The list of Pennsylvania State University Olympians is a list of former or current Penn State University students (154) and coaches and faculty members (13) (through 2026) 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.
Appearances and medal winners by sport Totals are through the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games. Sport Appearances† Total♦ Track and field 56 5 10 5 20 Gymnastics 24 0 0 1 1 Fencing 22 0 1 3 4 Volleyball 18 2‡ 2# 5¶ 9 Wrestling 15 4 1 1 6 Soccer 11 1 0 3 4 Swimming & diving 9 2 0 3 5 Basketball 7 1 1 1 3 Cycling 7 0 0 0 0 Rifle 4 0 0 0 0 Field hockey 3 0 0 3§ 3 Short track speedskating 3 0 0 1 1 Archery 2 1 0 1 2 Rowing 2 0 0 1 1 Figure skating 2 1 0 0 1 Kayaking 2 0 0 0 0 Bobsled 1 0 0 0 0 Beach volleyball 1 0 0 0 0 Boxing 1 0 0 0 0 Ice hockey 1 0 0 0 0 Rugby 1 0 0 0 0 Tug-of-war 1 0 0 0 0Total 193 17 15 28 60
† 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
Olympians
1904
St. Louis Name Sport Medal (if app.) and event Nate CartmellNate 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. Track and field (100m) (200m) Fred Englehardt Track and field (triple jump)
1908 London Name Sport Medal (if app.) and event Nate Cartmell Track and field (1600m medley relay) (200m) Lee Talbott Track and field Wrestling Tug-of-war
1920 Antwerp Name Sport Medal (if app.) and event Harold Barron Track and field (110m hurdles) Alan Helffrich Track and field Larry Shields Track and field (3000m team) (1500m)
1924 Paris Name Sport Medal (if app.) and event William Cox Track and field (3000m team) Schuyler Enck Track and field (800m) Alan Helffrich Track and field (4 × 400m relay) Carl Madera Boxing Charles Moore, Sr. Track and field Katsutoshi Naito Wrestling (freestyle featherweight) John Romig Track and field Arthur StudenrothTrack and field (cross country team)
1928 Amsterdam Name Sport Medal (if app.) and event Ray CongerRay 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. Track and field John Romig Track and field Al BatesTrack and field (long jump)
1932 Los Angeles Name Sport Paul Rekers Track and field
1948 London Name Sport Medal (if app.) and event Walter BahrWalter 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. Soccer William Bonsall Gymnastics Louis Bordo Gymnastics Barney Ewell Track and field (4 × 100m relay) (100m) (200m) Herman Goffberg Track and field Bill KollBill 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. Wrestling (freestyle) Ray Sorensen Gymnastics Curt Stone Track and field
1952 Helsinki Name Sport Medal (if app.) and event Horace Ashenfelter Track and field (3000m steeplechase) William Ashenfelter Track and field Curt Stone Track and field
1952 Winter Olympic Games
Oslo Name Sport Kurt Oppelt Figure skating
1956 Melbourne Name Sport Horace Ashenfelter Track and field Ronald Coder Soccer Dick Dyer Fencing Richard Packer Soccer Karl Schwenzfeier (Schier) Gymnastics Curt Stone Track and field Armando Vega Gymnastics
1956 Winter Olympic Games
Cortina d'Ampezzo Name Sport Medal (if app.) and event Kurt OppeltAfter 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. Figure skating (pair skating) Edgar Seymour Bobsled
1960 Rome Name Sport Jean Cronstedt Gymnastics Dick Dyer Fencing Garland O'Quinn Jr. O'Quinn attended the U.S. Military Academy as an undergraduate and Penn State as a graduate student. Gymnastics Ed Moran Track and field
1964 Tokyo Name Sport Kathy Corrigan Gymnastics Lennart Hedmark Track and field Armando Vega Gymnastics Greg Weiss Gymnastics
1968 Mexico City Name Sport Medal (if app. and event) Jane Barkman-BrownAt 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. Swimming (4 × 100m freestyle relay) (200m freestyle) James Culhane Gymnastics Steve Cohen Gymnastics Lennart Hedmark Track and field William Reilly Track and field
1972 Munich Name Sport Medal (if app.) and event Marshall Avener Gymnastics Jane Barkman-Brown Swimming (4 × 100m freestyle relay) James Culhane Gymnastics Steven Hayden Track and field Lennart Hedmark Track and field Hachiro Oishi Wrestling Mike Sands Track and field
1976 Montreal Name Sport Medal (if app.) and event Marshall Avener Gymnastics Diane Braceland (-Vreugdenhil) Rowing Lennart Hedmark Track and field Knut Hjeltnes Track and field Al Jackson Track and field Steven Kaplan Fencing Romel Raffin Basketball Susan RojcewiczAfter her 1975 college graduation at Southern Connecticut, Sue Rojcewicz became a physical education instructor and assistant basketball coach at Penn State. Basketball (team) Mike Sands Track and field Michael Shine Track and field (400m hurdles) Gene Whelan Gymnastics Wayne Young Gymnastics
1980 Moscow
Jana Angelakis, Greg Fredericks, Charlene Morett, Christine Larson-Mason, Knut Hjeltnes (Norway) and Romel Raffin (Canada) were all named to their respective Olympic teams but did not participate due to the 1980 Summer Olympics boycott.
1984 Los Angeles
Name Sport Medal (if app.) and event Jana Angelakis Fencing Terry Bartlett Gymnastics Lou Banach Banach attended the University of Iowa as an undergraduate and Penn State as a graduate student in 1988. Wrestling (freestyle) (light heavyweight) Francis Dodoo Track and field Glenn Dubis Rifle Knut Hjeltnes Track and field Christine Larson-Mason Field hockey (team) Charlene Morett Field hockey (team) Romel Raffin Basketball Brenda Stauffer Field hockey (team)
1988 Seoul
Name Sport Medal (if app.) and event Terry Bartlett Gymnastics Ken ChertowWrestling Francis Dodoo Track and field Glenn Dubis Rifle Knut Hjeltnes Track and field Suzie McConnell Basketball (team) Romel Raffin Basketball
1992 Barcelona Name Sport Medal (if app.) and event Terry Bartlett Gymnastics J-Me Carney Cycling Ken Chertow Wrestling Francis Dodoo Track and field Mary Ellen ClarkDiving (10m platform) Greg Elinsky Wrestling Suzie McConnell Basketball (team) Ian Shelley Gymnastics Barry Walsh Track and field Rich Weiss 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. Kayaking
1996 Atlanta
Name Sport Medal (if app.) and event Sanshiro Abe Wrestling Dominic Brindle Gymnastics Olga Chernyak Fencing Francis DodooFrancis 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. Track and field Mary Ellen Clark Diving (10m platform) Peter Cox Fencing Salima DavidsonAlternate who did not compete; may or may not have traveled to the host city. Volleyball Glenn Dubis Rifle John HargisJohn Hargis was the assistant swimming coach at Penn State from 2003 to 2006 and head coach from 2008 to 2013. Swimming (men's 4x100 m medley relay) C.J. Hunter Track and field Suzanne Paxton Fencing Tom Strzalkowski Fencing Rich Weiss Kayaking Rod White Archery (men's team)
2000 Sydney
Name Sport Medal (if app.) and event J-Me Carney Cycling Glenn Dubis Rifle Sammie HensonSammie 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. Wrestling (bantamweight, freestyle) Cary Kolat In 1993, Kolat began his collegiate career at Penn State. He transferred to Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania in 1995. Wrestling Kerry McCoy Wrestling Alexander Weber Fencing (team sabre) Christie Welsh Soccer Rod White Archery (men's team)
2002 Salt Lake City Name Sport Allison Baver Short track speedskating
2004 Athens2004 PSU Olympians Name Sport Medal (if app.) and event Eugene Botes Swimming Ramon Hernandez Beach volleyball Kerry McCoy Wrestling Connie MooreTrack and field Cael SandersonCael Sanderson attended and coached at Iowa State University before becoming Penn State's head wrestling coach in 2009. Wrestling (light-heavyweight, freestyle) Luis VargasGymnastics
2006 Torino Name Sport Allison Baver Short track speedskating
2008 Beijing2008 PSU Olympians
Name Sport Medal (if app.) and event Toyin Augustus Track and field Aleesha Barber Track and field Brian Sell Track and field Michael Friedman Cycling Jan Jagla Basketball Bobby Lea Cycling Erin McLeod Soccer Kirsten Nieuwendam Track and field Nontapat Panchan Fencing Kevin Tan Gymnastics (team) Adam Wiercioch Fencing (team épée) Doris Willette Fencing
2010 Vancouver Name Sport Medal (if app.) and event Allison Baver Short track speedskating (3000m relay)
2012 London