7 USC Dornsife alumni bring home medals after an Olympics unlike any other
It was perhaps the oddest Olympic Games in history. The threat of a COVID-19 outbreak meant every arena in the host city of Tokyo was nearly empty. Athletes emerged from the pool or left the track to thin applause from the few staff and journalists in the stands. Olympians departed Japan shortly after the end of their event rather than staying for the closing ceremony. Masks covered up smiles on the medal podiums.
It echoed the past 18 months of training for athletes who were locked down, isolated from teammates and forced to get creative to continue their training. Athletes like USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences undergraduate Tilly Kearns, part of Australia’s water polo team, resorted to swimming in the open ocean, weight-lifting in her living room and strategizing with teammates over Zoom.
For athletes who had already waited an extra year to compete after COVID-19 shut down the Games in 2020, uncertainty on whether these Games would even occur lingered almost until opening night, thanks to the persistent pandemic and coronavirus variants.
Despite these challenging circumstances, USC Dornsife alumni fought on to make history at the 2020 Olympic Games.
Need for speed
On Aug. 6, Andre De Grasse ’16 streaked across the finish line of the 200m men’s track event to win gold, setting a Canadian record with his time. This was the first gold medal in track and field for Canada since 1996 and Canada’s first in the event since 1928. De Grasse, who majored in sociology, also secured a bronze in the 100m.
Just hours after his gold medal win, De Grasse and fellow Aaron Brown, who graduated in 2014 with a degree in political science, secured a bronze medal for Canada in the 4-x-100m track relay.
They weren’t the only ones to snag a relay medal. Political science graduate Rai Benjamin ’19, alongside fellow USC alumnus Michael Norman, won a gold medal for the United States in the 4-x-400 meters. Benjamin will hang this medal next to his silver medal in the 400m hurdles. His time in the event was the second fastest recorded speed. He’s now the record holder in 400m for the U.S.
Victory in the sand
Trojans dominated on the beach as well. April Ross, a 2005 international relations graduate and her partner, Alix Klineman, won gold in beach volleyball. They were undefeated throughout the games, only losing one set in their seven matches. Ross now holds bronze, silver and gold medals in the event.
Current USC Dornsife undergraduate Tina Graudina, a political science major, nearly secured a bronze medal for Latvia in the same event. She and her partner are the first duo to represent Latvia in beach volleyball at the games.
Making a splash
USC’s first medal of the games was picked up by economics graduate Santo Condorelli ’18, who helped Italy win silver in the men’s 4-x-100 freestyle swimming relay.
The games were capped off with a gold for the women’s water polo team that included USC Dornsife international relations alumna Stephania Haralabidis ’17 and psychology alumna Amanda Longan ’19. The jubilant players celebrated the win by pushing their coach into the pool after their victory.
Eyes are now set on the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, where another batch of athletes will have their chance to continue USC’s Olympic tradition — this time to the more heartening roar of the crowds.