#7GOAT Rankings
Soviet UnionCountry
1956–1964Career
Why they rank here
The first man to win three consecutive Olympic single-scull golds, in 1956, 1960 and 1964. World Championships were not there for the start of the run. The achievement is the Olympic one, and it is the template Karppinen later matched. Ivanov sits just behind him here because the later streak came against a deeper international field and a settled 2,000-metre championship. That is a judgement about eras, and it is open to the opposite reading: Ivanov did it first.
Career profile
Olympic golds3
Olympic medals3
Games raced3
Career years8
Each bar shows how this athlete compares with the strongest in our all-time list for that metric.
Head-to-head
Compare career numbers side by side.