Gators Crush It in Paris

Gators combined to win 11 total Olympic medals in the Paris Summer Games – four gold, four silver and three bronze.

The 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris saw Gators performing from the day prior to the opening ceremonies and in each of the 16 consecutive days of competition.

Gators combined to win 11 total Olympic medals. This is the ninth Summer Games since the 1984 Los Angeles Games Gators won 11 or more medals.

More on the Gators performance in the City of Lights:

• Gators won the 11 medals in two different sports: swimming (8) and track & field (3)
• Florida’s 11 medals (including U.S. and international competitors) stood No. 11 among all NCAA programs.
• Florida shared seventh with Kentucky with 10 medals by TeamUSA athletes.
• If the Gator Nation was a recognized country at the 2024 Olympic Games, it would have tied for 16th in the total medal count, winning 11 medals (4 gold, 4 silver, 3 bronze). Four golds also ties for 16th among the 84 nations that earned a 2024 Olympic medal.
• The 41 Gators in Paris was the most ever in a single Olympic Games (39 competed in Beijing/2008 and 35 in Tokyo/2020). Those with Gator ties came from eight sports – Basketball (includes 3v3), Diving, Golf, Gymnastics, Soccer, Swimming, Tennis and Track & Field.
• Florida was No. 4 among NCAA programs with 41 representatives and led the Southeastern Conference.

Gator Medalists

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Swimming:

The eight medals claimed in the 2024 Olympics were earned by five Gators.

Caeleb Dressel’s two Olympic gold medals in 2024 gives him nine for his career. He is one of seven in Olympic history with nine or more Olympic golds. Dressel is one of five U.S. athletes with nine or more golds.

Caeleb Dressel won two golds (4×100 free and 4×100 mixed medley-prelims gold; 4×100 medley relay silver)

One of the four world swimming records set in the 2024 Olympics was achieved by Bobby Finke. His time of 14:30.67 defended his 2020 gold in the 1500 freestyle. The previous record of 14:31.02 was set by China’s Sun Yang at the 2012 London Games.

Bobby Finke was the only U.S. man to win an individual gold in 2024. He also won silver in the 800m free.

Kieran Smith delivered as a late addition to the U.S. 4×200 free relay team. Smith anchored with the second-fastest split overall of 1:44.80 as the U.S. won silver.

Rising junior Josh Liendo won silver in the 100 butterfly in 49.99. That time lowers his Canadian record and makes him one of just five swimmers in history to go under 50 seconds in the 100 fly.

There will be another 2024 Olympic medalist on Florida’s swimming roster next season. Gator grad Emma Weyant won bronze in the 400 individual medley. She’ll use her Covid season to compete again for the Gators in the 2024-25 campaign.

Track & Field:

Three medals were won by a pair of Gators in Paris.

Grant Holloway added Olympic gold to his three world (2019 Doha, 2022 Eugene, 2023 Budapest) 110-meter hurdles titles.

He won the U.S.’s 20th 110m hurdle Olympic title in 2024 and the first since the 2012 London Games.

Jasmine Moore came to the Paris Olympics as the first U.S. woman to qualify for both the long and triple jump. At the 2024 Games, Moore extended that distinction to become the first for the U.S. to medal in both, winning bronze in each event.

Moore is the first U.S. woman to medal in the triple jump. She joins Russia’s Tatyana Lebedeva (2004 gold in long; bronze in triple jump) as the only women to medal in both events at a single Games.

More Gator Olympic Notes:

Current Florida women’s basketball assistant coach Rhyne Howard won bronze as part of the U.S.’s 3×3 basketball team.

Grant Holloway and Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone were selected as U.S. Track & Field team captains.

Eddie Garcia was U.S. Virgin Islands flag bearer for the 2024 Olympic Closing Ceremonies.

Four Gator coaches were in Paris:

• Anthony Nesty, USA Head Coach – Men’s Swimming
• Nic Petersen, USA Jumps/Multis Coach – Men’s Track & Field
• Whitney Hite, USA Assistant/Personal Coach – Swimming
• Owen Field, Leanne Wong Coach – USA Gymnastics