If Stanford and Cal merged as a country – only slightly less likely than them joining the Atlantic Coast Conference – the two eternal rivals would have been the seventh-most successful country in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
Yes, you read that right.
Athletes who attended the elite Bay Area universities combined to win 43 medals, finishing ahead of countries such as Italy, Germany and South Korea.
Not counting medals won by multiple athletes from single team events, Stanford won 27 medals and Cal took home 16. The 43 combined medals put the schools just behind Japan (45) and slightly ahead of Italy (40).
Stanford and Cal consistently have elite programs in Olympic sports, an investment that paid off during the past two weeks as alumni and current students won medal after medal.
Counting multiple medal winners from a single event — like Torri Huske and Simone Manuel on the 4×100 freestyle relay — the Cardinal claimed 39 medals in all, which the school says broke its previous record of 27 set at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games.
Cardinal athletes represented 14 countries.
Stanford’s 12 gold medals would have tied the Cardinal with Germany and Italy for ninth.
That total was bolstered by former swimmers Katie Ledecky and Regan Smith (two golds apiece).
Huske captured three gold medals in the pool and was one of 14 Stanford undergrads to qualify for the Olympics.
Cal swimmers weren’t too bad, either. Ryan Murphy won a gold, silver and bronze medal.
In track and field, Camryn Rogers captured Cal’s only individual gold when she placed first in the hammer throw.