Best All-Time Olympic Athletes from Ohio

Team USA will soon be heading to Tokyo, Japan to take on the other best and brightest from around the world in a month-long competition that will help decide who the greatest athletes in the world are.

The state of Ohio has a rich history of success on the Olympic stage, dating back to when Charles Daniels of Dayton won the Gold Medal in the 1904 St. Louis Olympics.

There have been 41 Gold Medalists at the Olympics that were born in Ohio, but after a few more weeks of nervous anticipation, 14 more will be sent out with the chance of joining the illustrious list of historical figures.

Of the different people that Ohio has contributed to Team USA, there are a few in particular that stick out as the most memorable; without further ado, here they are.

LeBron James

James, an Akron native, won Gold at the 2008 London and 2012 Beijing Olympics after settling for Bronze in his first Olympics, which were held in 2004 in Athens. His unrivaled athleticism and desire to put on a show matched the international game perfectly, as he led the USA’s fastbreak attack that was predicated around defensive pressure and alley-oops down the court.

Gary Hall Jr.

Hall Jr. is one of only two Ohio-born Olympians to win Gold Medals at three separate Olympics, ultimately finishing first in the 400m Men’s Freestyle swim in 1996 and in the 50m Men’s Freestyle in 2000 and 2004; he also won the ‘96 400m medley and was featured on the 2000 4x100m freestyle, tacking onto a collection that boasts 10 Olympic medals in total.

Katie Smith

The second of two Ohioans to win Gold at three different Olympics did so in women’s basketball in 2000, ‘04, and ‘08. Although she is currently coaching the Minnesota Lynx, Smith’s professional record has been unmatched by anyone else in the WNBA; she still holds the record for career scoring and is one of the best to have ever laced up a pair of sneakers.

Harry “Butch” Reynolds

Reynolds has one Gold and one Silver medal to his name, both coming from the 1988 Seoul Olympics, where he helped win the Men’s 4x400m on the track and finished as runner-up in the open event. He also won four World Championships Gold Medals and held the 400m world record for 11 years during his phenomenal career, and is one of the true legends in the world of track and field.

Charles Daniels

As mentioned above, Daniels was the first Ohio-born athlete to win a Gold Medal at the Olympics, doing so in the 220 yds, 440 yds, and 4x50 yds swim in the 1904 St. Louis Olympics and then taking the 100m crown in London in 1908. Daniels would finish his career with eight medals and two world records, though he is best remembered for inventing the “American Crawl,” which is known today as the freestyle, the fastest of the four main strokes.