10 celebrities who have actually competed at the Olympics

Whenever the Olympics roll around it is easy to focus on the biggest stars competing at their respective games as, after all, for many of these athletes this is the biggest stage they will ever compete on.

The likes of Michael Phelps, Usain Bolt, Jesse Owens, Simone Biles, Steve Redgrave and Nadia Comaneci have all been etched into the history books thanks to their exploits at the games but, for some competitors, fame and recognition can lie elsewhere.

You might be surprised to learn but several celebrities ranging from the world of acting, politics, reality television and even royalty have competed at the Olympics – with mixed results.

Here are 10 celebrities that have actually represented their nations at the Olympic games.

Princess Anne and Zara Tindall

• Olympics: Montreal 1976, London 2012
• Nation: Great Britain
• Sport: Equestrian

We’ll start with a royal mother and daughter first. Princess Anne was the first Royal to compete in the Olympics when she took part in the three-day equestrian at the 1976 Montreal games. Despite winning the gold medal at the 1971 European Championships, Anne could only manage to finish in 24th place and left Canada empty-handed.

However, 41 years later, her daughter Zara Tindall did manage to finish in a podium place when she won silver for Team GB in the equestrian team event in London 2012. After the victory, she said: “It’s disappointing we didn’t get gold, but the team’s been awesome. It’s been a real honour to ride with everyone. We’ve had an amazing week. It’s been great, and when you get one of these medals put around your neck, it brings it back to you and you realise everything was worth it.”

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Caitlyn Jenner

• Olympics: Munich 1972, Montreal 1976
• Nation: United States
• Sport: Decathlon

Possibly the most famous athlete turned celebrity ever, Jenner won gold at the 1976 games in Montreal. This came just four years after she finished tenth in the event at the 1972 games. Overall, Jenner had just a six-year decathlon career and also won the 1975 Pan American Games in Mexico City. To a younger generation, Jenner might be better known for her involvement in the reality show Keeping Up With the Kardashians alongside ex-wife Kris Kardashian and their daughters Kendall and Kylie Jenner, who clearly decided to opt for modelling and cosmetics as a career rather than athletics. After undergoing gender reassignment in 2017, Jenner joked that she had achieved the “great double” of being Olympic decathlon champion and being named Glamour magazine’s woman of the year. She is currently campaigning to become the Republican governor of California.

Harold Sakata

• Olympics: London 1948
• Nation: United States
• Sport: Weightlifting

James Bond fans will need no introduction to Harold Sakata who famously played villain Oddjob in Goldfinger and had a lengthy film career until his death in 1982. Before that, he was a weightlifter competing in the light-heavyweight division and won silver at the London 1948 games when he lifted a total of 380 kg. He also had a career as a professional wrestler and won several titles across North America.

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Kurt Angle

• Olympics: Atlanta 1996
• Nation: United States
• Sport: Freestyle wrestling

Sakata isn’t the only wrestler to have picked up a medal at the Olympics. The most famous example is undoubtedly WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle who won gold at the 1996 Olympics, even with a broken neck, which he suffered during the Olympic trials. Angle made the move to professional wrestling in 1999 and was an instant success all over the world winning numerous world championships. Other pro wrestlers to have competed at the Olympics include Mark Henry, The Iron Sheik, Jeff Cobb, Chad Gable and Ronda Rousey.

The Winklevoss Twins

• Olympics: Beijing 2008
• Nation: United States
• Sport: Rowing

Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss are perhaps better known for their involvement in the tech industry and sued Mark Zuckerberg in 2004, claiming he had stolen the idea for Facebook from them. This incident was famous depicted in The Social Network movie where both twins were portrayed by Armie Hammer. Despite their issues with Zuckerberg they were still able to train for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing where they competed in the men’s coxless pair rowing even, finishing in sixth place.

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Bob Anderson

• Olympics: Helsinki 1952
• Nation: Great Britain
• Sport: Fencing

Many actors have played Darth Vader over the years but Bob Anderson isn’t often mentioned in the same breath as James Earl Jones or Hayden Christensen. However, Anderson did work as a body double for the lightsabre fights in both The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. He was also regarded as one of the best swordfight choreographers in Hollywood having also worked on Lord of the Rings and James Bond movies. Anderson also happened to be an accomplished fencer and competed for Team GB at the 1952 games but could only finish in fifth in the team sabre event.

Ming Campbell

• Olympics: Tokyo 1964
• Nation: Great Britain
• Sport: Athletics

If you cast your mind back to 2006, you might remember Ming Campbell’s brief stint as the leader of the Liberal Democrat party. That being said, he had a far more successful career as a sprinter and was once ‘dubbed the fastest white man alive’, having run the 100m in 10.2 seconds twice in 1967 (even beating OJ Simpson in the second race). The Scottish born sprinter captained GB athletics between 1965 and 1966 but only competed in one Olympics when he took part in the 4 x 100m relay but the team finished last.

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Jessica Springsteen

• Olympics: Tokyo 2020
• Nation: United States
• Sport: Equestrian

More of a celebrity’s daughter here and there are no prizes for guessing who Jessica Springsteen’s father is. The Boss’s daughter is a showjumping champion and was picked to represent Team USA at Tokyo 2020. Unfortunately for her, she wasn’t able to make the final of the individual jumping event but she will have another chance at a medal when she competes in the four-rider team jumping event on Friday.

Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix

• Olympics: Tokyo 2020
• Nation: Great Britain
• Sport: Diving

Another slightly famous person’s daughter here, as sixteen-year-old Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix just happens to be the offspring of Fred Sirieix, better knows as the French maitre d’hotel of Channel 4’s dating show First Dates. Spendolini-Sirieix is quickly becoming an established diver having won gold at the 2020 FINA Diving Grand Prix and also being named the 2020 Young Sports Personality of the Year. She is competing in the individual women’s 10m platform event and has qualified for her semi-final on Thursday.

Bonuses:

Dolph Lundgren

Here is a strange one. Swedish action Dolph Lundgren, best known for his roles in RockyIV and Universal Soldier, was chosen as the team leader of the United States’ 1996 Modern Pentathlon team but did not compete. This came after he had starred in a movie about the sport and the US Olympic Committee hoped that his inclusion would help promote the sport.

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Jason Statham

Another action star who made his mark at a major sporting event is Jason Statham, except he didn’t make it to the Olympics. Before he was a name in Hollywood Statham was an avid diver and competed for England at the 1990 Commonwealth Games in Auckland but sadly for him didn’t win any medals. At least the footage is kinda surreal to look back upon.