Viktor Ahn

Short track speed skater born Ahn Hyun-soo in South Korea, who became the most decorated Olympic short track skater in history by winning gold medals for two different countries after a bitter falling-out with Korean skating officials.

Viktor Ahn was born Ahn Hyun-soo on 23 November 1985 in Seoul, South Korea, taking up short track at age eight after watching countryman Chae Ji-hoon at the 1994 Lillehammer Olympics. He first appeared at the Olympics as a 16-year-old at Salt Lake City 2002, reaching the 1,000m final that was famously won by Australia's Steven Bradbury after a pile-up, but fell himself and left without a medal. Ahn won his first three Olympic golds at the 2006 Turin Games - in the 1,000m, 1,500m, and 5,000m relay, plus a bronze in the 500m - establishing himself as South Korea's dominant short track star. A severe 2008 knee injury required extensive rehabilitation that cost him a place on the 2010 Vancouver team, and a subsequent falling-out with the Korea Skating Union led him to immigrate to Russia in 2011, changing his name to Viktor Ahn and becoming a Russian citizen ahead of the country's hosting of the 2014 Sochi Games. At Sochi 2014, Ahn won three more golds - in the 500m, 1,000m, and 5,000m relay - plus a bronze in the 1,500m, becoming the first speed skater to win Olympic gold in all four short track distances and, with six golds and eight total medals, the most decorated Olympic short track skater in history, surpassing China's Wang Meng. His nationality switch prompted a South Korean government inquiry. Ahn was barred from the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics - his hoped-for return to his birth country - after Russia's ban following the McLaren doping report, despite never being personally implicated. He retired in April 2020 and later returned to South Korea, taking his first official coaching role there in 2023.

Technically flawless short track racer renowned for tactical intelligence, explosive speed, and mastery across every distance

Widely regarded as the greatest short track speed skater ever, whose unprecedented nationality switch and Olympic dominance made him one of the sport's most extraordinary and controversial figures

• 6x Olympic Gold Medalist (3 for South Korea, 3 for Russia)
• 8 total Olympic medals - most in Olympic short track history
• Only skater to win Olympic gold in all 4 short track distances
• 6x World Champion (2003-2007, 2014)