The list of Pennsylvania State University Olympians is a list of former or current Penn State University students (129) and coaches and faculty members (12) who have appeared as athletes at the Olympic Games, plus one athlete for the boycotted 1980 Summer Olympics. The university had its most representatives participating in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris with 36 participants earning fourteen medals, the most ever by Penn State athletes in a single Olympic Games.[1]
† an athlete is considered to have appeared once in each sport entered each time the Games of an Olympiad or Winter Games were held, including athletes who were alternates ♦ number of times that a person received an Olympic medal or honor for finishing among the top three in an event ‡ both on the 2020 gold medal-winning USA women's team # both on the 2012 silver medal-winning USA women's team ¶ all on the 2016 bronze medal-winning USA men's and women's teams § all on the 1984 bronze medal-winning USA women's team
^ abNate Cartmell attended the University of Pennsylvania and later served as head coach of track and field at Penn State from 1922–33. After his Olympic years, he embarked on a coaching career in 1910 that led to coaching stints at seven other institutions, both before and after Penn State.
^Ray Conger ran track for Iowa State in college, later obtained a masters degree in physiology, and then did further graduate work at Columbia. From 1931–36 he taught zoology at Carleton College in Northfield, MN, where he also coached track. He then joined the faculty at Penn State and was a professor of physical education preceding his retirement in 1970.
^Walter Bahr was the captain of the U.S. national team in the 1950 FIFA World Cup when, in what is considered one of the greatest upsets in sports history, it defeated England, 1-0, with Bahr assisting on the lone goal. Later he became the men's soccer coach at Penn State from 1974–1988.
^Bill Koll attended Iowa State Teachers College (now the University of Northern Iowa) and later became professor of Health and Physical Education, as well as head coach of the Penn State wrestling team from 1965–1979, which included unbeaten dual meet campaigns in 1967, 1970 thru 1972, and 1974.
^ abAfter 1956, Kurt Oppelt skated in ice shows with his partner, Sissy Schwarz, and was the coach of the Royal Dutch Figure Skating Team from 1957–1960. He later settled in the United States. In 1967, Oppelt became an instructor at Penn State in its College of Health, Physical Education and Recreation. In 1996 he received the Golden Medal of Honor for Services to the Republic of Austria.
^ ab"Dick Dyer". Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 2020-04-18. Retrieved 2017-10-15.
^Mallon, Bill (21 Sep 2017). "USA OLYMPIANS AND THEIR COLLEGES". Retrieved 2017-10-14. O'Quinn attended the U.S. Military Academy as an undergraduate and Penn State as a graduate student.
^ abAt the time of the 1968 Olympics, Jane Barkman was age 16; later she became Penn State assistant swim coach and went on to become head coach at Princeton.
^After her 1975 college graduation at Southern Connecticut, Sue Rojcewicz became a physical education instructor and assistant basketball coach at Penn State.
^Mallon, Bill (21 Sep 2017). "USA OLYMPIANS AND THEIR COLLEGES". Retrieved 2017-10-14. Banach attended the University of Iowa as an undergraduate and Penn State as a graduate student in 1988.
^ abcdFrancis Dodoo became a Professor of Sociology, Demography and African Studies at Penn State. He also served as president of the Ghana Olympic Committee from 2009 to 2017.
^ abMallon, Bill (21 Sep 2017). "USA OLYMPIANS AND THEIR COLLEGES". Retrieved 2017-10-14. Weiss attended Colorado School of Mines as an undergraduate and Penn State as a graduate student. He drowned in a kayaking accident on the White Salmon River in Washington state in 1997.
^John Hargis was the assistant swimming coach at Penn State from 2003 to 2006 and head coach from 2008 to 2013.
^Sammie Henson was undefeated and two-time NCAA champion at Clemson University. From 2000–2002 he was assistant wrestling coach at Penn State. During his time there, Henson assisted head coach Troy Sunderland in taking the Nittany Lions from 35th in the country to sixth with a pair of top-five recruiting classes in just two years.
^Mallon, Bill (21 Sep 2017). "USA OLYMPIANS AND THEIR COLLEGES". Retrieved 2017-10-14. In 1993, Kolat began his collegiate career at Penn State. He transferred to Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania in 1995.
^"TRACK AND FIELD OLYMPIANS TO BE RECOGNIZED". University Park, Pennsylvania. Oct 4, 2012. Retrieved 2016-08-14. Blake, a member of Penn State's NCAA Champion 4x400 in 2008, also had a successful London experience, earning a bronze medal as a member of Jamaica's 4x400 relay pool.
^Walker, Howard (23 June 2017). "Dominique Blake finally returns bronze medal". Jamaican Observer. Retrieved 1 November 2017. Dominique Blake handed over the 4x400m relay medal she was erroneously presented with, having never competed in the heats or the final of the event at the 2012 Olympics.
^Jake Varner won the gold medal in the 96 kg freestyle category at the 2012 Summer Olympics. Afterward he became an assistant coach at Penn State under Cael Sanderson. A student-athlete at Iowa State, he was 2009 and 2010 NCAA champion and finished second in the 2007 and 2008 NCAA championships, while being coached by Sanderson.
^Ryan Whiting, a native of Harrisburg, Pa., and 2010 alumnus of Arizona State University, was a volunteer coach on the Penn State track and field staff. He was the defending World Indoor Champion in the shot put and represented the U.S. at the 2011 IAAF World Outdoor Championships and 2012 IAAF World Indoor Championships. He was also a six-time NCAA Champion while competing at Arizona State.
^"Tokyo Drift". Penn Stater. Vol. 106, no. 6 (July/August 2019 ed.). University Park, Pennsylvania: Penn State Alumni Association. p. 26.
^ abAydin, Tim (Aug 1, 2016). "Reppin' In Rio: Penn Staters In The 2016 Olympic Games". Black Shoe Diaries. Vox Media, Inc. Retrieved 2016-08-11. A former University of Florida athlete, Eddie Lovett was a Penn State volunteer assistant coach at the time of the 2016 Rio Olympics, where he represented the U.S. Virgin Islands in the 110-meter hurdles.
^ abcdKevin Szott worked as a graduate assistant and a strength and conditioning coach on the Penn State football staff for 10 years, earning a master's degree in exercise physiology in 1989. Szott, who suffers from retinitis pigmentosa and macular disease, won Paralympic medals in four different sports (wrestling, goalball, and shot put in 1984, judo in 1996, 2000, and 2004). He was selected as Team USA’s flag bearer in the 2004 Paralympic Games in Athens.
^ ab"Kevin Szott". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 2024-07-25.
^"New York 1984 Paralympic Summer Games". National Paralympic Heritage Trust. Retrieved 25 July 2024. Ian Brittain's research has shown 'that many medals were awarded for events that don't appear in the official results and so some athletes will never take their rightful place in Paralympic history.'
^Brittain, Ian (2014). From Stoke Mandeville to Sochi: A history of the summer and winter Paralympic Games. Common Ground Publishing.
^ abPenn Staters in the Olympics (curated display). University Park, Pennsylvania: Penn State All-Sports Museum. 5 April 2017.
^"Jeffrey Hantz". Paralympic.org. International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 2021-08-12.
^ abcde"Rebecca Hart". TeamUSA.org. United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 2024-08-31.
^"Maggie Redden". Paralympic.org. International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 2021-08-12.
^ abc"Team USA". TeamUSA.org. United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee. Archived from the original on March 3, 2021. Retrieved 2021-08-09.
^"Shawn Morelli". Paralympic.org. International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 2021-08-12.
Nate Cartmell[2]
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(1600m medley relay)
(200m)
Katsutoshi Naito
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Kurt Oppelt[9][10][11]
Jean Cronstedt
Mike Sands
Knut Hjeltnes
Romel Raffin
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Terry Bartlett
Francis Dodoo[20]
Barry Walsh
Alexander Weber
Eugene Botes
Ramon Hernandez
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Toyin Augustus
Aleesha Barber
Kirsten Nieuwendam
Nontapat Panchan
Adam Wiercioch
Felix Aronovich
Dominique Blake[4]
Daniel Gómez Tanamachi
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Bia Bulcão[37]
Eddie Lovett[38]
Eduardo Cisternas
Mohamed Hassan
Lynzee Brown[43]
Samantha Catantan
Mohamed Cisset
Emma Harvey
Handal Roban
Cheickna Traore
Margherita Guzzi Vincenti