In the same way, distance runner Paavo Nurmi (nine golds and three silvers between 1920 and 1928) might also have won more, had the Finn not been excluded by officials from the 10,000m in Paris for health reasons, and then banned from the 1932 Olympics for breaking the strict rules governing amateur status after once receiving travel expenses to attend a meet.
There are also those who won plenty but, because of when they competed, might not have faced the most arduous of challenges.
US athlete Ray Ewry overcame childhood polio and long spells confined to a wheelchair to win three golds in Paris in 1900, three again in St Louis four years later and then two more in 1908, but comparing his deeds to those of 21st Century heroes when his triumphs came in the standing long jump and standing triple jump is an inexact science at best.
And what of those who mastered more than one event but could win only a solitary gold?
