#IviesinRio Recap

As the 2016 Games come to an end, let’s take a look back at some of the memorable moments that involved the Ivy League’s 66 athletes and coaches who took part in the Games.

Well Represented

#IviesinRio had 66 participants, the largest number of representatives in Ivy League history. The 66 representatives were also the sixth-most of any conference in collegiate athletics, just outside of the Power 5.

#IviesinRio represented 13 different countries and competed in 13 different sports.

Princeton led the way with 15 participants, followed by Harvard (14), Dartmouth (nine), Yale (eight), Cornell (seven), Brown (six) and Columbia (four). Moreover, two alumni will served as head coaches for the United States, three current Ivy coaches will be performed similar duties in Rio, four assistant coaches competed and three alumni served as program managers.

#IviesinRio Haul in Six medals

Columbia graduate Katie Meili (’13) led the charge with two medals. Representing the United States, Meili first claimed bronze in the 100-meter breaststroke event clocking a 1:05.93

Five days later, Meili added a gold medal to her collection after swimming for Team USA in the 4x100 relay in the semifinals. Although she did not compete in the finals, the United States went on to take first-place.

Meili is the first Ivy swimmer to earn multiple medals in a single Olympic Games since Penn’s Eleanor Daniel, who claimed three medals in Mexico City in 1968.

Gevvie Stone, a 2007 Princeton graduate, won her first Olympic medal, claiming Silver in the women’s single sculls for Team USA with a time of 7:22.92.

Reigning world champion Kimberley Brennan from Australia won in 7:21.54, with China’s Jingli Duan, the 2015 world bronze medalist, rounding out the medals in third, 7:24.13.

The U.S. last won a medal in women’s single sculls in 2008, when Michelle Guerette claimed the silver.

Brown alum Tessa Gobbo (’13) and the US women’s eight captured Gold, marking the third-straight Olympics the Americans accomplished the feat. It marks the first gold medal for Gobbo.

Gobbo and Team USA rallied from third at the halfway mark to take control of the race en route to victory. The U.S. beat second place Great Britain and third place Romania.

The U.S. women’s eight has not lost a major international championship since 2005. With its 11th straight global title, Team USA becomes only the second nation after Romania to win three straight Olympic golds in the women’s eight. It is the fourth gold medal for the U.S. since the event made its Olympic debut in 1976.

Diana Matheson (Princeton ’08) and Team Canada claimed its second-straight Bronze medal with a 2-1 victory over Brazil.

Canada defeated Zimbabwe, Germany and France to reach the semifinals. In the semifinals, The Reds fell to Germany, 2-0, to earn a spot in the bronze medal match.

Four years ago at the London Olympics Matheson scored a late goal to give the Canadians their first medal at the Summer Games in a traditional team sport since 1936.

Ashleigh Johnson (Princeton ’17) earned the final medal for the #IviesinRio. Johnson backstopped the United States women’s water polo team to its second-straight Olympics Gold Medal.

Johnson recorded nine saves in a 12-5 win over Italy in the championship match. The Princeton senior finished the Rio Games with a 64.5 percent save percentage.

The United States became the first-ever team to win consecutive gold medals at the Olympics.

Abbey D’Agostino Shows True Meaning of Sportsmanship

Abbey D’Agostino (Dartmouth ’14) collided and crashed to the ground more than halfway through her heat of the women’s 5K with New Zealand’s Nikki Hamblin. In an unprecedented gesture of kindness, D’Agostino helped her opponent up and urged her to finish the race. D’Agostino fought through injury to cross the finish line herself.

Her act of class and sportsmanship was recognized world-wide. After a protest lodged by Team USA, D’Agostino was advanced to the final, but the Dartmouth alum was unable to compete after a MRI revealed she tore her ACL during the collision.

Although D’Agostino was ultimately not able to compete for a medal, she did not return to the states empty-handed. The International Fair Play Committee honored D’Agostino with the Fair Play award, which recognizes athletes who exemplify sportsmanship at the Olympic Games.

United States Field Hockey Run

The United States Field Hockey Team, which featured a trio of former Princeton student-athletes in Julia (’14) and Katie Reinprecht (’13), Kathleen Sharkey (’13) and Harvard’s current assistant coach Katie O’Donnell-Bam, had a much improved campaign from London four years ago, and were perhaps one of the biggest success stories in the field hockey tournament.

Team USA went 4-1 in pool play, winning the first four consecutive games with upsets over No. 2 Argentina and No. 3 Australia and advanced to the quarterfinal round. Although ousted by bronze medalist Germany, the American’s finish in Rio was drastically better than London where they finished last in pool pay.

The #IviesinRio contingency accounted for seven of the United States’ 15 total goals.

Judo Success

Brown wrestling alum and four-time Olympian, Jimmy Pedro (’94) led Kayla Harrison to her second straight gold medal in judo.

Harrison defeated second-ranked Audrey Tcheumeo of France in the gold medal bout in the 78kg weight class. In 2012, Harrison became the first American to win gold in the sport of Judo and four years later, she becomes the first American to win consecutive gold medals.

Pedro is a four-time Olympian, competing in the 1992, 1996, 2000 and 2004 summer Games. Pedro captured Bronze the 1996 and 2004 before serving as the U.S. head coach in 2012 and 2016.

The Rio Experience

Three current Ivy League student-athlete, who competed at the Games took over the Ivy League Snapchat account to give fans an inside look at their Rio experience.

Rudy Winkler, a rising senior at Cornell, competed in the hammer throw for the United States. Nikki Okwelogu, a rising senior at Harvard, represented Nigeria in the shotput. Akua Obeng-Akrofi, a rising junior at Columbia, was part of Ghana’s 4x100 relay team.

In case you missed it, check it out here.