Vyacheslav Ivanov
Mahe Drysdale
Stat by stat
Bars are scaled to the leader in this list.
The verdict
Mahe Drysdale leads 2 of 4 categories. Our all-time ranking places Vyacheslav Ivanov at #7 and Mahe Drysdale at #10.
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The case for Vyacheslav Ivanov
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.
The case for Mahe Drysdale
Olympic bronze in the men's single in 2008, silver in 2012, gold in 2016, when he held off Damir Martin in a photo finish. He also won world titles in the single in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2011. The Olympic gold came last, which is the awkward shape of a single-scull career: the world titles proved the speed, and Rio was the race the sport had been waiting for him to close. One Olympic gold does not top a five-gold crew career. Five years as the world single, plus a full Olympic medal set, is why he is on this list.