Michigan has a proud history of producing Olympians. The roll call below lists 209 athletes born in the state that have participated in the Olympic Games. Between them they have won 56 gold medals, 47 silver and 30 bronze, for a total of 133 medals up to and including the 2018 winter games.

 

If Michigan were a country, that medal count would rank 25th in the world, just above Brazil. It represents a total of 13.5 medals per million of population. That would rank 22nd in the world if Michigan were a country, above Germany, The UK, France and Italy. Indeed the average for the United States as a whole is only 8.5 per million.

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Half of Michigan’s medals were won by athletes from Wayne County, where the city Detroit is located. Two thirds were won by athletes from the six counties that make up metro Detroit.

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Michiganders have won medals across 25 different Olympic disciplines. The six biggest have been swimming (24), ice hockey (17), rowing (11), boxing (9), basketball (8) and track & field (8).

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We have only included the names of athletes born in Michigan. There are many other famous athletes, such as Eddie Tolan, who are usually associated with the city of Detroit, but who were not born in the state.