Kansas State University Athletics
Olympic History
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On the International Stage |
Kansas State has a long standing tradition of training athletes to go on and compete for the highest honor in sports -- a gold medal at the Olympics.
Throughout its history 30 Wildcats have gone on to represent their homeland at the Olympic Games. That tradition spans 17 Olympic Games since 1920 when Ray Watson finished seventh in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in Antwerp, Belgium. Since then, former Wildcats have won a total of nine medals in competition on the world's biggest stage.
Thane Baker is K-State's most decorated Olympian as he won the silver medal in the 200 meters in the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki, Finland. He followed that with three medals four years later in Melbourne, Australia. Baker won silver in the 100 meters and bronze in the 200 meters and ran a leg of the 4X100 relay team that brought gold back to the United States.
In 2004 in Athens, two-time NCAA champion Austra Skujyte won the silver medal in the heptathlon, becoming K-State's first medalist since Kenny Harrison's gold medal in the 1996 triple jump. Skujyte would finish fifth in London 2012 in the heptathlon, becoming the first woman in history to compete in four different Olympic Games in the heptathlon.
Harrison's victorious mark in the triple jump in Atlanta in 1996 remains an Olympic record as well.
Most recently in the Paris 2024 Olympics, Eugene Omalla won gold for The Netherlands with the mixed 4x400 relay,
Also in 2012, high jumper Erik Kynard, Jr. won the gold medal, becoming the first Wildcat to win a medal with remaining eligibility as a student-athlete since Baker in 1950.
The London 2012 Olympic Games also were among the best in K-State history with seven former Wildcats competing in track and field. Joining Kynard at the Games were his former teammates Jeffrey Julmis (Haiti), Beverly Ramos (Puerto Rico) and Balazs Baji (Hungary). Also competing were Korene Hines (Jamaica), Austra Skujyte (Lithuania) and Darius Draudvila (Lithuania).
In 2016, the Wildcats sent eight current and former athletes and coaches to the Olympic Games in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. Among them, former Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Cliff Rovelto served as an assistant coach for Team USA, while former Wildcats Akela Jones (Barbados), Alyx Treasure (Canada), Ramos (Puero Rico), Baji (Hungary), Julmis (Haiti) and Kynard (USA) represented their native countries. In addition, Shadae Lawrence, who was in her freshman year of eligibility as a Wildcat, competed in the discus for Jamaica.
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Olympic Biographies |
Austra Skujyte
- Four-time Olympian (2000, 2004, 2008, 2012)
- Silver medalist at the 2004 Olympics
- 2001 & 2002 NCAA Outdoor Champion (Heptathlon)
- Three-time NCAA All-American
Attila Zsivoczky
- Three-time Olympian (2000, 2004, 2008)
- Placed sixth at the 2004 Olympics
- Two-time NCAA All-American
Ray Watson
- Three-time Olympian (1920, 1924, 1928)
- Placed seventh at the 1920 OlympicsÂ
- K-State's first Olympian
Erik Kynard
- Two-time Olympian (2012, 2016)
- Gold medalist at the 2012 Olympics
- 2011 & 2012 NCAA Outdoor Champion (High jump)
- Eight-time NCAA All-American
Thane Baker
- Two-time Olympian (1952, 1956)
- Most Olympic medals in K-State history (4)
- Gold medalist at the 1956 Olympics
- Five-time NCAA Outdoor All-American
Beverly Ramos
- Two-time Olympian (2012, 2016)
- Finished 71st in the Marathon at the 2016 Olympics
- Four-time NCAA All-American
Korene Hinds
- Two-time Olympian (2008, 2012)
- Finished 24th at the 2012 Olympics
- Five-time NCAA All-American
- Finished runner-up in the 3,000 meters at the 2000 NCAA Outdoor Championships
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| Wildcats in the Olympics | |
| 2024 Olympic Games - Paris, France | |
| Eugene Omalla (The Netherlands) - Gold medal in mixed 4x400 relay | |
| Laura Galvan (Mexico) - 11th in women's 5,000 meters | |
| 2020 Olympic Games - Tokyo, Japan | |
| Laura Galvan (Mexico) - 11th in women's 1,500 meters / 12th in 5,000 meters | |
| Shalysa Wray (Cayman Islands) - women's 400 meters | |
| 2016 Olympic Games - Rio De Janeiro, Brazil | |
| Cliff Rovelto (USA) - Men's Assistant Coach | |
| Erik Kynard (USA) - 6th in men's high jump | |
| Balazs Baji (Hungary) - 15th in men's 110 meter hurdles | |
| Alyx Treasure (Canada) - 17th in women's high jump | |
| Akela Jones (Barbados) - 20th in women's heptathlon | |
| Shadae Lawrence (Jamaica) - 22nd in women's discus | |
| Beverly Ramos (Puerto Rico) - 71st in women's marathon | |
| Jeffrey Julmis (Haiti) - men's 110 meter hurdles | |
| 2012 Olympic Games - London, England | |
| Erik Kynard (USA) - Gold medal in men's high jump | |
| Austra Skujyte (Lithuania) - 5th place in women's heptathlon | |
| Korene Hinds (Jamaica) - 24th in 3,000 meter steeplechase | |
| Darius Draudvila (Lithuania) - 25th in men's decathlon | |
| Beverly Ramos (Puerto Rico) - 35th in women's 3,000 meter steeplechase | |
| Balazs Baji (Hungary) - 35th in men's 110-meter hurdles | |
| Jeffrey Julmis (Haiti) - 38th in men's 110 meter hurdles | |
| 2008 Olympic Games - Beijing, China | |
| Christian Smith (USA) - 43rd in men's 800 meters | |
| Korene Hinds (Jamaica) - women's 3,000 meter steeplechase | |
| Austra Skujyte (Lithuania) - women's heptathlon | |
| Attila Zsivoczky (Hungary) - men's decathlon | |
| 2004 Olympic Games - Athens, Greece | |
| Austra Skujyte (Lithuania) - Silver medal in women's heptathlon | |
| Attila Zsivoczky (Hungary) - 6th in men's decathlon | |
| Cedric El-Idrissi (Switzerland) - men's 400 meter hurdles | |
| 2000 Olympic Games - Sydney, Australia | |
| Nathan Leeper (USA) - men's decathlon | |
| Attila Zsivoczky (Hungary) - 8th in men's decathlon | |
| Austra Skujyte (Lithuania) - 12th in women's heptathlon | |
| 1996 Olympic Games - Atlanta, USA | |
| Kenny Harrison (USA) - Gold medal in men's triple jump (Olympic Record) | |
| Steve Fritz (USA) - 4th in men's decathlon | |
| Ed Broxterman (USA) - men's high jump | |
| Connie Teaberry (USA) - women's high jump | |
| Chris Unthank (Australia) - 3,000 meter steeplechase | |
| 1984 Olympic Games - Los Angeles, USA | |
| Kim Hagger (England) - 8th in women's heptathlon | |
| Doug Lytle (USA) - 6th in men's pole vault | |
| 1972 Olympic Games - Munich, Germany | |
| Jerome Howe (USA) - men's 1,500 meters | |
| Ken Swenson (USA) - men's 800 meters | |
| 1968 Olympic Games - Mexico City, Mexico | |
| Conrad Nightingale (USA) - men's 3,000 meter steeplechase | |
| 1956 Olympic Games - Melbourne, Australia | |
| Thane Baker (USA) - Gold in men's 4x100 meter relay/ silver in men's 100 meters/ bronze in men's 200 meters | |
| 1952 Olympic Games - Helsinki, Finland | |
| Thane Baker (USA) - Silver in men's 200 meters | |
| 1948 Olympic Games - London, England | |
| Ward Haylett (USA) - Men's Assistant Coach | |
| 1928 Olympic Games - Amsterdam, Holland | |
| Ray Watson (USA) - 7th in men's 800 meters | |
| 1924 Olympic Games - Paris, France | |
| Ivan Riley (USA) - Bronze in men's 400 meters | |
| Ray Watson (USA) - men's 1,500 meters | |
| 1920 Olympic Games - Antwerp, Belgium | |
| Ray Watson (USA) - 7th in men's 3,000 meter steeplechase | |