How GOOD do you have to be in college track to win a men's Olympic medal?

Winning an Olympic medal is the greatest achievement for any track and field athlete in their career, because the games only come around once every four years, almost everything has to go right in order for you to get one. In the 2021 Olympics, 9 American men won Olympic medals, marking success on their incredibly long track and field journeys. But how good were all of those men when they competed in college?

So here is a breakdown of every individual men’s Olympic medalist in 2021, and just how dominant they actually were before they even turned professional. Winning an Olympic medal might be their greatest accomplishment, but they racked up a whole lot of hardware long before the games got started.

The Bronze Medalists

Noah Lyles - 200 meter

We start things off with the only exception on this list, a man who never ran track in college, because he was so good that he didn’t need to. Noah Lyles won a bronze medal in the 200 meter dash, underachieving in all likelihood due to injury. He turned professional immediately after competing in high school out of the state of Virginia. It proved to be the right decision, because as a young professional, the times that he recorded for the next four years, would likely have made him the NCAA collegiate record holder in three separate events, and gone undefeated in the outdoor 200 meter dash. But the truth is we’ll never know just how good he could have been at the NCAA level.

Paul Chelimo -5000 meter

Paul Chelimo joined Noah as a bronze medalist in the Olympics for his performance in the 5000 meter run, but in the 2016 Olympics he actually won silver in that same event. He is a Kenyan born runner who attended college in America, beginning his career at the NAIA level at Shorter University. There he won the NAIA national championship in the outdoor 5000 as a freshman. Then he transferred to the Division 1 school UNC Greensboro. At the D1 level he went on to finish second at the NCAA outdoor meet 2 years in a row in his signature event the 5000 meter run.

The Silver Medalists

Fred Kerley - 100 meter

Amongst silver medalists things get interesting, because 2 American sprinters started their careers at the NJCAA level. Fred Kerley won the silver medal in the 100 meter dash, a race that he barely ran at the junior college level, and never ran at the NCAA level. He attended South Plains College originally in Texas and finished second in the NJCAA indoor national meet for the 400 meter dash. Later he transferred to Texas A&M where he was continued as a 400 meter specialist, winning the NCAA championship in the 400 meter, and running one of the 25 fastest times in history when he did it. But now he’s a 100 meter medalist, which means he was probably always better than anyone, even his coaches realized.

Kenny Bednarek - 200 meter

Kenny Bednarek also won a silver medal in the 200 meter dash and coincidentally ran at the JUCO level at Indian Hills Community College. He only ran there for one full year, and literally went undefeated in every single collegiate race that he entered. He won the NJCAA championship indoors and outdoors in the 400 meter dash, and the outdoor championship in the 200. The only reason he didn’t do it in the 200 meter, is because he got hurt at the national meet indoors while ranking number 1 in the prelims. “Kung Fu” Kenny chose to skip running in the NCAA altogether after his performance and things appear to be working out just fine.

Grant Holloway - 1110 Hurdles

Grant Holloway however began his career at Florida before winning a silver medal in the 110 hurdles in the 2021 Olympics. While at Florida, he dominated the NCAA winning 6 straight NCAA championships in the indoor 60 meter hurdles, and outdoor 110 meter hurdles. He chose to leave college after those 3 seasons to run professionally, making him undefeated in every national championship event that he entered. Which is surprising because he even won a 60 meter dash NCAA championship indoors without hurdles, during the one and only season that he ran the event.

Rai Benjamin - 400 Hurdles

Rai Benjamin was also a silver medalist in the hurdles for the USA but he did it in the 400 meter hurdles. He attended USC before turning pro and qualified for the NCAA championship final every season that he was in college. But he only won the event once, and that was during his junior year, his final one competing at the college level.

Chris Nilsen - Pole Vault 

Chris Nilsen got it done in the field events winning an Olympic silver medal in the Pole Vault. An event within which, he won a lot of NCAA championship medals while competing for the University of South Dakota. He actually competed in the high jump as well but after 4 years of collegiate competition left the NCAA level with 3 championships in the pole vault. Yet what is surprising is that the first of those 3 national championships came as a freshman during his indoor campaign, and the last of which in his final outdoor season.

Joe Kovacs - Shot Put

Joe Kovacs was the final silver medalist for the USA for his performance in the Shot Put. He competed for Penn State University in college and unlike everyone else on this list he did not qualify for the NCAA championships as a freshman. He did improve greatly into his sophomore year, winning a bronze medal at the NCAA indoor meet. As a junior he would once again get third but this time at the outdoor meet. Which makes him the only man on this list who did not first win a national championship in college, before becoming an Olympic medalist.

The Gold Medalist

Ryan Crouser - Shot Put

Last but certainly not least is Ryan Crouser, the only individual gold medalist for the USA in 2021. He won the Olympic shot put after having a dominating career at the University of Texas where he won 3 NCAA championships in that same event. He finished fifth as a freshman in his first NCAA indoor meet, but won the outdoor meet as a sophomore. And his final victory came in his last NCAA championship allowing him to leave the college level in style.

The Bottom Line 

Winning an Olympic medal might be the mountaintop for any track and field athlete. But the truth is that it is perhaps the highest peak in a career that has already seen many of them. Everybody wants to win the gold, and it’s even better to do it multiple times. So if you’re really going to represent the USA and bring back any hardware, you likely have a whole bunch of medals in your collegiate track and field bag to go with it.

KNOW THE GAME. WIN THE GAME.

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