Track & Field's Silver Surfers: athletes who won 3+ silvers without winning gold

second best is worse than useless.

I'll be skipping this thread.

Not me anymore, suckas!

LOL. Rai Benjamin left the club too! (not counting relays)

That's harsh. If that's your opinion of 2nd best, what do you think about 4th?

Aregawi has 1 Olympic silver, 1 indoor silver, and 2 xc silvers

But they’re not surfers, they’re runners ?

Patrick Sang, steeplechase silver 1991, 1992, 1993

0/10 ragebait.

My best guess was Frankie Fredericks, but he actually won gold in the 200m at Worlds in 1993. Fredericks was so unlucky to have face Michael Johnson during his prime.

Tergat won many world XC championships. But that is a poor event, and might not hand out medals at all.

Great guess! Yes, Fredericks had bad luck with MJ and others. Fredericks finished second in both the 100 and 200 at the 1992 and 1996 Olympics. Ouch! He won 7 silvers and that 1 gold. If MJ had run the 200 at 1993 Worlds instead of the 400, Fredericks might have finished his career with 8 outdoor silvers and no gold.

Mikhail Shchennikov, Russian race walker, 3x silver at the 1991 WC 20km, 1996 OG 50km, 1997 WC 20km. 4x World indoor champion though.

Steve Backley, British javelin thrower: 4x silver (1995, 1996, 1997, 2000) and 1x bronze (1992)

Harry Butch Reynolds never won gold at the individual 400m: 3x silver (1988, 1993, 1995) and 1x bronze (1987). 4 gold at the 4x400m relay though.

Tony Jarrett, British 110m hurdler: 3x silver (2x 1993, 1995) and 2x bronze (2x 1991) if we include his silver and bronze at the 4x100m.

Thanks for the additions, Running grandpa!

Interesting that we haven't been able to name any women other than Keely, who finally won gold last year after three consecutive silvers.

Not track and field, but Huang Xuechen won a total of 25 medals in Synchronized Swimming, 21 of them silver, without ever winning a gold.

US pole vaulter Sandy Morris, 4x silver in 2016, 2017, 2019 and 2022.

I believe several athletes, just like Keely Hodgkinson, have won 3+ silver and/or bronze medals before winning their first individual title.

Merlene Ottey had already 2 silver and 7 bronze medals at OG/WC before winning her first gold in 1993 in Stuttgart.

And in the pre WC era, the greatest French distance runner Alain Mimoun finished 3x second at the Olympics (1948 10’000m, 1952 5’000m & 10’000m) as well as 2x second at the European Championships (1950 5’000m & 10’000m), all 5 times behind his eternal rival and friend Emil Zatopek, before finally winning the marathon title in Melbourne 1956.

Morrocan 800m runner Hasna Benhassi: 3x silver (2004, 2005, 2007) & 1x bronze (2008)