Mark Spitz (1950 -)

He holds the record for most gold medals won in a single Olympic Games (seven), which he set at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany. He remains (as of 2008) the only Olympic athlete to both win a gold medal in every (individual) event he entered in a given year, and to set a new world record in each such event. Between 1965 and 1972, Spitz won 9 Olympic gold medals, 1 silver, and 1 bronze; 5 Pan American golds; 31 National U.S. Amateur Athletic Union titles; and 8 U.S. National Collegiate Athletic Association Championships. During those years, he set 33 world records. At the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany, Spitz was back to maintain his bid for the 6 gold medals. He did even more, winning 7 Olympic gold medals, a feat still unequaled by any other athlete in a single Olympiad. Further, Spitz set a new world record in each of the 7 events (the 100 m freestyle, 200 m freestyle, 100 m butterfly, 200 m butterfly, 4 x 100 m freestyle, 4 x 200 m freestyle and the 4 x 100 m medley. Spitz's accomplishments at Munich were overshadowed by the Palestinian terrorism attack, known as the Munich Massacre, that claimed the lives of 11 Israeli athletes (Spitz had previously spent time in Israel competing in the Maccabiah Games). In the immediate aftermath Spitz, who is Jewish, left Munich. The 1965 Maccabiah Games was his first international competition. At the age of 15, in Tel Aviv Spitz won four gold medals and was named the most outstanding athlete. He returned to Israel in 1969, following the Mexico Olympics, to again compete in the Maccabiah. This time he won six gold medals. He was also named outstanding athlete of the Games. In 1985 Spitz opened the games, lighting a torch along with three children of Israeli Olympians murdered at the Munich Olympics. In 2005, he was chosen to be the flag bearer for the U.S. delegation to the 17th Maccabiah Games.