Olympics
Winning an Olympic medal is a feat achieved by a few select athletes in their careers. However, winning an Olympic medal in both the Summer as well as Winter Games is a feat that is even rarer. This week, German sprinter Alexandra Burghardt made history by winning a Bronze medal in the 4×100 meter relay race in Paris after having previously won a Silver medal in the 2022 Beijing Winter Games in the two-woman bobsleigh. With this achievement, the Bavarian athlete joined the ranks of just a select few of other athletes who have won medals in both the Summer and Winter Olympics.
Here is a list of Olympians who have achieved this rare accomplishment before her:
Eddy Alvarez—USA
Eddy Alvarez won Silver at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics in the 5,000-meter relay speed skating competition and went on to win a team Silver in baseball at the 2020 Tokyo Summer Games.
Lauryn Williams—USA
Lauryn William won Silver at the 2004 Athens Summer Olympics in the 100-meter sprint as well as Gold in the 4×100 meter relay at the 2012 London Summer Olympics. Similar to Burghardt, she then went on to win Silver in the two-woman bobsleigh at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.
Clara Hughes—Canada
Clara Hughes won two Bronze medals in cycling competitions at the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics and subsequently collected a slew of medals in speed skating: she won Bronze in the 5,000-meter speed skate in 2002 at Salt Lake City. She won Gold in the same discipline four years later in Turin, Italy, as well as Silver in the team pursuit and went on to win another Bronze in the 5,000-meter discipline at Vancouver in 2010.
Christa Luding-Rothenburger—Germany
Christa Ludging-Rothenburger won Gold in the 500-meter speed skate at Sarajevo (then Yugoslavia) in 1984 and Gold in the 1,000-meter speed skate and Silver in the 500-meter in 1988 in Calgary, Canada, and then won Silver that summer at Seoul, Korea, in the track cycling before summer and winter games were held in separate years. In 1992, she added a fifth medal in 500-meter speed skating to her collection when she claimed Bronze at the Winter Games in Albertville, France.
Jacob Tullin Thams—Norway
Jacob Tullin Thams won Gold in ski jumping at the 1924 Winter Olympics in Chamonix, France, and subsequently won Silver in the team sailing at the 1936 Berlin Summer Olympics.
Eddie Eagan—USA
Eddie Eagan won Gold in light-heavyweight boxing at the 1920 Antwerp Summer Olympics and 12 years later added another Gold medal in the four-man bobsleigh to his collection at the Lake Placid Winter Games in 1932.
Alexandra Burghardt’s achievement of winning a Bronze in the Paris Summer Games and a Silver in the Beijing Winter Games places her among a rare group of athletes who have excelled in both the Summer and Winter Olympics. Her success, alongside Olympians like Eddy Alvarez and Clara Hughes, underscores the remarkable versatility and dedication required to compete across different seasons of the Games.
