Since then, 177 Stanford-affiliated athletes have captured 296 medals, including 150 gold, 79 silver, and 67 bronze. These accolades join a host of other athletic accomplishments that have placed Stanford among the most competitive universities in collegiate sports, including at the Olympics. 

Professor Jeff Koseff, who served as Stanford’s faculty athletics representative to the Pac-12 conference and NCAA, said that many factors contribute to the university’s athletic success, including, and perhaps most notably, Stanford’s student-athlete model. 

“Athletic excellence coupled with academic excellence is part and parcel of our DNA,” said Koseff, who is the director of the Change Leadership for Sustainability Program and the William Alden Campbell and Martha Campbell Professor in the School of Engineering. 

Jenny Thompson, ’95, competes in the Women’s 100-meter butterfly swimming semifinal of the 2000 Olympics. | Getty Images

Stanford at the Games 

Since Bellah became Stanford’s first Olympian, many others have followed. George Horine, who graduated in 1914, was the first Stanford athlete to receive a medal. A track and field athlete, he won the bronze in the high jump at the 1912 Stockholm Games. 

Before enrolling at Stanford, Marjorie Gestring competed in the 1936 Berlin Olympics, where she won the springboard title. She was just 13 years and 267 days old, making her the youngest person to ever win an Olympic gold medal. 

The 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro were, to date, the most successful for Stanford athletes, who took home 27 medals, including 14 gold, seven silver, and six bronze medals. Star swimmer Katie Ledecky, ’20, won an impressive four gold medals and a silver. 

Stanford’s total medal count is led by former Cardinal swimmer Jenny Thompson, ’95, who competed in four Olympics between 1992 and 2004. Her 12 medals include eight gold, three silver, and one bronze. Among Stanford-affiliated Olympians, she is followed by fellow swimmers Ledecky, who holds 10 medals, John Hencken with six, and Janet Evans, Simone Manuel, and Pablo Morales, each of whom have five medals.

Cultivating success

In addition to Stanford’s student-athlete model, Koseff credits Stanford’s Olympic success to a commitment to training a range of athletes. While other schools may focus on classic American collegiate sports like football and basketball, Stanford has remained a supporter of Olympic sports. 

He also credits the Pac-12 with preparing athletes to compete at the Games. He noted that the four universities whose athletes lead in Olympic medal counts (University of Southern California; University of California, Los Angeles; University of California, Berkeley; and Stanford) were all members of that conference. 

“Student-athletes came into the Pac-12 and faced an unbelievable amount of competition in the Olympic sports, allowing them to sharpen their skills and perform at the top of their game. If they succeeded there, they were going to succeed in the Olympics,” Koseff said. “The Pac-12 was a nursery of Olympic achievement, and that should not be underestimated or forgotten.” 

Finally, Koseff said that Stanford’s coaches, many of whom have coached Olympic teams, are among the best in college sports. “They are great teachers and excellent recruiters who can attract the very best student-athletes to come to Stanford,” he said. “That investment in excellent coaching has paid off incredibly.” 

David Kiefer, a writer for Stanford Athletics, said that Stanford’s coaches are a huge draw for Olympic hopefuls. “The athletes who want to get to that next level and compete on the world stage know that if they come here, they’ll get to train with the best and have a good chance of making an Olympic team.” 

Great coaching

For decades, some of the world’s most talented coaches have come to the Farm to train athletes. Kiefer said Stanford coaches found early Olympic success in the 1920s and 1930s, particularly in track and swimming.

“Stanford had two of the best coaches in those sports,” he said. “Dink Templeton coached the track team, and Ernst Brandsten coached the swimming and diving team, and both helped produce a lot of Olympians who were dominant at that time.” 

Harry Maloney, who had a prolific coaching career at Stanford between 1908 and 1944, coached the U.S. men’s rugby team to a gold at the 1924 Paris Games. The team included nine Stanford-affiliated players. 

During his decades-long career, legendary Stanford track coach Brooks Johnson served on Team USA’s coaching staff at several Olympics, including as head women’s coach in 1984 and relay coach in 2008. Johnson, who died June 29, 2024, at age 90, was noted for his influence on his sport and was a testament to the importance of quality coaching. 

Former Stanford rugby coach Harry Maloney with his team in 1937. | Stanford University Libraries

Training Olympians 

Thomas Glielmi, Stanford’s men’s gymnastics head coach since 2002, has served on coaching staffs for multiple Olympic teams, and was the Team USA head coach at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. He’s seen firsthand what it takes for a student-athlete to succeed at Stanford. 

“First and foremost, they have to be academically viable,” he said, referring to the university’s student-athlete model.

Those who hope to compete at the Olympics, he said, must also demonstrate stellar athleticism, strength, tenacity, drive, discipline, a natural ability to succeed in their sport, and, importantly, a desire to improve. “Olympic hopefuls need to be willing to put pressure on themselves and push themselves to go to that next level because they’ll have to compete with the best in the world, not just the best in their conference or country,” he said. 

Because the stakes can be higher at the Olympics, athletes must learn to manage pressure and stress. Glielmi said he’s seen athletes get so focused on winning or reaching a goal that their effort backfires and they falter. 

“In those moments, they need to step back and gain perspective, and I tell them to enjoy the process,” he said. 

Turning point

Although Stanford has had competitive sports since its founding, Koseff said its athletic ascension – whether winning Olympic medals, national championships, Directors’ Cups, etc. – did not fully take off until Title IX was implemented in the 1970s. “That changed a lot and Stanford began investing heavily in building up sports, particularly women’s sports,” he said. 

Kiefer agreed, noting that coaches around that time, like football coach John Ralston, encouraged the university’s admissions office to cast a wider net to reach more students who showed great potential, including in sports. “He was one of the first coaches to understand that admissions was an important factor in athletic success and encouraged admitting more students from different backgrounds,” Kiefer said. 

Glielmi noted that in the 1990s, many alumni rallied around athletic programs. Their fundraising led to better facilities, which attracted better coaches, which in turn attracted more promising student-athletes. He also credits the campus culture with helping to inspire those students. 

“Everyone here has something that they’re excited about – like a startup or research – and that’s contagious and a huge benefit to the athletes because it keeps them motivated,” Glielmi said, adding that the faculty and staff are very supportive of students’ ambitions. “This is a very encouraging environment. That is how Stanford separates itself.”