Our Olympic heritage is a rich one, with many great athletes and world records over the years. Percy Williams, Glen Cunningham, and Bob Mathias are just a few of the standouts. To date, thirty-three Phi Gams have won forty-four medals at the Olympic Games.
1900 (Paris) - George W. Orton (Pennsylvania 1896), pictured to the left, the first medalist from Canada though competing for the US, wins the 2,500-meter steeplechase in 7 minutes, 34 seconds (a new world record); Meredith B. Colket (Pennsylvania 1901) pole vault, second place.
1904 (St. Louis) - Thaddeus R. Shideler (Indiana 1907) 110-meter hurdles, second place; Marcus Hurley (Columbia 1904) first place in four events: cycling quarter mile, third mile, half-mile, and one-mile track, plus third place in cycling two-mile track; Alonzo Bell (Occidental 1895) third in singles tennis, second in doubles.
1906 (Athens) - Fay R. Moulton (Yale 1903), second in 100-meter dash.
1908 (London) - Forrest C. Smithson (Yale 1910), winner of 110-meter hurdles in 15 seconds, a new world record; Lee J. Talbot (Cornell 1911), wrestling, tug-o-war, shotput, discus, and hammer throw; Clark B. Beard (Iowa State 1907), eighth in half-mile run; Marquis F. "Bill" Horr (Syracuse 1909), third in free-style discus and second in Athenian style (feet stationary), tug-o-war, shotput, hammer throw; Tom R. Moffit (Pennsylvania 1907), fifth (a tie) in high jump; Horace P. Ramey (Michigan 1907), track.
1912 (Stockholm) - Herbert Nathan Putnam (Cornell 1912), track events; J. Ernest Gignoux (Cornell 1898), fencing.
1920 (Antwerp) - Horace H. Brown (Williams 1920), first in 3000-meter run; Howard G. Cann (New York 1918), shot-put eighth place [brother of Ted Cann, below]; Norman D. Ross (Northwestern 1924) three first place swimming wins: 400 freestyle, 1500 freestyle, and 4x200 freestyle relay (also a world record); also 100 freestyle and water polo.
1924 (Paris) - Chan F. Coulter (Iowa 1925), 400-meter hurdles; John Faricy (Minnesota 1924), breast-stroke; John David Smith (Toronto 1925), Robert S. Hunter (Toronto 1925) and Ivor Campbell (Toronto 1927), coxswain, members of the Canadian eight-oared crew which finished second; Tedford H. Cann (New York 1920), water polo [brother of Howard Cann, above]; Ralph Breyer (Northwestern 1925) first place 4x200 freestyle (also a world record); Alan T. Christie (Toronto 1928) 400-meters track and fourth place 1600-meter relay, Canada; J. Ernest Gignoux (Cornell 1898), fencing.
1928 (Amsterdam) - Percy Williams (British Columbia 1932), first in 100-meter dash in 10.8 seconds and first in 200-meter dash in 21.8 seconds [see his statue in Vancouver]; John Fitzpatrick (Toronto 1933), semi-finals of 100-meter dash and fifth In 200-meter dash; George Helfrich (Johns Hopkins 1929), Louis S. Nixdorff (Johns Hopkins 1929) [see his archives page at the Smithsonian], Larkin Farinholt (Johns Hopkins 1929), members of lacrosse team, coached by William C. Schmeisser (Johns Hopkins 1902), which introduced that sport in Olympic competition; Donald S. Gwinn (Pittsburgh 1929), fifth in hammer-throw; Ernest N. Carter (Occidental 1926) 1500-meter track.
1932 (Los Angeles) - Karl Warner (Yale 1934), third man in the 1,600-meter relay team which finished first; Douglas W. Douglas (Stanford 1938), member of second place 6-meter yachting crew; Douglas Stone (Johns Hopkins 1933), James Merriken (Johns Hopkins 1933), Caleb R. Kelly (Johns Hopkins 1933), Walter F. Kneip (Johns Hopkins 1933) and Donaldson N. Kelly (Johns Hopkins 1934), members of the world's champion lacrosse team, coached by William C. Schmeisser (Johns Hopkins 1902); Edward J. Kirwin (California 1932), extra-point kicker, who gave the West a one-point victory over the East in an exhibition football game; Ralph B. Faulkner (Washington 1916), fencing.
1932 (Winter games at Lake Placid, New York) - Charles A. Lee, Jr. (Syracuse 1927), assistant executive secretary of the Games.
1936 (Berlin) - Glenn Cunningham (Kansas 1935), second in 1,500-meter run in 3 minutes, 48.4 seconds, breaking both Olympic and world records; Harry Williamson (North Carolina 1936), sixth in 800-meter run and a member of two-mile relay team which set a new world record of 7 minutes, 35.8 seconds; Henry F. Dreyer (Rhode Island 1935), ninth in hammer-throw with 165 feet 6 inches; Donald B. Hume (Washington 1940), Robert Moch (Washington 1936), coxswain of winning eight-oared crew; Howell A. Scobey (Lehigh 1936) wrestling; Woodbridge Metcalf (Michigan 1911), sailing (Star/6.9 meter) fifth place.
1936 (Winter games at Garmisch-Partenkirchen) - Warren Chivers (Dartmouth 1937), member of
40-kilometer ski-relay team; Link Washburn (Dartmouth 1935), the slalom and 35th (fourth among
Americans) in the 2-mile downhill event.; Dick Durrance (Dartmouth 1939), downhill.
1948 (London) - Robert I. Will (Washington 1950), Robert D. Martin (Washington 1946) and Warren D. Westlund (Washington 1948), members of the US four-oared-with-coxswain crew which finished first; Herbert O. Barten (Michigan 1949), fourth in the 800-meter run; John J. R. Walsh (Wisconsin 1935), co-coach of the United States boxing teams; Henry F. Dreyer (Rhode Island 1935), finalist in hammer-throw; Robert B. Mathias (Stanford 1953), first in decathlon and the youngest male track and field winner to date.
1948 (Winter games at St. Moritz) - Bruce F. Cunliff (Dartmouth 1947), Bruce E. Mather (Dartmouth
1947), Ralph A. Warburton (Dartmouth 1947) and John D. Riley (Dartmouth 1944), members of the United States Amateur Hockey Association team; Joseph A. Riley (Dartmouth 1949), George S. Pulliam (Dartmouth 1945) and Crawford M. Campbell (Dartmouth 1946), members of the Amateur Athletic Union hockey team. (Hockey was ruled out as an official Olympic sport by the international committee when no decision could be made as to which of the above two teams should represent the United States.)
1952 (Helsinki) - Robert B. Mathias (Stanford 1953), first in decathlon with 7,887 points, a new world's
record (the previous world's record of 7,825 points was also held by Mathias); Charles M. Hoag (Kansas 1953) and William M. Hougland (Kansas 1952), members of world's champion basketball team which was undefeated in Olympic competition; Bowen D. Strassforth (Iowa 1951), second place 200-meter breaststroke; Roy G. Pella (Michigan 1954), Canadian representative in shot-put and discus, placing 14th in the latter event.
1952 (Winter games at Oslo, Norway) - Clifford Harrison (Dartmouth 1951) and Richard J. Desmond
(Dartmouth 1949), members of the hockey team which finished second with six wins, one loss and one tie; Jimmy Griffith (Colorado 1951), member of US Men's Downhill and Slalom team, died of injuries received in pre-Olympic training (see newspaper article).
1956 (Melbourne) - William M. Hougland (Kansas 1952) and Charles Darling (Iowa 1952) members of first place basketball team; Hougland carried the US flag in the opening ceremonies, leading the US contingent; Phillip T. Keuber (British Columbia 1957) second-place eight-oar crew, Canada; Douglas H. Kyle (British Columbia 1954) 5,000 and 10,000 meter run, Canada; L. Edwin Wild (British Columbia 1958) basketball, Canada; Richard R. Packer (Pennsylvania State 1956) US soccer team; Victor F. Sheronas (Pennsylvania 1931) 5.5 meter yacht, fourth-place.
1956 (Winter games at Cortina d'Ampezzo) - Richard L. Dougherty (Minnesota 1954), second place US hockey team.
1960 (Winter games at Squaw Valley) - John P. "Jack" Riley, Jr. (Dartmouth 1944) coach, first place US hockey team [entry, US Hockey Hall of Fame]; John Dendahl (Colorado 1961), cross country skiing.
1968 (Mexico City) - Bernard C. Wrightson (Arizona State 1966) first place, springboard diving; James E. Coleman (Wittenberg 1953) head coach US Men's Volleyball Team.
1972 (Winter games at Sapporo) - Craig B. Sarner (Minnesota 1971), second place US hockey team.
1976 (Montreal) - Dean Smith (Kansas 1953) head coach first place US Men's Basketball.
1984 (Los Angeles) - Robert D. "Bob" Selleck (Ohio Wesleyan 1944) director of the Los Angeles Olympic Organization Committee, and participated on the Southern California Committee for the 1984 Olympic Games; Richard W. Quick (Southern Methodist 1975) US men's swim team assistant coach.
1988 (Seoul) - James E. Coleman (Wittenberg 1953) assistant coach first place US Men's Volleyball; Richard W. Quick (Southern Methodist 1975) US women's swim team head coach.
1990 (Winter games at Albertville) - Nate Mills (Northwestern 1991) 1500 meter speed skating.
1992 (Barcelona) - Richard W. Quick (Southern Methodist 1975) US women's swim team assistant coach.
1994 (Winter games, Norway) - Nate Mills (Northwestern 1991) speed skating; Troy Benson (New Mexico 1993) freestyle skiing.
1996 (Atlanta) - James E. Coleman (Wittenberg 1953) coaching staff US Beach Volleyball; Russ Chandler (Georgia Tech 1967) mayor of the Olympic Village; Richard W. Quick (Southern Methodist 1975) US women's swim team head coach.
1998 (Winter games at Nagano) - Nate Mills (Northwestern 1991) speed skating.
2000 (Sydney) - Richard W. Quick (Southern Methodist 1965) US women's swim team head coach.
2004 (Athens) - Richard W. Quick (Southern Methodist 1965) US women's swim team assistant coach.
2008 (Beijing) - Brad Walker (Washington 2003) pole vault.
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