Florida Gators - Gator Athletes in The Olympic Games

Gator Athletes in The Olympic Games

See also: List of University of Florida Olympians

The University of Florida has a reputation and long history of producing athletes who compete in the Olympic Games. Hundreds of University of Florida alumni have competed or coached in the Olympic Games. In total, over 150 Gator athletes from over thirty different countries have competed in the Games, winning forty-four Olympic gold medals, twenty-three silver medals and twenty-three bronze medals (through the end of the 2008 Summer Olympics).

The list of notable Gator Olympians and gold medalists includes sprinters Kerron Clement, Dennis Mitchell, and Bernard Williams; marathon runner Frank Shorter; baseball outfielder Brad Wilkerson; basketball forward DeLisha Milton-Jones; soccer forward Abby Wambach; and swimmers Tracy Caulkins, Nicole Haislett and Ryan Lochte.

Former Gator Dara Torres became the first American swimmer to compete in five Olympic Games (1984, 1988, 1992, 2000, 2008). At the age of forty-one, Torres swam in the 2008 Olympic Games in the 50-meter freestyle, 4×100-meter medley relay, and 4×100-meter freestyle relay, and won the silver medal in all three events. Torres has won a total of twelve Olympic medals (including four gold) over her career.

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