Cal at the Olympics: A Wrapup of Golden Bears' Performances

Alex Morgan, Ryan Murphy, Collin Morikawa were among the headliners of the Games in Japan

The Cal contingent at the Tokyo Olympics fared better than many countries.

Current and former Golden Bears picked up more medals than the entire country of Poland or Sweden or Norway or Switzerland or Cuba.

They earned more gold medals than Spain or Denmark or Ukraine.

The Cal folks captured more than three times as many medals as the country that staged the original Olympic Games and hosted the first Modern Olympic Games, Greece.

Athletes with Cal connections finished off their participation in the Tokyo Olympics on Sunday when former Golden Bear Johnny Hooper scored two goals in the United States’ 14-11 loss to Croatia in a fifth-place match.

Cal athletes picked up 16 medals – four gold, five silver and seven bronze.

The most disappointing performance may have been the United States women’s soccer team, with former Cal star Alex Morgan a prominent member. American players and coaches claimed pride in winning the bronze medal, but gold was the expectation, especially after being eliminated in the quarterfinals of the 2016 Games. The question now is whether the USA roster will be overhauled with so many of its prominent players well past their 30th birthday.

The 32-year-old Morgan was in the starting lineup for three of the Americans’ six games and did not play the entire match in any of the matches. She played just 16 minutes in the must-win victory over New Zealand in the group stage and was on the field for just nine minutes near the end of the bronze-medal game against Australia. She scored one goal in the tournament and converted a key penalty kick in the shootout win over The Netherlands.

Alex Morgan. Photo by Jack Gruber, USA TODAY Sports

Ryan Murphy failed to repeat his gold-medal performances in the 100 and 200 backstroke, but he was part of the United States’ world-record-setting 400 medley relay team that won gold. Murphy also caused a major stir by saying swimming is “probably not clean” when it comes to doping. Although Murphy later said he was not referring to any particular individual, the media assumed his comments were directed at the Russian swimmers. Two members of the Russian Olympic Committee team, Evgeny Rylov and Kliment Kolesnikov, finished head of Murphy in the 100 backstroke, and Rylov took the gold in the 200 backstroke.

Murphy’s words may have had a bigger impact at the Olympics than his performances in the pool.

Ryan Murphy (left) and Caeleb Dressel. Photo by Rob Schumacher, USA TODAY Sports

Murphy and Abbey Weitzeil were the only two Cal athletes who won more than one medal, with Weitzeil winning a pair of relay medals.

Valerie Arioto, 32, was hoping to pick up a gold with the USA softball team after waiting 13 years for her sport to return to the Olympics. But the USA had trouble scoring runs throughout the Olympics and eventually lost to Japan in the gold-medal game a few days after beating the Japanese team in its final group-stage contest.

It was the Americans’ second straight loss to Japan in the gold-medal game after the Americans had captured gold the three previous times softball was an Olympic sport.

This may have been Arioto’s final chance for a medal because softball will not be an Olympic sport in the 2024 Games in Paris, although breakdancing – yes, breakdancing -- will be in the Olympics in 2024. It’s uncertain whether the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles will include softball.

Valerie Arioto. Photo by Kareem Elgazzar-USA TODAY Network

The former Cal athlete who did the most without getting a medal was Collin Morikawa. He began the final round of golf tied for 17th place, but an 8-under-par 63 in the fourth round pushed him into a seven-way tie for third, prompting a playoff for the bronze medal. Morikawa waded through the playoff for four holes until only he and C.T. Pan remained in the running. One poor shot on that fourth extra hole ruined Morikawa’s bid and Pan took the bronze.

Dave Durden, Cal’s men’s swimming coach and the U.S. men’s Olympic swimming coach this year, had to lead American swimmers through the restrictions presented by the pandemic heading into the Games, and the U.S. men still won 12 medals in the Tokyo Olympics, including eight gold medals.

The Americans won two of the three men’s relays, but failing to medal in the 800 freestyle relay did not reflect well on the coaches. Caeleb Dressel was left off that relay team, and it was the first time ever that the United States failed to medal in a relay. The USA’s fifth-place finish in the mixed medley relay (two men and two women swimmers) was also a disappointment.

Two sports dominated Cal’s medal haul – swimming, which accounted for seven medals, and rowing, which provided four medals for Cal athletes. Golden Bears picked up two medals in water polo, and they got one each in softball and women’s soccer

Here are the Cal medal winners:

GOLD

Ryan Murphy, Swimming (USA) – Men’s 400 Medley Relay

Tom Shields, Swimming (USA) – Men’s 400 Medley Relay (Shields swam a leg in the semifinals)

Rosemary Popa, Rowing (Australia) – Women’s Four

Sydney Payne, Rowing (Canada) – Women’s Eight

.

SILVER

Valerie Arioto, Softball (USA)

Ryan Murphy, Swimming (USA) – Men’s 200 Backstroke

Abbey Weitzeil, Swimming (USA) – Women’s 400 Freestyle Relay

Katie McLaughlin, Swimming (USA) – Women’s 800 Freestyle Relay

Roser Tarrago, Women’s Water Polo (Spain)

.

BRONZE

Alex Morgan, Women’s Soccer (USA)

Ryan Murphy, Swimming (USA) – Men’s 100 Backstroke

Abbey Weitzeil, Swimming (USA) – Women’s 400 Freestyle Relay

Jack Cleary, Rowing (Australia) – Men’s Quadruple Sculls

Caileigh Filmer, Rowing (Canada) -- Women's Pair

Joachim Sutton, Rowing (Denmark) – Men’s Pair

Anna Illes, Women’s Water Polo (Hungary)

.

Cover photo by Jack Gruber, USA TODAY Sports

.

Follow Jake Curtis of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jakecurtis53

Find Cal Sports Report on Facebook by searching: @si.calsportsreport or going to https://www.facebook.com/si.calsportsreport