Courtesy: USOPC
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado, and IRVING, Texas (Dec. 9, 2024) – The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) and the National Football Foundation (NFF) announced today the 2024 Team USA Collegiate Recognition Awards will return to Las Vegas as part of the festivities surrounding the 66th NFF Annual Awards Dinner, presented by Las Vegas. Having partnered in 2022, the event marks the second time the two organizations have collaborated to celebrate the value of Olympic and Paralympic sports on campus and the key role football plays in supporting Olympic and Paralympic sport opportunities.
“We are thrilled to once again use the NFF Annual Awards Dinner to celebrate the vital connection between college football and Olympic and Paralympic sports,” said NFF President & CEO Steve Hatchell. “As the financial cornerstone of collegiate athletics, football enables thousands of athletes, including those in Olympic and Paralympic sports, to pursue their athletic dreams while helping our country compete at the highest levels on the global stage. Honoring the top Team USA schools at our event underscores football’s critical role in sustaining a diverse collegiate athletic model.”
The Team USA Collegiate Recognition Awards, which honor the top-performing schools as represented on the Olympic and Paralympic teams that competed at the Paris 2024 Games Teams, will be presented at a luncheon on Dec. 10 at Bellagio Hotel & Casino, the same date and location of the NFF Annual Awards Dinner, which will take place later in the evening. The USOPC will recognize five schools, forming the Class of 2024, which contributed the most medals during the Paris Games.
“We are extremely pleased to again partner with the National Football Foundation to announce the Team USA Collegiate Recognition Awards as part of the festivities surrounding the NFF Annual Awards Dinner in Las Vegas,” said Rocky Harris, USOPC chief of sport performance and NGB services. “We recognize football operating revenues offer important support for Olympic and Paralympic sport opportunities on campus, and how important those opportunities are to current and future Team USA athletes. We are thrilled to celebrate the schools that support Team USA, and to honor this holistic sport model with the NFF.”
Of the 606 U.S. Olympians who competed for Team USA in Paris, 75% competed collegiately across 172 schools and 46 conferences. Additionally, 15 different U.S. Olympic rosters had 100 percent college athlete participation in Paris. At the Paralympic Games, 53% of Team USA’s 225 Paralympians competed collegiately across 94 schools and 45 conferences. Three U.S. Paralympic rosters had 90 percent or greater college athlete participation.
Current and former college athletes also played an integral role in Team USA’s medal-winning performances in Paris. In total, 84% of U.S. Olympic medalists competed collegiately and 54% of U.S. Paralympic medalists competed collegiately.
2024 Team USA Collegiate Recognition Awards
The Class of 2024 contributed to 52 of Team USA’s 231 total medals at the Olympic and Paralympic Games, and is comprised of:
- Olympic Gold Award: Stanford University; 23 U.S. medalists
- Olympic Silver Award: Penn State University; 12 U.S. medalists
- Olympic Bronze Award: University of Texas and University of Kentucky; 9 U.S. medalists
- Paralympic Gold Award:
University of Illinois; 20 U.S. medalists
In addition to the Team USA Collegiate Impact Awards, as part of the celebration, several National Governing Body leaders will recognize and honor the top-contributing school to their 2024 U.S. Olympic Teams with an NGB Collegiate Impact Award.
“The NCAA collegiate sports system has long provided our nation’s best and brightest with incredible opportunities to showcase their gifts not only on the field of play, but also in the classroom,” said Rich Bender, USA Wrestling executive director and USOPC board member. “This system is the backbone of Team USA’s competitive success, truly providing athletes the opportunity to reach their full athletic and human potential.”
The NGB Collegiate Impact Award winners who will be honored for their sport-specific contributions at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 are:
- 2024 US Rowing Collegiate Impact Award: University of Washington
- 2024 USA Fencing Collegiate Impact Award: Harvard University
- 2024 USA Swimming Collegiate Impact Award: University of Virginia
- 2024 USA Volleyball Collegiate Impact Award: Pennsylvania State University
- 2024 USA Water Polo Collegiate Impact Award: Stanford University
- 2024 USA Wrestling Collegiate Impact Award: University of Iowa
Team USA Collegiate Partnerships
Unlike other countries, Team USA receives no government funding; the reason for its Games-over-Games success is supported by the American collegiate sports model. While state institutions leverage revenue-generating operations like business schools to support broad academic offerings, the same is true in athletics. *An analysis of data from the 2022-23 academic year indicated that the average Power Five state athletics department generates more than 80% of its operational revenue from football (51%) and department-wide commercial activities (32%). This revenue is used in four primary areas: shared support services and staff (38% operating budget); football expenses (30% operating budget); basketball expenses (12% operating budget); and ~20 Olympic sport programs (20% operating budget).
As uncertainties around the collegiate sports model continue, in the 2022-23 academic year, there were more than 6,000 Division I Olympic sport programs on campus that provide opportunities to over 149,000 student-athletes annually. Nationally, 56.3% of Olympic student-athletes are women as the collegiate landscape celebrates Title IX. Additionally, 42.4% of student-athletes benefiting from Olympic sport programming on campus every year are student athletes of color.
More information about Team USA’s collegiate footprint at the Paris Games can be found at https://www.usopc.org/
The 66th NFF Annual Awards Dinner Presented by Las Vegas includes the induction of the 2024 NFF College Football Hall of Fame Class; the awarding of NFF National Scholar-Athlete Awards Presented by Fidelity Investments; the bestowing of the 35th William V. Campbell Trophy® to college football’s top scholar-athlete; and the honoring of top leaders with the NFF major awards.
