.8
Shot put
Wilbur Thompson 17.12 mJim Delaney 16.68 mJim Fuchs 16.42 m
1952
Helsinki
200 metres
Andy Stanfield 20.7Thane Baker 20.8James Gathers 20.8
110 metres hurdles
Harrison Dillard 13.7Jack Davis 13.7Arthur Barnard 14.1
Shot put
Parry O'Brien 17.41 mDarrow Hooper 17.39 mJim Fuchs 17.06 m
Decathlon
Bob Mathias 7,887 ptsMilt Campbell 6,975 ptsFloyd Simmons 6,788 pts
1956
Melbourne
200 metres
Bobby Morrow 20.6
(OR)
Andy Stanfield 20.7Thane Baker 20.9
110 metres hurdles
Lee Calhoun 13.5
(OR)
Jack Davis 13.5 (OR)Joel Shankle 14.1
400 metres hurdles
Glenn Davis 50.1 (=OR)Eddie Southern 50.8Joshua Culbreath 51.6
20 kilometres walk
Leonid Spirin 1:31:27.4Antanas Mikėnas 1:32:03.0Bruno Junk 1:32:12.0
Discus throw
Al Oerter 56.36 m (OR)Fortune Gordien 54.81 mDesmond Koch 54.40 m
1960
Rome
110 metres hurdles
Lee Calhoun 13.8William May 13.8Hayes Jones 14.0
400 metres hurdles
Glenn Davis 49.3 (OR)Clifton Cushman 49.6Dick Howard 49.7
Shot put
Bill Nieder 19.68 m (OR)Parry O'Brien 19.11 mDallas Long 19.01 m
Discus throw
Al Oerter 59.18 m (OR)Rink Babka 58.02 mDick Cochran 57.16 m
1968
Mexico City
400 metres
Lee Evans 43.86 (WR)Larry James 43.97Ron Freeman 44.41
1976
Montreal
Hammer throw
Yuriy Sedykh 77.52 mAleksey Spiridonov 76.08 mAnatoliy Bondarchuk 75.48 m
1980
Moscow
Hammer throw
Yuriy Sedykh 81.80 m WRSergey Litvinov 80.64 mJüri Tamm 78.96 m
1984
Los Angeles
200 metres
Carl Lewis 19.80 ORKirk Baptiste 19.96Thomas Jefferson 20.26
1988
Seoul
400 metres
Steve Lewis 43.87Butch Reynolds 43.93Danny Everett 44.09
Long jump
Carl Lewis 8.72 mMike Powell 8.49 mLarry Myricks 8.27 m
Pole vault
Sergey Bubka 5.90 mRadion Gataullin 5.85 mGrigoriy Yegorov 5.80 m
Hammer throw
Sergey Litvinov 84.80 m ORYuriy Sedykh 83.76 mJüri Tamm 81.16 m
1992
Barcelona
3000 metres steeplechase
Matthew Birir 8:08.84Patrick Sang 8:09.55William Mutwol 8:10.74
Long jump
Carl Lewis 8.67 mMike Powell 8.64 mJoe Greene 8.34 m
Hammer throw
Andrey Abduvaliyev 82.54 mIgor Astapkovich 81.96 mIgor Nikulin 81.38 m
2004
Athens
200 metres
Shawn Crawford 19.79Bernard Williams 20.01Justin Gatlin 20.03
400 metres
Jeremy Wariner 44.00Otis Harris 44.16Derrick Brew 44.42
3000 metres steeplechase
Ezekiel Kemboi 8:05.81Brimin Kipruto 8:06.11Paul Kipsiele Koech 8:06.64
2008
Beijing
400 metres
LaShawn Merritt 43.75
Jeremy Wariner 44.74David Neville 44.80
400 metres hurdles
Angelo Taylor 47.25Kerron Clement 47.98Bershawn Jackson 48.06
2012
London
200 metres
Usain Bolt 19.32Yohan Blake 19.44Warren Weir 19.84

Women

In women's sports, sweeps have only occurred 9 times. The Pentathlon and the 100 metres are the only events to have more than one occurrence.

OlympiadEvent CountryGoldSilverBronze
1952
Helsinki
Discus throw
Nina Romashkova 51.42 mElizaveta Bagryantseva 47.08 mNina Dumbadze 46.29 m
1976
Montreal
Pentathlon
Siegrun Siegl 4745Christine Laser 4745Burglinde Pollak 4740
1980
Moscow
800 metres
Nadiya Olizarenko 1:53.43 WROlga Mineeva 1:54.81Tatyana Providokhina 1:55.46
Pentathlon
Nadiya Tkachenko 5083 WROlga Rukavishnikova 4937Olga Kuragina 4875
2004
Athens
Long jump
Tatyana Lebedeva 7.07 mIrina Simagina 7.05 mTatyana Kotova 7.05 m
2008
Beijing
100 metres
Shelly-Ann Fraser 10.78Sherone Simpson 10.98none awarded
Kerron Stewart 10.98
2012
London
20 kilometres walk
Qieyang Shenjie 1:25:16 ORLiu Hong 1:26:00Lü Xiuzhi 1:27:10
2016
Rio de Janeiro
100 metre hurdles
Brianna Rollins 12.48Nia Ali 12.59Kristi Castlin 12.61
2020
Tokyo
100 metres
Elaine Thompson-Herah 10.61 ORShelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce 10.74Shericka Jackson 10.76

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Jamaicans celebrate Olympic medal sweep in men's 200m - Xinhua | English.news.cn . 2013-10-13 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140920035430/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/sports/2012-08/10/c_131775139.htm . 2014-09-20 . dead .
  2. Web site: Athens 1896 Athletics High Jump Men Results. Olympics.com. . 8 August 2021.
  3. Web site: https://web.archive.org/web/20200417172753/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/1896/ATH/mens-high-jump.html . dead. 17 April 2020. Athletics at the 1896 Athens Summer Games: Men's High Jump. 8 August 2021. Sports Reference.
  4. Web site: Athens 1896 Athletics Long Jump Men Results. Olympics.com. . 8 August 2021.
  5. Web site: https://web.archive.org/web/20200417172753/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/1896/ATH/mens-long-jump.html . dead. 17 April 2020. Athletics at the 1896 Athens Summer Games: Men's Long Jump. 8 August 2021. Sports Reference.
  6. Web site: Paris 1900 Athletics 110m Hurdles Men Results. Olympics.com. . 8 August 2021.
  7. Web site: https://web.archive.org/web/20200417115231/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/1900/ATH/mens-110-metres-hurdles-final.html . dead. 17 April 2020. Athletics at the 1900 Paris Summer Games: Men's 110 metres Hurdles Final. 8 August 2021. Sports Reference.