--- description: The three legendary gold medal winners converged Sunday night for an exclusive shoot by famed photographer Simon Bruty in Rio title: Michael Phelps, Katie Ledecky and Simone Biles Pose Together image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb3110cea75f31238/6988a286ab6d774cdc6aae8e/si-olympics-cover-the-greatests-jpg.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Sports](/section/sports/) ## Sports Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics](/tag/2016-rio-de-janiero-olympics/) ## 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Michael Phelps, Katie Ledecky and Simone Biles Unite for _Sports Illustrated_ Cover by [Kate Samuelson](/author/kate-samuelson/) ## Kate Samuelson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 16, 2016 1:01 PM CUT  Michael Phelps, Katie Ledecky and Simone Biles took time out to pose together for a very special Sports Illustrated cover Michael Phelps, Katie Ledecky and Simone Biles took time out to pose together for a very special Sports Illustrated coverSports Illustrated by [Kate Samuelson](/author/kate-samuelson/) ## Kate Samuelson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 16, 2016 1:01 PM CUT **Correction appended** An Olympian’s calendar is no doubt a packed one – but that didn’t stop [Michael Phelps](http://time.com/4451492/phelps-gold-medals-rio-2016-olympics-swimming-ledecky-simone-manuelgolden-finale-for-phelps-final-farewell/ "undefined"), [Katie Ledecky](http://time.com/4451273/katie-ledecky-rio-2016-olympics-800m/ "undefined") and [Simone Biles](http://time.com/4451734/olympics-simone-biles-third-gold-vault/ "undefined") from taking time out to pose together for _Sports Illustrated_. The three legendary gold medal winners converged Sunday night for _SI_ – which today celebrates its 62-year anniversary – in Rio. Between them, the three sporting superstars have achieved a total of twelve gold, two silver and one bronze medal in these Games alone. Phelps, the most decorated Olympian in history, has won five gold medals and one silver in Rio (he has 23 gold medals in total), Ledecky achieved four gold and one silver and Biles has won three gold and a bronze. [_SI_ reports](http://www.si.com/olympics/2016/08/16/michael-phelps-simone-biles-katie-ledecky-sports-illustrated-cover-2016-rio-olympics "undefined") that there “was an easy rapport between the three Olympians” and “the three certainly have one thing in common: metallurgy”. Phelps helped arrange the medals around the necks of both Biles and Ledecky – something he has clearly had a lot of experience with. Phelps is a _SI_ favourite, having appeared on 11 of the magazine’s covers. One of the [most memorable shoots he did](http://www.si.com/extra-mustard/2016/08/15/michael-phelps-poses-bottom-university-michigan-pool-2005 "undefined") was in 2005, and involved Phelps posing underwater in his University of Michigan dorm room. [_Read more about the shoot at SI.com_](http://www.si.com/olympics/2016/08/16/michael-phelps-simone-biles-katie-ledecky-sports-illustrated-cover-2016-rio-olympics "undefined") **Correction**: This original version of this article misstated the number of times Michael Phelps has appeared on the cover of _Sports Illustrated_. It is 11. Michael Phelps, Katie Ledecky and Simone Biles Pose Together ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4453720/sports-illustrated-michael-phelps-katie-ledecky-simone-biles/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4453720/sports-illustrated-michael-phelps-katie-ledecky-simone-biles/"},"headline":"Michael Phelps, Katie Ledecky and Simone Biles Unite for Sports Illustrated Cover","datePublished":"2016-08-16T13:01:22.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T10:01:45.778Z","description":"America's top Olympians on one magazine cover","url":"https://time.com/4453720/sports-illustrated-michael-phelps-katie-ledecky-simone-biles/","keywords":["2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics","Summer Olympics"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb3110cea75f31238/6988a286ab6d774cdc6aae8e/si-olympics-cover-the-greatests-jpg.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Kate Samuelson","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/kate-samuelson/"}],"articleSection":"Sports","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb3110cea75f31238/6988a286ab6d774cdc6aae8e/si-olympics-cover-the-greatests-jpg.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"SI Olympics Cover -The Greatests.jpg","caption":"Sports Illustrated cover","creditText":"Sports Illustrated","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/sports/","name":"Sports"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2016-rio-de-janiero-olympics/","name":"2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4453720/sports-illustrated-michael-phelps-katie-ledecky-simone-biles/","name":"Michael Phelps, Katie Ledecky and Simone Biles Unite for Sports Illustrated Cover"}}]}] ```