Current, former and future Virginia athletes won a combined 14 medals at the 2024 Paris Olympics — seven gold, five silver and two bronze — en route to helping the ACC earn the most medals of any NCAA conference.
A bevy of Virginia athletes participated across several different sports, but 11 of the 14 medals were won in swimming, a sport in which the Cavaliers have dominated over the past few years. Coach Todd DeSorbo also represented the University as the coach of Team USA’s women’s swimming team.
Of Virginia’s seven gold medals, three came in the women’s 4x100 meter medley relay — senior Gretchen Walsh, junior Emma Weber and Class of 2023 alumna Kate Douglass all earned a gold for their contributions to the team. Walsh also won gold as a member of the mixed 4x100 relay squad, while Douglass claimed gold after taking first place in the 200-meter breaststroke event.
Former Virginia field hockey player Pien Dicke picked up a gold medal while playing for the Netherlands, and Class of 2015 alumna Emily Sonnett was part of the gold medal-winning U.S. women’s soccer team.
As for the other medals, Douglass grabbed silver in the women’s 200-meter individual medley, as did Walsh in the 100-meter butterfly, and both helped the United States to finish second in the 4x100 meter freestyle relay. Class of 2021 alumna Paige Madden also claimed a silver medal in the 4x200 meter freestyle relay and took bronze in the 800-meter freestyle, which was won by American swimming legend Katie Ledecky. Finally, Class of 2019 alumna Heidi Long picked up a bronze medal while competing for Great Britain’s women’s rowing team.
After a historic performance from Virginia athletes in the past two weeks, three Cavalier Daily editors discuss the biggest takeaways from the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Which of Virginia’s swimmers had the best Olympics?
Xander Tilock, Sports Editor:
If someone was tasked with putting together a Mount Rushmore of the greatest Cavaliers of all time, Gretchen Walsh — the 2024 ACC Student-Athlete of the Year — would be there. Earning two gold medals and two silver medals at the Olympics solidified her status as one of the best swimmers in the world and a historically great Cavalier. While other postgraduate swimmers like Douglass may have had a better individual performance, Walsh maintained her spotlight and is arguably the biggest star in collegiate swimming right now. I’ll go with the swimmer who still plays for Virginia.
Ben Istvan, Sports Editor:
I am going with Kate Douglass. The Olympics have been around since the 19th century, and no Virginia swimmer had ever won an individual gold medal until Douglass starred in the 200-meter breaststroke Aug. 1. She trailed the event’s reigning Olympic champion, South Africa’s Tatjana Smith, after 50 meters, made up the ground in the second 50 meters and never relinquished her lead after that. Douglass’ time of 2:19.24 was an American record, too.
Michael Liebermann, Senior Associate:
Douglass is a correct answer, as is Walsh, but I’ll break the tie and also say it’s Douglass. She, like Walsh, captured two gold and two silver medals, but she, unlike Walsh, won an individual gold as well. Walsh failed to win the 100-meter butterfly a day after setting an Olympic record and failed to reach the podium, as expected, in the 50-meter freestyle. Walsh may be a budding cultural behemoth, the more staggering force, in the swimming world. But Douglass had a better week.
Which non-medal winning Cavalier impressed you the most?
XT: Thomas Heilman. While this may be cheating because he technically received a medal — he participated in the preliminary men’s 4x100m medley relay squad but not the final team that won silver — I’ll put him here anyway. The 17-year old Virginia commit is going to be a megastar. Heilman is the consensus No. 1 recruit in the high school class of 2025, and the Crozet, Va. native was one of a small number of non-adults at the Olympics. The United States team is absolutely stacked, and the fact that Heilman received a spot before his 18th birthday is astonishing. The Cavaliers are undoubtedly getting the most highly anticipated swimming prospect in recent memory.
BI: Class of 2024 alumna Alex Walsh deserves some recognition after her agonizing Olympics. Walsh competed in only one event in Paris — the 200-meter individual medley. She won her preliminary heat Aug. 2 and placed first in her semifinal heat later the next day, which set her up for a showdown with Douglass in the final Aug. 3. Walsh swam the third-fastest time but was denied a bronze medal after officials ruled that her transition from backstroke to breastroke was illegal. She was disqualified from the race and left Paris empty-handed, but she wrote that she was “still proud” of her performance in an Instagram post last week — she certainly should be.
ML: Class of 2019 alumnus Joe Bell impressed me the most, for his mere presence. I remember Bell from my childhood, co-captaining the men’s soccer team as it stampeded to an ACC title and almost an epic NCAA title, but that was five years ago. I’d forgotten about Bell, however, it turns out he’s still around, playing in the Eliteserien, the Norwegian first division. He’s still pretty good, too — good enough to be one of New Zealand’s three allotted over-23 selections and good enough to start every game. The All Whites failed to escape the group stage, but Bell chugged around the field for every available minute.
How will the 2024 Olympics affect the future of Virginia Athletics?
XT: As always, fans can expect the women’s swimming and diving team to dominate. However, there is extra motivation this year. I’m most excited to see the Cavaliers who were not in the Olympic spotlight. Alex Walsh got hosed via the aforementioned disqualification, and then there’s Claire Curzan — the junior was a huge transfer portal addition last year, but she sat out in preparation for the Olympics, only to narrowly miss out on a spot after the U.S. Trials. Curzan and the older Walsh sister are extremely talented and will give their all in pursuit of Virginia’s fifth straight national title.
BI: A dominant Olympic performance will no doubt help the Cavaliers’ recruiting efforts moving forward. Not only can Virginia offer swimming prospects a chance to consistently compete for national titles — the women’s team has won four consecutive NCAA Championships — but it can also put together a lengthy list of athletes who have gone on to achieve success at the Olympic level. Swimmers only spend four years in college, so the Cavaliers’ ability to develop professional talent and prolong careers promises to be enticing for any recruit.
ML: I’ll be slightly contrarian and say that these Olympics will not have an effect. The only Cavalier contingent to draw any substantial attention — and boy, was it substantial — was the horde of women’s swimmers. But the Virginia women’s swimming team already lounges miles above its competitors — untouched and perhaps untouchable — and nothing about the past two weeks changed that. Christopher Nolan hardly needs an Oscar to rake in hundreds of millions at the box office. It helps, no doubt, but dominance is dominance.
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