Cavaliers Now

University of Virginia Athletes Win 14 Medals at the 2024 Paris Olympics

Matt Newton

Kate Douglass and Gretchen Walsh were responsible for eight of UVA's 14 medals at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Kate Douglass and Gretchen Walsh were responsible for eight of UVA's 14 medals at the 2024 Paris Olympics. / Rob Schumacher-USA TODAY Sports

The 2024 Paris Olympic Games officially came to a close on Sunday. In total, Olympians from the University of Virginia brought home a combined 14 medals from Paris. 12 of those medals were won for the United States, but two former Cavaliers won medals while representing Great Britain and the Netherlands. 11 of UVA's 14 medals were won in swimming events, with eight of those medals being earned by Kate Douglass and Gretchen Walsh.

It was a phenomenal week in the pool for the Untied States women's swimming team, which was coached by UVA head swim & dive coach Todd DeSorbo. Five current or former Virginia swimmers competed for the United States, making up 25% of the U.S. women's swim team.

Kate Douglass and Gretchen Walsh opened the first night of the swimming competition with a medal, as both swam as part of the 4x100 free relay team that took silver. Douglass went on to win her first gold medal in the 200 breaststroke, breaking an American record in the process, and added a silver medal in the 200 individual medley.

Walsh, meanwhile, broke an Olympic record in a prelim for the 100 butterfly and ultimately claimed silver in the event, her first individual medal, and then swam the butterfly leg of both the 4x100 mixed medley relay and the women's 4x100 medley relay teams, both of which broke world records and won gold. Douglass and rising UVA third year Emma Weber swam the prelims in the 4x100 medley relay, so they both earned gold medals in that event as well.

Paige Madden teamed up with Katie Ledecky to win silver in the 4x200 free relay and then lowered her personal best by more than five seconds to earn a bronze medal in the 800 free.

In a different body of water, former UVA rowing standout Heidi Long helped Great Britain win bronze in the Women's Eight race. Long is the eighth UVA rower to medal at the Olympics.

Pien Dicke, who was the 2017 ACC Freshman of the Year in her first and only season playing for the Virginia field hockey team, served as a reserve on the Netherlands field hockey team. But after a Dutch player suffered a broken nose in the semifinals, Dicke was elevated to the active roster and played significant minutes in the final match, which ended with the Netherlands prevailing over China in a shootout to win the gold medal.

Finally, Virginia women's soccer alum Emily Sonnett captured her second Olympic medal and first gold medal, helping the United States Women's National Soccer Team defeat Brazil to claim gold for the first time since 2012.

See below for a full summary of the medals that UVA athletes won at the 2024 Paris Olympics:

Swimming
Kate Douglass (USA): silver in 4x100 free relay, gold in 200 breast, silver in 200 IM, gold in 4x100 medley relay
Gretchen Walsh (USA): silver in 4x100 free relay, silver in 100 butterfly, gold in 4x100 mixed medley relay, gold in 4x100 medley relay
Paige Madden (USA): silver in 4x200 free relay, bronze in 800 free
Emma Weber (USA): gold in 4x100 medley relay

Rowing
Heidi Long (GB): bronze in women's eight

Field Hockey
Pien Dicke (NED): gold in women's field hockey

Soccer
Emily Sonnett (USA): gold in women's soccer

Published
Matt Newton

MATT NEWTON

Matt launched Virginia Cavaliers On SI in August of 2021 and has since served as the site's publisher and managing editor, covering all 23 NCAA Division I sports teams at the University of Virginia. He is from Downingtown, Pennsylvania and graduated from UVA in May of 2021.