Trojans take on Tokyo
With the Summer 2020 Olympics right around the corner, USC athletes and alumni, representing seven sports, eight countries and counting as trials continue, prepare to take on the Games.
The Trojans have a rich history at the Olympics. Since 1904, 472 athletes have been associated with the Olympics, playing for 65 countries in 30 sports. These Olympians have won 144 gold medals, 91 silver and 72 bronze. If USC were its own country, the 305 all-time Summer Olympic medals would rank 13th among other participating nations.
Going into the 2020 Games, USC looks to continue its legacy of producing more Olympians, overall medalists and gold medalists of any university in the United States. Here are some of the Trojans who have already qualified to keep an eye out for:
Track & Field
Isaiah Jewett
Qualifying for men’s 800m and finishing his 10-page paper due end-of-day of his trials, Isaiah Jewett is the definition of a star athlete. The redshirt senior transferred from UC Irvine and holds several USC records including the indoor and outdoor 800m and outdoor 400m. He placed second with a time of 1:43.85 to secure his spot, breaking the school record he set winning the NCAA men’s 800m title this season.
Anna Cockrell
Beating her own USC record, redshirt senior Anna Cockrell placed third with a time of 53.70 to qualify for women’s 400m hurdles Sunday. Cockrell won the 2021 NCAA title on the same track by setting the school record she went on to better during the trials.
Rai Benjamin
Running for USC in 2018, Rai Benjamin will be part of USA’s team in the men’s 400m hurdles. Benjamin won the title by breaking a personal best, meet-record and world-leading time of 46.83. It will be his first Olympic qualification.
Michael Norman
A 2018 USC athlete, Michael Norman holds the world’s best time in indoor 400m and an unofficial world record in the indoor 4x400m relay with the Trojans. A four-time NCAA champion, Norman qualified for the men’s 400m title with a season-best time of 44.07.
Other Trojans competing include 2018-alum Kendall Ellis (W-4×400 relay pool), 2008-alum Allyson Felix (W-400m), 2012-alum Dalilah Muhammad (W-400m H) and redshirt senior Nicole Yeargin who will be representing Britain in women’s 400m. Trojans representing Canada and other nations are expected to be announced in the upcoming weeks.
Swim & Dive
Ous Mellouli
USCalumnus Ous Mellouli qualified for his sixth Olympics representing Tunisia in the 10k open water swim. Mellouli was inducted into the USC Athletic Hall of Fame in 2018 and continues to hold the USC record in the men’s 400y IM along with the 400m and 800m Uytengsu Aquatics Center freestyle records.
Haley Anderson
Haley Anderson, who swam for USC between 2010-13, secured a spot on Team USA. An 11-time NCAA All-American, three-time NCAA champion and 2012 Olympic silver medalist, Anderson will be competing in the 10k.
Louise Hansson
Representing Sweden, 2020-alumna Louise Hansson will be heading for her second Olympic games. The 2020 Pac-12 Women’s Swimmer of the year is a 19-time All-American and three-time NCAA champion.
Other Trojans competing include alumni Robert Glinta representing Romania and Dylan Carter representing Trinidad and Tobago. Sophomore Anicka Delgado will make her Olympic debut representing Ecuador.
Water Polo
Maud Megens
2021 alumna Maud Megens will be representing the Netherlands for her first Olympics. 2021 National Player of the Year and two-time NCAA champion, Megens ranks No. 6 for an all-time career scoring at USC with 213 goals.
Paige Hauschild
Redshirt junior Paige Hauschild sat out the 2020 and 2021 seasons at USC to train with the U.S. National Team. A 2018 NCAA champion, Hauschild scored 68 goals as a true freshman that year.
Stephania Haralabidis
2017-alum Stephania Haralabidis is USC’s No. 2 all-time scorer with 269 career goals. A first-time Olympian, she will be a part of the U.S. National Team.
Other Trojans competing include alumnae Kaleigh Gilchrist and Amanda Longan representing the USA, alumnae Joelle Bekhazi and Hayley McKelvey representing Canada and alumna Hannah Buckling and redshirt sophomore Tilly Kearns representing Australia.
Tennis
Robert Farah
Second-time Olympian and USC alumnus Robert Farah will be representing Colombia in the upcoming games. A two-time NCAA Team Champion, Farah finished his USC career ranked No. 1 singles player in the nation and No. 2 doubles duo. He also holds two Grand Slam titles as a pro.
Volleyball
Tina Graudina
All-American Beach Volleyball senior Tina Graudina is the first-ever NCAA beach volleyball athlete to qualify for the Olympics. Representing Latvia, she is part of the first women’s beach volleyball pair in the nation.
Micah Christenson
Alumnus Micah Christenson will be representing the USA for the second time as part of the men’s volleyball team, currently ranked No. 3 in the world. He won a bronze medal as part of the squad in the 2016 Rio games and was the youngest starting setter as a 20-year-old junior playing with the team.
Other Trojans competing include alumnae April Ross and Kelly Claes who earned official nominations to represent the USA in beach volleyball pending approval from the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee.
Rowing
Alumnae Chloe Brew and Ida Gørtz Jacobsen will be representing Great Britain and Denmark, respectively. Both first-time Olympians, Brew will be part of the Women’s 8+ while Jacobsen will compete in 4-.
Golf
Alumnae Tiffany Chan and Sophia Popov will be representing Hong Kong and Germany, respectively. Chan is a returning Olympian while Popov will be making her debut in Women’s golf.