Athletics News
    USC Athletes Win 21 Medals At 2008 Beijing Olympics
    Rebecca Soni
    Rebecca Soni

    Aug. 25, 2008

    
    

    Complete List of USC's 2008 Olympians' Results in PDF Format Get Acrobat Reader

    USC athletes of the present and past won 21 medals-9 golds, 10 silvers and 2 bronzes-at the just-concluded 2008 Beijing Olympics.

    It was Troy's second highest overall medal count, behind only the 24 medals it won at the 1984 Los Angeles Games, and equalled the university's second highest gold medal total, behind only the 10 golds it won at the 1948 London Games.

    In fact, if USC athletes had competed as a country in 2008, they would have placed 13th in the overall medal standings in the Beijing Games (and tied for eighth in golds).

    Four of USC's gold medals came in swimming, with 3 victorious Trojans competing for the United States and 1 for Tunisia: Americans Rebecca Soni (200-meter breaststroke), Klete Keller (800-meter freestyle relay) and Erik Vendt (800-meter freestyle relay) and Tunisian Ous Mellouli (1500-meter freestyle).

    Amy Rodriguez helped the U.S. women's soccer team win in the gold medal match, while Lisa Leslie and Tina Thompson were key factors in the U.S. women's basketball team's capturing of gold and Gabe Gardner was part of the gold medal-winning U.S. men's volleyball team. Allyson Felix ran a leg on the U.S. gold medal-winning 1600-meter relay team.

    Soni also won silver medals in the 100-meter breaststroke and 400-meter medley relay, while Felix also collected a silver in the 200-meter dash. Five Trojans-Patty Cardenas, Kami Craig, Brittany Hayes, Moriah Van Norman and Lauren Wenger-won silver medals with the U.S. women's water polo team, while J.W. Krumpholz was on the U.S. men's water polo team that brought home a silver. Nicole Davis was the libero on the silver medalist U.S. women's volleyball team.

    Larsen Jensen of the U.S. won a bronze medal in the 400-meter freestyle, while Great Britain's Natasha Danvers-Smith captured a bronze in the 400-meter hurdles.

    Soni, Rodriguez, Craig and Krumpholz are current USC student-athletes.

    In all, 40 athletes with a USC affiliation competed in Beijing (that is USC's second most ever, behind the 45 Trojan competitors in the 2000 Sydney Games). They competed in 9 sports and represented 16 countries in Beijing.

    USC has sent more athletes to the Olympic Games than any other university. Since 1904, there have been 385 athletes who attended USC before, during or after their Olympic appearance. They have collected 257 medals (121 golds, 76 silvers and 60 bronzes), including at least one gold medal in every summer Olympics since 1912. If USC competed as a country, its 257 all-time medals would rank 19th most in the world, while its 121 gold medals would be 13th most.

    Name(Country)Year(Loc.)SportEventMedal/Place
    Marvin Anderson(Jamaica)`08 (Beijing)Track 200mSecond Round
    Bibiana Candelas(Mexico)`08 (Beijing)Beach Volleyball Prelims
    Patty Cardenas(U.S.)`08 (Beijing)Water Polo Silver
    Rodrigo Castro(Brazil)`08 (Beijing)Swimming200m Freestyle Semifinals
         400m Free RelayHeats
         800m Free RelayHeats
    Kami Craig(U.S.)`08 (Beijing)Water Polo Silver
    Natasha Danvers-Smith(Great Britain)`08 (Beijing)Track400m hurdlesBronze
    Nicole Davis(U.S.)`08 (Beijing) Volleyball Silver
    Torri Edwards(U.S.)`08 (Beijing)Track100m8th
         400m RelayFirst Round
    Allyson Felix(U.S.)`08 (Beijing)Track200mSilver
         1600m RelayGold
    Gabe Gardner(U.S.)`08 (Beijing)Volleyball Gold
    Blythe Hartley(Canada)`08 (Beijing) Diving3m Springboard4th
    Brittany Hayes (U.S.)`08 (Beijing)Water Polo Silver
    Zoe Hoskins (Canada)`08 (Beijing) Rowing Pairs 9th
    Katinka Hosszu (Hungary)`08 (Beijing) Swimming200m IM Heats
         400m IMHeats
    Larsen Jensen (U.S.)`08 (Beijing) Swimming400m Freestyle Bronze
         1500m Freestyle 5th
    Asia Kaczor (Poland)`08 (Beijing) Volleyball Prelims
    Klete Keller (U.S.)`08 (Beijing) Swimming800m Free Relay Gold
    Tamas Kerekjarto (Hungary)`08 (Beijing) Swimming200m Butterfly Heats
         200m IM Heats
         800m Free Relay Heats
    Sofia Konoukh (Russia)`08 (Beijing) Water Polo 7th
    J.W. Krumpholz (U.S.)`08 (Beijing) Water Polo Silver
    Brigita Langerholc (Slovenia)`08 (Beijing) Track 800mSemifinals
    Lisa Leslie (U.S.)`08 (Beijing) Basketball Gold
    Ous Mellouli (Tunisia)`08 (Beijing) Swimming200m Freestyle Heats
         400m Freestyle 5th
         1500m Freestyle Gold
    Eva Orban (Hungary)`08 (Beijing) Track Hammer ThrowPrelims
    Aniko Pelle (Hungary)`08 (Beijing) Water Polo 4th
    Ankur Poseria (India)`08 (Beijing) Swimming100m Butterfly Heats
    Zoltan Povazsay (Hungary)`08(Beijing) Swimming800m Free Relay DNP
    Amy Rodriguez (U.S.)`08 (Beijing) Soccer Gold
    Carol Rodriguez(Puerto Rico)`08 (Beijing) Track 200mFirst Round
         400m First Round
    Felix Sanchez(Dominican Republic)`08 (Beijing) Track 400m Hurdles First Round
    Rebecca Soni (U.S.)`08 (Beijing) Swimming100m BreaststrokeSilver
         200m BreaststrokeGold
         400m Medley RelaySilver
    Inga Stasiulionyte (Lithuania)`08 (Beijing) Track Javelin Throw Prelims
    Tina Thompson (U.S.)`08 (Beijing) Basketball Gold
    Moriah Van Norman (U.S.)`08 (Beijing) Water Polo Silver
    Gabriela Varekova(Czech Republic)`08 (Beijing) Rowing Double Sculls 6th
    Erik Vendt (U.S.)`08 (Beijing) Swimming800m Free Relay Gold
    Mark Warkentin (U.S.)`08 (Beijing) Swimming10K Open Water 8th
    Lauren Wenger (U.S.)`08 (Beijing) Water Polo Silver
    Angela Williams (U.S.)`08 (Beijing) Track 400m RelayFirst Round
    Jesse Williams (U.S.)`08 (Beijing) Track High JumpPrelims