Only a small percentage of the world's population participates in the Olympic Games, and even fewer compete in multiple Games. Between Athens 1896 and Pyeongchang 2018, 515 athletes (127 women and 388 men) competed in at least five Olympics, excluding the 1906 Intercalated Games. A little more than a hundred of them have gone on to compete in at least six Olympic Games
Several athletes might have competed in more Olympics if it hadn't been for circumstances beyond their control, such as World Wars (no Olympics in 1916, 1940, or 1944), politically motivated boycotts, financial difficulties, or injuries that came at inconvenient times.
Ian Millar, an equestrian competitor from Canada, has competed in ten Olympic Games. Hubert Raudaschl of Austria and Afanasijs Kuzmins of Latvia (who represented the Soviet Union until 1988) each had nine Olympic appearances.
Shooting, equestrian, sailing, and fencing are the sports with the most six-time Olympians, as these sports are noted for allowing athletes to compete for longer at the top level. Athletics and cross-country skiing have athletes who have competed in all five Olympic Games.
A quarter of long-distance competitors are female. Josefa Idem, an Italian canoeist, made history by becoming the first woman to compete in eight Olympics at the age of 48, reaching the final of the K1-500m event. The closest a female athlete had been to appearing in eight Olympics was 0.028 seconds, which was the time by which Jamaican-Slovenian sprinter Merlene Ottey, then 48, missed the qualifying time for the 2008 Summer Olympics. Nino Salukvadze, a Georgian sports shooter, competed in her ninth consecutive Olympic Games in the 2020 Summer Olympics, becoming the only female athlete in history to do so.
Durward Knowles, a Bahamian sailor with eight Olympic medals, Paul Elvstrm, a Danish sailor with eight medals, Ivan Osier, a Danish fencer with seven medals, and Magnus Konow, a Norwegian sailor with seven medals (6 Olympics )
