25 Olympic Gold Medalists Born in New York City

Olympic rings displayed at Rockefeller Center in New York City ahead of the 2026 Winter Olympics. Photo: Leonard Zhukovsky / Shutterstock

New York City has produced Olympic champions across basketball, track and field, swimming, boxing, fencing, tennis, figure skating, speed skating, and diving. From Brooklyn and Queens to the Bronx and Manhattan, athletes born in the five boroughs have reached the top of the Olympic podium for more than a century.

This list includes only athletes born in New York City who won at least one official Olympic gold medal. That distinction matters because many famous Olympians trained, lived, or attended school in the city without actually being born here.

1. Michael Jordan – Brooklyn

• Sport: Men’s Basketball
• Olympic Gold Medals: 1984 Los Angeles, 1992 Barcelona
• The NYC Roots: Michael Jordan was born in Brooklyn before his family moved to North Carolina. He won his first Olympic gold medal as a college player in 1984 and returned eight years later as a member of the legendary 1992 U.S. Olympic “Dream Team.” Readers can find more on his New York birth in our look at the true story of Michael Jordan’s Brooklyn birthplace.

2. Carmelo Anthony – Brooklyn

• Sport: Men’s Basketball
• Olympic Gold Medals: 2008 Beijing, 2012 London, 2016 Rio de Janeiro
• The NYC Roots: Carmelo Anthony was born in Brooklyn before moving to Baltimore as a child. He became one of the most decorated American men’s basketball players in Olympic history, winning three gold medals and one bronze across four Olympic appearances.

3. Al Oerter – Astoria, Queens

• Sport: Track and Field, Discus
• Olympic Gold Medals: 1956 Melbourne, 1960 Rome, 1964 Tokyo, 1968 Mexico City
• The NYC Roots: Born in Astoria, Queens, Oerter became the first athlete to win the same individual Olympic event four consecutive times. He captured the discus title at four straight Games and set an Olympic record during each victory.

4. Bob Beamon – Jamaica, Queens

• Sport: Track and Field, Long Jump
• Olympic Gold Medal: 1968 Mexico City
• The NYC Roots: Born in Jamaica, Queens, Beamon produced one of the most famous performances in Olympic history when he jumped 8.90 meters, or 29 feet 2 1/2 inches, at the 1968 Mexico City Games. The leap broke the existing world record by 55 centimeters and remained the world record for nearly 23 years.

5. Chris Mullin – Brooklyn

• Sport: Men’s Basketball
• Olympic Gold Medals: 1984 Los Angeles, 1992 Barcelona
• The NYC Roots: Born and raised in Brooklyn, Mullin became a New York basketball legend before starring at St. John’s University. He won Olympic gold in 1984 and returned as a member of the 1992 Dream Team.

6. Tina Charles – Queens

• Sport: Women’s Basketball
• Olympic Gold Medals: 2012 London, 2016 Rio de Janeiro, 2020 Tokyo
• The NYC Roots: Born in Queens and raised in Jamaica, Charles starred at Christ the King Regional High School before becoming an All-American at Connecticut and a WNBA star. She won three consecutive Olympic gold medals with the United States.

7. Cullen Jones – The Bronx

• Sport: Swimming
• Olympic Gold Medals: 2008 Beijing, 2012 London
• The NYC Roots: Born in the Bronx, Jones became one of America’s top sprint freestylers. He was part of the world-record-setting 4×100-meter freestyle relay that won gold in Beijing in 2008 and later earned another gold as part of the U.S. 4×100-meter medley relay team in London.

8. Natasha Hastings – Brooklyn

• Sport: Track and Field, 400 Meters
• Olympic Gold Medals: 2008 Beijing, 2016 Rio de Janeiro
• The NYC Roots: Born in Brooklyn and raised in New York City, Hastings attended A. Philip Randolph Campus High School in Manhattan. She won Olympic gold with the United States women’s 4×400-meter relay team in both 2008 and 2016.

9. Derrick Adkins – Brooklyn

• Sport: Track and Field, 400-Meter Hurdles
• Olympic Gold Medal: 1996 Atlanta
• The NYC Roots: Born in Brooklyn and raised on Long Island, Adkins became a world-class hurdler at Georgia Tech. He won the Olympic 400-meter hurdles title in Atlanta in 1996 with a time of 47.54 seconds.

10. Eleanor Holm – Brooklyn

• Sport: Swimming, Backstroke
• Olympic Gold Medal: 1932 Los Angeles
• The NYC Roots: Born in Brooklyn, Holm competed at the 1928 Olympics as a teenager and returned four years later to win the 100-meter backstroke gold medal in Los Angeles.

11. Vince Matthews – Queens

• Sport: Track and Field, 400 Meters
• Olympic Gold Medals: 1968 Mexico City, 1972 Munich
• The NYC Roots: Born in Queens, Matthews won gold in the 4×400-meter relay at the 1968 Olympics and returned four years later to win the individual 400-meter title in Munich.

12. Diane Dixon – Brooklyn

• Sport: Track and Field, 400 Meters
• Olympic Gold Medal: 1984 Los Angeles
• The NYC Roots: Born in Brooklyn, Dixon competed for the Atoms Track Club before becoming one of America’s leading 400-meter runners. She won Olympic gold as a member of the United States 4×400-meter relay team in 1984 and added a silver medal in the same event in 1988.

13. Irving Jaffee – New York City

• Sport: Speed Skating
• Olympic Gold Medals: 1932 Lake Placid, 5,000 Meters and 10,000 Meters
• The NYC Roots: Born in New York City, Jaffee became one of America’s early Winter Olympic stars. At the 1932 Lake Placid Games, he won both the 5,000-meter and 10,000-meter speed-skating events.

14. Lauren Scruggs – Queens

• Sport: Fencing, Foil
• Olympic Gold Medal: 2024 Paris, Women’s Team Foil
• The NYC Roots: A Queens native, Scruggs trained through the Peter Westbrook Foundation and became one of the breakthrough American athletes of the 2024 Paris Olympics. She won individual silver in women’s foil and then helped the United States capture its first Olympic gold medal in women’s team foil.

15. Cristina Teuscher – The Bronx

• Sport: Swimming
• Olympic Gold Medal: 1996 Atlanta, 4×200-Meter Freestyle Relay
• The NYC Roots: Born in the Bronx, Teuscher later swam for Columbia University and represented the United States at the 1996 and 2000 Olympics. She won relay gold in Atlanta and an individual bronze medal in the 200-meter individual medley in Sydney.

16. Charlie Jenkins – New York City

• Sport: Track and Field, 400 Meters
• Olympic Gold Medals: 1956 Melbourne, 400 Meters and 4×400-Meter Relay
• The NYC Roots: Born in New York City, Jenkins starred at Villanova before winning two gold medals at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. He captured the individual 400-meter title and then ran on the victorious United States 4×400-meter relay team.

17. Margaret Johnson Bailes – The Bronx

• Sport: Track and Field, Sprints
• Olympic Gold Medal: 1968 Mexico City, 4×100-Meter Relay
• The NYC Roots: Born in the Bronx before moving to Oregon as a child, Bailes became one of America’s fastest young sprinters. At age 17, she ran on the U.S. 4×100-meter relay team that won Olympic gold and set a world record in Mexico City.

18. Carol Heiss – New York City / Queens

• Sport: Figure Skating
• Olympic Gold Medal: 1960 Squaw Valley
• The NYC Roots: Born in New York City and raised in Ozone Park, Queens, Heiss became one of the dominant figure skaters of her era. After winning Olympic silver in 1956, she captured the women’s singles gold medal at the 1960 Winter Olympics.

19. Gertrude Ederle – New York City

• Sport: Swimming
• Olympic Gold Medal: 1924 Paris, 4×100-Meter Freestyle Relay
• The NYC Roots: Born in New York City, Ederle won three medals at the 1924 Paris Olympics, including relay gold. Two years later, she became the first woman to swim across the English Channel.

20. Abel Kiviat – Manhattan

• Sport: Track and Field, Middle Distance
• Olympic Gold Medal: 1912 Stockholm, 3,000-Meter Team Race
• The NYC Roots: Born in Manhattan, Kiviat became one of America’s finest middle-distance runners before World War I. At the 1912 Stockholm Olympics, he won gold in the 3,000-meter team race and silver in the 1,500 meters.

21. Phyllis Francis – Queens

• Sport: Track and Field, 400 Meters
• Olympic Gold Medal: 2016 Rio de Janeiro, 4×400-Meter Relay
• The NYC Roots: Born in New York City and raised in Queens, Francis attended Catherine McAuley High School in Brooklyn before starring at the University of Oregon. She won Olympic gold with the United States women’s 4×400-meter relay team in Rio.

22. Dalilah Muhammad – Jamaica, Queens

• Sport: Track and Field, 400-Meter Hurdles
• Olympic Gold Medals: 2016 Rio de Janeiro, 2020 Tokyo
• The NYC Roots: Born in Jamaica, Queens, and raised in Rochdale Village, Muhammad won the 400-meter hurdles at the 2016 Olympics. In Tokyo, she added silver in the hurdles and another gold medal as part of the United States 4×400-meter relay team.

23. Mark Breland – Brooklyn

• Sport: Boxing
• Olympic Gold Medal: 1984 Los Angeles, Welterweight
• The NYC Roots: Born in Brooklyn, Breland became one of the most celebrated amateur boxers in New York history. He won five consecutive New York Golden Gloves titles before capturing the Olympic welterweight gold medal in 1984.

24. Helen Meany – New York City

• Sport: Diving
• Olympic Gold Medal: 1928 Amsterdam, Springboard
• The NYC Roots: Born in New York City, Meany competed in three Olympic Games. After finishing outside the medals in 1920 and 1924, she won the women’s springboard diving gold medal at the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics.

25. Jennifer Capriati – New York City

• Sport: Tennis
• Olympic Gold Medal: 1992 Barcelona, Women’s Singles
• The NYC Roots: Born in New York City, Capriati became one of the youngest stars in professional tennis history. At age 16, she defeated Steffi Graf in the 1992 Olympic women’s singles final to win the gold medal in Barcelona.

Quick Reference: 25 Olympic Gold Medalists Born in New York City

For more on New York athletes and famous New Yorkers, read 25 Famous People You Didn’t Know Were From Brooklyn, 25 Famous People You Didn’t Know Were From Queens, NY, and 25 Famous People You Didn’t Know Were From the Bronx.