Talk:List of multiple Olympic gold medalists in one event

Elvstrom and Ainslie: request for consensus-building
I took measures to ensure that those of the same rank in the individual table would be sorted by the alphabetical order of the athletes’' last name. I am also up for arranging it by the date of the accomplishment, though I figured that we have the issue of whether to use the first relevant Olympics or the last one given there are athletes with medals in non-consecutive Olympics.

As for Elvstrom and Ainslie, we seem to have a debate on whether they should be considered to have won gold medals in one event three or four times. They undisputedly won three gold medals, but before that they each won a gold medal in a different sailing event than the one they went on to win three times. While my colleague argues that the Finn class that Elvstrom went on to win three times did not exist in 1948 when he won the Firefly class, we still have an issue of it strictly not being the same event by definition, which is the term of reference for this article. Also I note that in the corresponding Wikipedia article on List of multiple Olympic medalists in one event, Elvstrom is given credit for three gold medals rather than four (Ainslie not having been added to the list as yet). Also I note that if we are to allow this kind of inclusion, we have an issue of the sports with weight divisions that constantly change across the years. For example, if a boxer won a gold medal in a division that was later abolished as an Olympic eve and went on to win another gold medal in another weight division (higher or lower), would he/she be considered to have won two gold medals in one event? I would doubt it.

At the end of the day, unless there's an official statement from IOC or ISAF to the effect that the medals won for different events in one sport due to the abolishment of the old event or the creation of the new event would count as multiple medals in one event, I think it's imprudent to give Ainslie and Elvstrom credit for four gold medals in one event. I would like to hear what other editors think about this matter. Sydneyphoenix (talk) 10:31, 22 August 2012 (UTC)


 * I was the one who changed it back - and not just because I'm Danish. It seeems to me I have seen some sort of IOC statement to the effect that the Firefly was considered the direct forerunner for the Finn, but unfortunately I haven't been able to retrace it. In my personal opinion, since there was only a single one-man Olympic boat class at the time, Elvstrøm basically won the gold medal available to him at each of those four Olympics. But then, I also think Ray Ewry's medals from the 1906 Intercalated Games should be counted, which would place him alongside Lewis, Oerter - and, indeed, Elvstrøm. Unfortunately the IOC have officially denounced those games as "real" Olympics... dllu (talk) 12:09, 22 August 2012 (UTC)


 * Thank you for your contributions. For the records, I would like to state that I have nothing to gain or lose in regards to this discussion other than the accuracy of the article in that I am not an American, a German, an Italian, a Swedish, a Russian, a Dutch, a Czech, a Norwegian nor a Greek.


 * I still believe that Elvstrom or Ainslie should not be given credit for each winning a particular event four times given that at the end of the day the first gold medals and the following three gold medals were not won for the event bearing the same name. However, I am willing to note their accomplishments as the athletes that won an individual Olympic gold medal at each of four consecutive Olympic games with an appropriate footnote to their entries, perhaps even mentioning that their respective first events are considered by many to be a forerunner to the event that they went to on to win three times. I would like to know what you think about this solution. Sydneyphoenix (talk) 06:38, 28 August 2012 (UTC)


 * I can live with that... ;o) dllu (talk) 08:41, 28 August 2012 (UTC)


 * I do not know how the discussion came to an end (or not), but I see some discrepancies in the current list. There are two entries of Kaori Icho at Rank 1 and Rank 26. She has same issue as Elvstrom's and Ainslie's that her first gold was in a different weight class, which is noted in Rank 26 entry. Whichever should be left, the other must be removed. So, I think. Paul Elvstrøm also has two entries, at Rank 1 and Rank 26, while Ben Ainslie has only one entry. I do not care about the conclusion of the above discussion, but if Icho and Elvstrøm are allowed to have two entries, Ainslie also should have another entry at Rank 1. Or if Ainslie is allowed to have only one entry of three medals, Icho and Elvstrøm should have only one entry as such. --直蔵 (talk) 02:59, 3 August 2021 (UTC)


 * I came here to query Ben Ainsle's placement in the list and the exclusion of his Laser medals from the count when Elvstrøm's medals in two classes of boats are counted together. I'm not a sailor, but looking at the descriptions of Firefly, Finn and Laser, they are all single-handed dinghies of around 4 m in overall length so the distinction that includes all medals for one sailor, but not the other seems unclear. In fact, the difference between a Firefly (3.6 m long, 2 sails, 8.36 m² of sail) and a Finn (4.5 m long, 1 sail, 10.6 m² of sail) seems to be greater than the difference between a Laser (4.2 m long, 1 sail, 7.06 m²) and a Finn. --DavidCane (talk) 12:41, 25 September 2021 (UTC)

Team events, consecutive, identical team: no separate rows for athletes
IMHO there is no need (even it is somewhat misleading) to separate athletes in rows, since the team is identical. Therefore I edited it accordingly. The individual athletes are anyhow listed in the previous list as well. Since there is only one team yet, this does not matter too much, but later it will be an issue. I am not sure how to manage the sorting by name. Bazsola (talk) 07:52, 20 August 2016 (UTC)

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