USTFCCCA News & Notes
NCAA Track & Field Champions To Olympic Gold Medalists
Collegians aren’t strangers to success at the Olympic Games.
That goes especially for track & field, where former NCAA champions topped the podium at every Olympic Games since 1920 other than those that were cancelled due to World War II or boycotted.
LEARN MORE: NCAA Champions At The Olympic Games (Google Sheet)
In total, 154 men and 53 women who won NCAA titles at some point in their collegiate career would eventually win Olympic gold.
How many collegians won Olympic gold in the same year in the same individual event that they won an NCAA title? We’re glad you asked since we have your answer thanks to some fantastic research by our Howard Willman.
NCAA Title & Olympic Gold in Same Individual Event in Same Year |
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| Men’s Athletes | |||
| Name | Program | Event | Year |
| Ed Hamm | Georgia Tech | Long Jump | 1928 |
| Bob King | Stanford | High Jump | 1928 |
| George Saling | Iowa | 110 Hurdles | 1932 |
| Jesse Owens | Ohio State | 100 Meters 200 Meters |
1936 |
| Ken Carpenter | Southern California | Discus Throw | 1936 |
| Earle Meadows | Southern California | Pole Vault | 1936 |
| Spec Towns | Georgia | 110 Hurdles | 1936 |
| Archie Williams | California | 400 Meters | 1936 |
| Mel Patton | Southern California | 200 Meters | 1948 |
| Willie Steele | San Diego State | Long Jump | 1948 |
| George Rhoden | Morgan State | 400 Meters | 1952 |
| Sam Iness | Southern California | Discus Throw | 1952 |
| Buddy Davis | Texas A&M | High Jump | 1952 |
| Bobby Morrow | Abilene Christian | 100 Meters 200 Meters |
1956 |
| Lee Calhoun | North Carolina Central | 110 Hurdles | 1956 |
| Ron Delany | Villanova | 1500 Meters | 1956 |
| Greg Bell | Indiana | Long Jump | 1956 |
| Ralph Boston | Tennessee State | Long Jump | 1960 |
| Lee Evans | San Jose State | 400 Meters | 1968 |
| David Hemery | Boston University | 400 Hurdles | 1968 |
| Dick Fosbury | Oregon State | High Jump | 1968 |
| Randy Williams | Southern California | Long Jump | 1972 |
| Joaquim Cruz | Oregon | 800 Meters | 1984 |
| Joe DeLoach | Houston | 200 Meters | 1984 |
| Paul Ereng | Virginia | 800 Meters | 1988 |
| Quincy Watts | Southern California | 400 Meters | 1992 |
| Balazs Kiss | Southern California | Hammer Throw | 1996 |
| Jeremy Wariner | Baylor | 400 Meters | 2004 |
| Felix Sanchez | Southern Califonira | 400 Hurdles | 2004 |
| Erik Kynard | Kansas State | High Jump | 2012 |
| Women’s Athletes | |||
| Name | Program | Event | Year |
| Nawal El Moutawekel | Iowa State | 400 Hurdles | 1984 |
| Athing Mu | Texas A&M | 800 Meters | 2021 |
Earliest double champion(s)? Ed Hamm and Bob King in 1928.
Most recent double champion? Athing Mu in 2021.
Note that we included Erik Kynard. Back in 2012, Kynard took silver in the high jump behind Russian Ivan Ukhov. Kynard was later awarded gold after it was found that Ukhov had been doping.