Aug. 12, 2012

USC's 2012 London Olympians

USC-affiliated athletes won more total medals (25, including 12 golds, 9 silvers and 4 bronzes) at the just-concluded 2012 London Olympics than any American university, making these Games the most successful in Trojan history.

USC's 25 total medals and 12 gold medals are school records for a single Olympics, breaking the previous highs of 24 total medals at the 1984 Los Angeles Games and 10 golds at both the 1948 London Games and the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Troy's 12 gold medals in London tied with Stanford for the most by a university in 2012. USC continued its streak of having won a gold medal at every Summer Olympics from 1912.

If USC athletes had competed as a country in 2012, they would have placed sixth in the gold medal standings at the London Games and 11th in overall medals.

Forty-one athletes with a USC affiliation competed in London (tied with Stanford for most from any U.S. university). They competed in 7 sports and represented 18 countries. Twenty-four of USC's London Olympians were women and 22 were competing in their first Games. Seven coaches with USC ties served on Olympic staffs in 2012.

Two Trojans--Americans Allyson Felix in track and Rebecca Soni in swimming--each captured 3 medals in London. Felix won golds in the 200-meter dash, 400m relay and 1600m relay, while Soni got a pair of golds (200m breaststroke and 400m medley relay) and a silver (100m breaststroke). Felix and Soni now each own 6 Olympic medals in their careers, tying Australian swimmer Murray Rose for the most ever by a Trojan. Felix became just the sixth Trojan with 4 Olympic gold medals in a career, joining Rose, swimmers John Naber, Lenny Krayzelburg and Janet Evans and basketballer Lisa Leslie.

Two other Trojan swimmers were double medalists in London: Clement Lefert of France (gold in the 400m freestyle relay and silver in the 800m freestyle relay) and Ous Mellouli of Tunisia (gold in the marathon swim 10K and bronze in the 1500m freestyle).

USC's other London gold medalists were U.S. water polo players Kami Craig, Lauren Wenger and Tumua Anae, American soccer player Amy Rodriguez and 400-meter hurdler Felix Sanchez of the Dominican Republic.

Other Trojans taking home silver were 6 Americans--beach volleyball's April Ross and Jennifer Kessy, sprinters Bryshon Nellum and Josh Mance (1600m relay), swimmer Haley Anderson (marathon swim 10K) and volleyball player Nicole Davis--and Spanish water poloist Anni Espar.

Other bronze medalists from USC were swimmers Vladimir Morozov of Russia (400m freestyle relay), Amanda Weir of the U.S. (400m freestyle relay) and Margaux Farrell of France (800m freestyle relay).

Anderson, Mance, Morozov and Nellum are current USC student-athletes, Espar is an entering freshman and Farrell is an incoming graduate student.

"We are extremely proud of every Trojan athlete who competed at the 2012 London Olympics," said USC's Charles Griffin Cale Director of Athletics' Chair Pat Haden. "Based on their performances and the medals they won, this is the most successful class of USC Olympians ever. Considering our long Olympic heritage, that is a remarkable achievement. It is safe to say that USC is the `Home of Olympians.'"

In its history, USC has sent more athletes to the Olympic Games than any other university. Since 1904, there have been 418 athletes who attended USC before, during or after their Olympic appearance. They have collected 287 medals (135 golds, 87 silvers and 65 bronzes), including at least one gold medal in every summer Olympics since 1912. If USC competed as a country, its 287 all-time Summer Olympics medals would rank 16th most in the world, while its 135 gold medals would be 12th most.

USC's All-Time Olympians List