Olympic medal tables are a favourite of statisticians because they cover many sports over more than a century. They are also complicated: the programme has grown from a few dozen events in 1896 to more than 300, national names have changed, and medals have been reallocated after retrospective drug testing.
Our two Olympic rankings are separated by how medals are counted: one by gold medals and one by total medals. Both state their sources, and both carry a verification date, because Olympic results can be amended long after the closing ceremony.
The individual athletes who have won the most Olympic gold medals across the Summer Games, led by swimmer Michael Phelps by a record-breaking margin.
Counting gold, silver and bronze together, these athletes have stood on more Olympic podiums than anyone else in history.
Why the same athlete can be described as the most decorated or the most successful depending on how medals are counted, and how events and programmes have grown.
How sanctions, retrospective testing and stripped medals change rankings after the fact, and how this site handles marks that are disputed or annulled.