Sawao Kato

Japan’s Sawao Kato set an Olympic record for men by winning eight gold medals in gymnastics. He was a member of the winning all-around team in 1968, 1972 and 1976, and also won the individual title on the first two occasions, but he had to settle for a silver medal in 1976. His other gold medals came in the individual floor exercises (1968) and the individual parallel bars (1972, 1976). Strangely, Kato never won an individual championship of any kind at the World Championships, but he was on the winning Japanese team in 1974.