A Century of Wisconsin Olympians

The University of Wisconsin has a long history of sending athletes to represent the United States in the Olympic Games. Here are some stats and numbers from the last century of Wisconsin Olympians. We will have more stats in the days leading up to the Olympics as well as profiles of some of the past Olympians.

Number of University of Wisconsin alumni to participate in the Olympics since 1904: 77

Year with most UW Olympians: 1976 (14)

Wisconsin Olympian with most repeat performances: Bob Epseeth for Men's Rowing (1976, 1980, 1984, 1988). Tied with Chris Chelios for Men's Ice Hockey (1984, 1998, 2002, 2006)

Number of Gold Medals won by Wisconsin athletes: 11

Number of Silver Medals: 12

Number of Bronze Medals: 11

Most common sport UW athletes participated in since 1904: Rowing, 33 times

Number of UW Olympic Coaches: 6

First high school student to represent US in the Olympics: Arlie Mucks, St. in 1912 for discus. Would attend the UW in 1915.

First African American athlete to win a medal in the Olympic Games: UW Alum George Poage in 1904 (Two bronze medals: 200 and 400 meter hurdles)

New Women's 4x200 Metre Freestyle Relay World Record set by UW Alum Carly Piper and her teammates in 2004: 7:53.42

Previous record: 7:55.47

Number of UW athletes participating in 2008 Olympics: 3 (Beau Hoopman and Micah Boyd for Men's Rowing and Matt Tegenkamp for Men's Track/Cross Country)

Note: Check out Jason Joyce's interview with Matt Tegenkamp on The Daily Page.