Bruins Win Nine Medals at 2016 Rio Olympics
August 21, 2016 | Bruin Athletics
UCLA Bruins won a total of nine medals at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, including six gold. Of the 36 Bruins representing their respective countries at the Games, eight athletes won medals, and an additional five Bruins were coaches or staff members of medal-winning teams. UCLA's all-time medal count now stands at 261 medals - 133 gold, 66 silver and 62 bronze.
Three incoming freshmen were among UCLA's big winners. Gymnast Madison Kocian was UCLA's lone multiple medalist, winning gold in the team competition and silver on the uneven bars. Maddie Musselman was one of five UCLA players to strike gold with Team USA in women's water polo, along with senior Rachel Fattal and alumnae KK Clark, Sami Hill and Courtney Mathewson. Musselman was selected to the tournament's all-star team after scoring 12 goals, second-most on the team. Freshman soccer player Jessie Fleming started every game and recorded one assist for Team Canada, which won bronze for the second consecutive Games.
Also capturing a medal was 2015 graduate Karsta Lowe, who helped lead USA Volleyball to bronze. Lowe became the second UCLA women's volleyball player to win an Olympic medal in indoor volleyball.
UCLA alumni were also successful on the coaching front. Former UCLA water polo player and coach Adam Krikorian led the USA women to their second consecutive gold medal as they became the first women's team to repeat as Olympic champions. UCLA volleyball legend Karch Kiraly led the USA women's volleyball team to a bronze medal, and current UCLA men's volleyball's head coach John Speraw guided the USA men to bronze, along with USA staff members and Bruins Andrea Becker and Erik Sullivan.
Overall, 424 Bruins have combined to make 687 Olympic appearances. UCLA, which was founded in 1919, has had at least one competitor in every Olympics since 1920 with one exception (1924), and UCLA has won a gold medal in every Olympics in which the U.S. has competed since 1932. With nine medals won by Bruin athletes, UCLA ranked seventh among all universities.ย
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Final 2016 Olympic Games Medal Count
Gold - 6 (KK Clark, W. Water Polo; Rachel Fattal, W. Water Polo; Sami Hill, W. Water Polo; Madison Kocian, W. Gymnastics; Courtney Mathewson, W. Water Polo; Maddie Musselman, W. Water Polo)
Silver - 1 (Madison Kocian, W. Gymnastics โ Uneven Bars)
Bronze - 2 (Jessie Fleming, W. Soccer; Karsta Lowe โ W. Volleyball)
Note: Karch Kiraly, Adam Krikorian and John Speraw served as head coaches for medal-winning teams. Kiraly coached the U.S. women's volleyball team to a bronze medal. Krikorian was the head coach of the gold medal-winning U.S. women's water polo team. John Speraw guided the U.S. men's volleyball team to bronze, along with staff members Andrea Becker and Erik Sullivan. Coaches are not technically awarded medals at the Olympic Games.