By Yanyan Li on SwimSwam
The NCAA is one of the biggest feeder institutions for sports that peak during the Olympic Games, as athletes from around the world are developed through the American collegiate system. Some athletes even compete at the Olympics while they are still in college, achieving success on both a domestic and international level. In this article, we take a look at which collegiate athletes won NCAA team titles and were Paris Olympians in the same year.
In total, there were 32 athletes who won 2024 NCAA team championships and competed at the Olympic Games. 13 of those athletes are from the United States, while 19 are from other countries. This is not surprising — even though most NCAA athletes are American, the competition field in most other countries is smaller than it is for Team USA, paving way for collegiate athletes to get Olympic opportunities.
With the exception of UCLA Water Polo and Northwestern Field Hockey, the 2024 NCAA Champions/Olympians all come from sports centered around individual competition. The majority of these athletes compete in either swimming or athletics, with the men’s and women’s NCAA champions in both sports combining for a total of 20 Olympians. On the flip side, none of the athletes compete in sports with significant professional leagues or opportunities. Notably, none of the NCAA champions in Olympic sports that have major pro opportunities — such as basketball, volleyball, tennis and golf — fielded any Olympians.
2024 NCAA Championship Teams With The Most Paris Olympians:
Arkansas Women’s Track and Field — 5 Arizona State Men’s Swimming and Diving/Virginia Women’s Swimming and Diving/Florida Men’s Track and Field — 4 Texas Tech Men’s Track and Field — 3 UCLA Men’s Water Polo/Harvard Fencing/Northwestern Field Hockey — 2Out of the 32 athletes, 12 of them were NCAA champions and Olympic medalists in the same year. Arizona State men’s swimming fielded the most medalists with three, while UVA women’s swimming, Arkansas women’s track and field and UCLA men’s water polo all had two apiece. Notably, all three of ASU’s medalists were individual medalists, including Leon Marchand, who picked up four gold medals and was the most decorated Olympian of the Paris Games. Meanwhile, Ilya Kharun won two bronzes and Hubert Kos took a gold.
Other individual Olympic medalists that won NCAA team titles include Virginia women’s swimming’s Gretchen Walsh, Harvard fencing’s Lauren Scruggs, and Penn State wrestling’s Aaron Brooks. Walsh and Scruggs took home an individual silver, while Brooks won bronze.
Here is the full list of 32 athletes who won NCAA team titles and qualified for the Olympics in 2024:
Full List Of NCAA Team Champions And Olympians
Note: We listed the athlete’s year as what they were when they won an NCAA title.
Name Year Championship Team Nationality Medals Ilya Kharun Freshman Arizona State Men’s Swimming and Diving Canada 2x bronze Hubert Kos Sophomore Arizona State Men’s Swimming and Diving Hungary 1x gold Leon Marchand Junior Arizona State Men’s Swimming and Diving France 4x gold, 1x bronze Tiago Behar Junior Arizona State Men’s Swimming and Diving Switzerland None Kaylyn Brown Freshman Arkansas Women’s Track and Field United States 1x gold, 1x silver Rachel Glenn Redshirt Sophomore Arkansas Women’s Track and Field United States None Sanu Jallow-Lockhart Sophomore Arkansas Women’s Track and Field Gambia None Amber Anning Senior Arkansas Women’s Track and Field Great Britain 2x bronze Nickisha Pryce Senior Arkansas Women’s Track and Field Jamaica None James Corrigan Redshirt Sophomore BYU Men’s Cross Country United States None Malcolm Clemons Redshirt Junior Florida Men’s Track and Field (Outdoor) United States None Wanya McCoy Sophomore Florida Men’s Track and Field (Outdoor) Bahamas None Jevaughn Powell Redshirt Senior Florida Men’s Track and Field (Outdoor) Jamaica None Reheem Hayles Senior Florida Men’s Track and Field (Outdoor) Jamaica None Lauren Scruggs Junior Harvard Fencing United States 1x gold, 1x silver Jessica Zi Jia Guo Freshman Harvard Fencing Canada None Aleah Finnegan Junior LSU Women’s Gymnastics Phillippines None Maddie Zimmer Graduate Student Northwestern Field Hockey United States None Ashley Sessa Sophomore Northwestern Field Hockey United States None Aaron Brooks Graduate Student Penn State Wrestling United States 1x bronze Asher Hong Sophomore Stanford Men’s Gymanstics United States 1x bronze Stephanie Grundsoe Graduate Student TCU Rifle Denmark None Antoine Andrews Sophomore Texas Tech Men’s Track and Field (Indoor) Bahamas None Terrence Jones Senior Texas Tech Men’s Track and Field (Indoor) Bahamas None Oskar Edlund Junior Texas Tech Men’s Track and Field (Indoor) Sweden None Chase Dodd Redshirt Junior UCLA Men’s Water Polo United States 1x bronze Ryder Dodd Freshman UCLA Men’s Water Polo United States 1x bronze Sienna Green Sophomore UCLA Women’s Water Polo Australia 1x silver Gretchen Walsh Junior Virginia Women’s Swimming United States 2x gold, 2x silver Alex Walsh Senior Virginia Women’s Swimming United States None Emma Weber Sophomore Virginia Women’s Swimming United States 1x gold Aimee Canny Sophomore Virginia Women’s Swimming South Africa NoneRead the full story on SwimSwam: How Many Athletes Were Both NCAA Champions And Olympians In 2024?
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