UNIVERSITY PARK — Come Friday, July 26, years of hard work and dedication will come to fruition for several current and former Nittany Lions.
The 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris will see multiple Penn State athletes and alumni representing eight countries while going for gold.
The blue and white alumni will be scattered across many different sports, but there are some competitors whose names especially jump off the page. Here’s a look at just a few of the long list of Penn Staters who’ll be competing for glory later this month.
Wrestling
The success of Penn State wrestling is well-documented, so it’s only natural the program garnered representation in this year’s games.
Three former blue and white wrestlers will take the mat this summer, starting with recent graduate Aaron Brooks.
Brooks is coming off his fifth and final campaign in Happy Valley, where he posted a perfect 22-0 record en route to claiming both the Hodge Trophy and his fourth National Championship win, doing so after moving up in weight class from 184 lbs. to 197 lbs.
During the Olympic Games, he’ll represent the United States while taking up an unseeded spot in the 86-kg. weight class.
Brooks likely didn’t receive a seed in the field of 16 wrestlers because collegiate wrestling’s folkstyle rules differ from the scoring system used by international competition’s freestyle rules.
Since he seldom competed in international events held by United World Wrestling throughout the year, he didn’t amass the points needed to receive a seed.
In similar fashion, Penn State alum Zain Retherford will also head into his field unseeded. Also a member of Team USA, the 29-year-old slots into the 65-kg. weight class looking to make noise during his first Olympic go-around.
After claiming three NCAA tiles and two Hodge Trophies in college, Retherford has since amassed an 86-18 freestyle record. He took home a gold medal in the 70-kg. weight class during the 2023 World Championships.
Finally, Roman Bravo-Young will represent Mexico in the 57-kg. weight class after transferring to his grandparents’ native country in 2023.
RBY’s final season at Penn State came as a graduate student in 2022-23. He ultimately ended his Nittany Lion career with 100 wins and two national titles to his name. He’ll also open the Olympics as an unseeded wrestler.
Soccer
The United States Women’s National Team roster features a pair of ex-Nittany Lions in Paris this summer, one of whom already has considerable Olympic experience.
Goaltender Alyssa Naeher will compete for the third time, having served as the starting netminder during Team USA’s bronze medal finish in 2020.
Naeher played for Penn State from 2006 to 2009 and accumulated two First Team All-American selections during her time there. She’s since amassed a long, successful career — both internationally and in the NWSL.
Joining the goaltender is midfielder Sam Coffey, who’ll be competing in her first Olympics at age 25.
After transferring from Boston College, Coffey played at Jeffrey Field from 2019 to 2021. She helped her team win the Big Ten in 2019 and make multiple NCAA tournament appearances during her final three collegiate seasons.
She’s since found success with the NWSL’s Portland Thorns, while also rising up the ranks of the women’s national team en route to being selected to play for her country in Paris.
After finishing third during the 2020 games, the United States will look to find increased success behind new head coach Emma Hayes and this pair of Penn State alums.
Track and Field
Nine Nittany Lion track and field athletes and alumni set out to qualify for the Olympics, but only two made it through the trial stage.
Two-time Olympic silver medalist Joe Kovacs will continue his quest for gold this year with Team USA in the shot put.
A member of the blue and white from 2008 to 2012, the 34-year-old previously competed in the 2016 and 2020 games.
Kovacs threw for 22.65 meters during the 2020 Summer Olympics in Japan but recently tallied a 23.13-meter performance, possibly setting the tone for a career-best showing on the biggest stage this summer.
Kovacs will be joined overseas by recent Penn State grad Cheickna Traore, who’ll be representing the Ivory Coast.
Traore has already put his name on the map this year, most recently claiming the 2024 NCAA outdoor title in the 200-meter dash by clocking in at 19.95 seconds in the final.
Traore’s collegiate journey was a unique one, as he only arrived at Penn State as a graduate student last summer.
Before that, he spent his first four seasons at Ramapo College, a Division III school located in New Jersey.
While at Ramapo he found ample success, even setting the D-III record in the 200-meter last spring ahead of his eventual move to State College.
Now, after dominating in both Division I and Division III, Traore will look to extend his success at a global level.
