# Pommel horse at the Olympics

The pommel horse is an artistic gymnastics event held at the Summer Olympics. The event was first held for men at the first modern Olympics in 1896. It was held again in 1904, but not in 1900, 1908, 1912, or 1920 when no apparatus events were awarded medals. The pommel horse was one of the components of the men's artistic individual all-around in 1900, however. The men's pommel horse returned as a medal event in 1924 and has been held every Games since. Pommel horse scores were included in the individual all-around for 1924 and 1928, with no separate apparatus final. In 1932, the pommel horse was entirely separate from the all-around. From 1936 to 1956, there were again no separate apparatus finals with the pommel horse scores used in the all-around. Beginning in 1960, there were separate apparatus finals.

## Medalists
### Men

The medals have been swept four times, something which is no longer possible under current rules: by the United States in 1904, Switzerland in 1924, Finland in 1948, and the Soviet Union in 1952. There have been three-way ties for gold twice (still possible but very unlikely under current rules): 1948 and 1988.
| Games | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| 1896 Athens details | Louis Zutter Switzerland | Hermann Weingärtner Germany | Not awarded |
| 1900 Paris | Not held | Not held | Not held |
| 1904 St. Louis details | Anton Heida United States | George Eyser United States | William Merz United States |
| 1908 London | Not held | Not held | Not held |
| 1912 Stockholm | Not held | Not held | Not held |
| 1920 Antwerp | Not held | Not held | Not held |
| 1924 Paris details | Josef Wilhelm Switzerland | Jean Gutweninger Switzerland | Antoine Rebetez Switzerland |
| 1928 Amsterdam details | Hermann Hänggi Switzerland | Georges Miez Switzerland | Heikki Savolainen Finland |
| 1932 Los Angeles details | István Pelle Hungary | Omero Bonoli Italy | Frank Haubold United States |
| 1936 Berlin details | Konrad Frey Germany | Eugen Mack Switzerland | Albert Bachmann Switzerland |
| 1948 London details | Paavo Aaltonen FinlandVeikko Huhtanen FinlandHeikki Savolainen Finland | Not awarded | Not awarded |
| 1952 Helsinki details | Viktor Chukarin Soviet Union | Yevgeny Korolkov Soviet UnionHrant Shahinyan Soviet Union | Not awarded |
| 1956 Melbourne details | Boris Shakhlin Soviet Union | Takashi Ono Japan | Viktor Chukarin Soviet Union |
| 1960 Rome details | Eugen Ekman FinlandBoris Shakhlin Soviet Union | Not awarded | Shuji Tsurumi Japan |
| 1964 Tokyo details | Miroslav Cerar Yugoslavia | Shuji Tsurumi Japan | Yury Tsapenko Soviet Union |
| 1968 Mexico City details | Miroslav Cerar Yugoslavia | Olli Laiho Finland | Mikhail Voronin Soviet Union |
| 1972 Munich details | Viktor Klimenko Soviet Union | Sawao Kato Japan | Eizo Kenmotsu Japan |
| 1976 Montreal details | Zoltán Magyar Hungary | Eizo Kenmotsu Japan | Nikolai Andrianov Soviet UnionMichael Nikolay East Germany |
| 1980 Moscow details | Zoltán Magyar Hungary | Alexander Dityatin Soviet Union | Michael Nikolay East Germany |
| 1984 Los Angeles details | Li Ning ChinaPeter Vidmar United States | Not awarded | Timothy Daggett United States |
| 1988 Seoul details | Lubomir Geraskov BulgariaZsolt Borkai HungaryDmitri Bilozertchev Soviet Union | Not awarded | Not awarded |
| 1992 Barcelona details | Vitaly Scherbo Unified TeamPae Gil-Su North Korea | Not awarded | Andreas Wecker Germany |
| 1996 Atlanta details | Li Donghua Switzerland | Marius Urzică Romania | Alexei Nemov Russia |
| 2000 Sydney details | Marius Urzică Romania | Eric Poujade France | Alexei Nemov Russia |
| 2004 Athens details | Teng Haibin China | Marius Urzică Romania | Takehiro Kashima Japan |
| 2008 Beijing details | Xiao Qin China | Filip Ude Croatia | Louis Smith Great Britain |
| 2012 London details | Krisztián Berki Hungary | Louis Smith Great Britain | Max Whitlock Great Britain |
| 2016 Rio de Janeiro details | Max Whitlock Great Britain | Louis Smith Great Britain | Alexander Naddour United States |
| 2020 Tokyo details | Max Whitlock Great Britain | Lee Chih-kai Chinese Taipei | Kazuma Kaya Japan |
| 2024 Paris details | Rhys McClenaghan Ireland | Nariman Kurbanov Kazakhstan | Stephen Nedoroscik United States |

#### Multiple medalists

The most successful Olympian on pommel horse is Max Whitlock of Great Britain with two gold medals, in 2016 and 2020, and a bronze in 2012. He shares the title of most decorated Olympian on the apparatus, with three Olympic medals, with close contemporary and compatriot Louis Smith with two silvers and a bronze, and Romanian gymnast Marius Urzică, with one gold medal and two silvers. Three other gymnasts have won the gold medal twice: Soviet Boris Shakhlin, Yugoslav Miroslav Cerar, and Hungarian legend Zoltán Magyar.
| Rank | Gymnast | Nation | Olympics | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | Max Whitlock | Great Britain (GBR) | 2012–2020 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 2 | Boris Shakhlin | Soviet Union (URS) | 1956–1960 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 2 | Miroslav Cerar | Yugoslavia (YUG) | 1964–1968 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 2 | Zoltán Magyar | Hungary (HUN) | 1976–1980 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 5 | Marius Urzică | Romania (ROU) | 1996–2004 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| 6 | Viktor Chukarin | Soviet Union (URS) | 1952–1956 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 7 | Louis Smith | Great Britain (GBR) | 2008–2016 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 8 | Shuji Tsurumi | Japan (JPN) | 1960–1964 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 8 | Eizo Kenmotsu | Japan (JPN) | 1972–1976 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 10 | Michael Nikolay | East Germany (GDR) | 1976–1980 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 10 | Alexei Nemov | Russia (RUS) | 1996–2000 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |

#### Medalists by country

| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | Soviet Union (URS) | 5 | 3 | 4 | 12 |
| 2 | Hungary (HUN) | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 3 | Switzerland (SUI) | 4 | 3 | 2 | 9 |
| 4 | Finland (FIN) | 4 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| 5 | China (CHN) | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 6 | Great Britain (GBR) | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| 7 | United States (USA) | 2 | 1 | 5 | 8 |
| 8 | Yugoslavia (YUG) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 9 | Romania (ROU) | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| 10 | Germany (GER) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 11 | Bulgaria (BUL) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 11 | Ireland (IRL) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 11 | North Korea (PRK) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 11 | Unified Team (EUN) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 15 | Japan (JPN) | 0 | 4 | 4 | 8 |
| 16 | Chinese Taipei (TPE) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 16 | Croatia (CRO) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 16 | France (FRA) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 16 | Italy (ITA) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 16 | Kazakhstan (KAZ) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 21 | East Germany (GDR) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 21 | Russia (RUS) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |