How Many Athletes Were Both NCAA Champions And Olympians In 2024?

The NCAA is one of the biggest feeder institutions for sports that peak during the Olympic Games, as athletes from around the world are developed through the American collegiate system. Some athletes even compete at the Olympics while they are still in college, achieving success on both a domestic and international level. In this article, we take a look at which collegiate athletes won NCAA team titles and were Paris Olympians in the same year.

In total, there were 33 athletes who won 2024 NCAA team championships and competed at the Olympic Games. 13 of those athletes are from the United States, while 20 are from other countries. This is not surprising — even though most NCAA athletes are American, the competition field in most other countries is smaller than it is for Team USA, paving way for collegiate athletes to get Olympic opportunities.

With the exception of UCLA Water Polo and Northwestern Field Hockey, the 2024 NCAA Champions/Olympians all come from sports centered around individual competition. The majority of these athletes compete in either swimming or athletics, with the men’s and women’s NCAA champions in both sports combining for a total of 21 Olympians. On the flip side, none of the athletes compete in sports with significant professional leagues or opportunities. Notably, none of the NCAA champions in Olympic sports that have major pro opportunities — such as basketball, volleyball, tennis and golf — fielded any Olympians.

2024 NCAA Championship Teams With The Most Paris Olympians:

1. Arkansas Women’s Track and Field/Arizona State Men’s Swimming and Diving — 5
3. Virginia Women’s Swimming and Diving/Florida Men’s Track and Field — 4
6. Texas Tech Men’s Track and Field — 3
7. UCLA Men’s Water Polo/Harvard Fencing/Northwestern Field Hockey — 2

Out of the 33 athletes, 12 of them were NCAA champions and Olympic medalists in the same year. Arizona State men’s swimming fielded the most medalists with three, while UVA women’s swimming, Arkansas women’s track and field and UCLA men’s water polo all had two apiece. Notably, all three of ASU’s medalists were individual medalists, including Leon Marchand, who picked up four gold medals and was the most decorated Olympian of the Paris Games. Meanwhile, Ilya Kharun won two bronzes and Hubert Kos took a gold.

Other individual Olympic medalists that won NCAA team titles include Virginia women’s swimming’s Gretchen Walsh, Harvard fencing’s Lauren Scruggs, and Penn State wrestling’s Aaron Brooks. Walsh and Scruggs took home an individual silver, while Brooks won bronze.

Here is the full list of 33 athletes who won NCAA team titles and qualified for the Olympics in 2024:

Full List Of NCAA Team Champions And Olympians

Note: We listed the athlete’s year as what they were when they won an NCAA title.