USC Tallies 21 Medals In Rio Olympics and More USC Football News
USC’s successful showing at the Rio Olympics finished up with 21 total medals, including nine golds. Plus USC football news from around the web.
Can’t get enough USC football and basketball news? We’ve got your morning dose of all the best content from around the web concerning the men of Troy.
1st & 10:
First Word… That’s a wrap. The 2016 Rio Olympics ended Sunday night, DeMar DeRozan’s gold medal with USA Basketball capping another successful game for the Trojans.
Not only did USC continue the impressive record of a gold medal in every Olympic games since 1912, the Trojans came away with nine golds and 21 total medals.
That makes it three straight cycles with more than 20 medals for USC.
The Trojans 21 medals was second among U.S. universities, behind Stanford with 25.
Per USA Today, USC finished third, trailing Cal’s 19 medals, but the publication did not include Allyson Felix’s three medals among Troy’s totals. Felix did not compete for USC in track because she opted to go pro, but graduated with a degree from the university.
Felix’s silver in the 400m and golds in the 4x100m and 4x400m made her the most decorated female Olympic track athlete of all-time. Only Carl Lewis can claim more than her nine total medals in track and field.
Another successful woman of Troy, swimmer Katinka Hosszu led all USC representatives with four medals, followed by sprinter Andre De Grasse with three.
More from Reign of Troy
- Markese Stepp enters transfer portal intending to leave USC football
- USC football’s Alijah Vera-Tucker declares for NFL Draft
- USC football adds Xavion Alford as transfer from Texas
- USC Podcast: RoT Radio Ep. 396 on the Football Season’s Fallout
- Talanoa Hufanga named Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year, USC football with five first-teamers
Hosszu led things off for the Trojans by winning the 400m IM in world record time. Then she took the gold in the 100m back stroke and 200m IM before finishing her Olympics with a silver in the 200m back stroke.
Dalilah Muhammad made history by becoming the first American woman to win gold in the 400m hurdles.
Fellow Trojan Nia Ali took home the silver in the 100m high hurdles.
Aaron Brown joined De Grasse with a bronze medal in the 4×100 for Canada. De Grasse also nabbed silver in the 200m and bronze in the 100m.
Kami Craig and Kaleigh Gilchrist helped Team USA secure a gold medal in women’s water polo.
Murphy Troy and Micah Christenson won bronze medals with USA volleyball.
April Ross settled for a bronze alongside Kerry Walsh-Trainor in beach volleyball.
Tennis star Steve Johnson won bronze in men’s doubles.
And Ten USC Football and Basketball News Links…
- “Clay Helton Releases First USC Depth Chart of 2016” (Reign of Troy)The first depth chart of 2016 was released Sunday, with battles decided at quarterback, receiver and linebacker.
- “5 Takeaways From Post Fall Camp Two-Deep” (Reign of Troy)Our five takeaways from the depth chart include Stevie Tu’ikolovatu’s quick study, Michael Hutching’s rise, veteran receivers holding serve and a new kicker being crowned.
- “USC Football Ranked No. 20 In Preseason AP Poll” (Reign of Troy)The Trojans will open the season at No. 20 in the AP poll, which also includes six of USC’s 12 opponents this year.
- “Winners and Losers from AP Poll” (Bleacher Report)USC is one of the losers of the preseason AP ranking, per David Kenyon, because their No. 20 ranking almost ensures a tumble out of the Top 25 should they lose to Alabama as expected.
- “Clay, USC got it right” (USCFootball.com)Dan Weber says Helton got it right in picking Max Browne as USC’s new starting quarterback, crediting Sam Darnold with forcing the fight and Browne for responding.
- “USC avoids chance to make game-changing choice at QB” (Daily News)Offering the counterpoint is Scott Wolf, who argues opposing defensive coordinators will be happy with Helton’s choice, as they wouldn’t want to face Darnold.
- “What Does Sam Darnold’s Future With USC Football Hold?” (Reign of Troy)Now that we know that Browne is QB1, where does Darnold stand? Is a transfer on the horizon? Could he still get in games this season? We break it all down.
- “Clay Helton, USC football welcome era free of drama, hype” (USA Today)Salute to Troy this year was “benign,” as USC looks for a drama-free period under Clay Helton.
- “James Lynch, 3-Star DT, Commits To USC Football” (Reign of Troy)USC landed another out-of-state recruit in three-star defensive tackle James Lynch, a recent de-commit from TCU.
- “How the Pac-12 will be won” (247Sports)Christian Corona, a data analytics consultant, says UCLA has a 45.3% chance to win the Pac-12 South, while USC, who has a better preseason rating, has a 37.8% shot at repeating the division title.