Practice, Study, Sleep, Repeat
The 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro are right around the corner.
Lots of the athletes who will be representing the U.S. in the Summer Games also participated in sports at the college level.
Here is a selection of 10 U.S. athletes from a variety of sports who attended, or are planning to attend, a college or university.
Ashton Eaton
Sport: Track and field
College: University of Oregon
U.S. News rank: 103 (tie), National Universities
Major: Psychology
Fun fact: The decathlete is married to Canadian Olympian Brianne Theisen-Eaton.
Ibtihaj Muhammad
Sport: Fencing
College: Duke University
U.S. News Rank: 8, National Universities
Major: International relations, African and African-American studies
Fun fact: Muhammad founded a clothing company called Louella that sells modest, stylish clothing.
Katie Ledecky
Sport: Swimming
College: Committed to Stanford University, with plans to enroll in the fall
U.S. News Rank: 4 (tie), National Universities
Fun fact: Ledecky deferred her enrollment at Stanford for a year to train for the 2016 Games.
Jordan Burroughs
Sport: Wrestling
College: University of Nebraska–Lincoln
U.S. News rank: 103 (tie), National Universities
Major: Sociology
Fun fact: Burroughs won world championship titles in 2011, 2013 and 2015, and earned a gold medal at the 2012 London Games.
Madison Kocian
Sport: Gymnastics
College: Committed to the University of California–Los Angeles, with plans to enroll in the fall
U.S. News rank: 23 (tie), National Universities
Fun fact: According to Kocian’s USA Gymnastics bio, the athlete’s mom put her daughter in gymnastics because she would always climb out of her crib.
David Boudia
Sport: Diving
College: Purdue University–West Lafayette
U.S. News rank: 61 (tie), National Universities
Major: Communications
Fun fact: Boudia was home-schooled after 10th grade so he could focus on diving.
Kerri Walsh Jennings
Sport: Beach volleyball
College: Stanford University
U.S. News rank: 4 (tie), National Universities
Major: American studies
Fun fact: Walsh Jennings is a veteran Olympian — the Rio de Janeiro Games will be her fifth.
Carli Lloyd
Sport: Soccer
College: Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey–Newark
U.S. News rank: 140 (tie), National Universities
Major: Exercise science and sport studies
Fun fact: Lloyd scored all of Team USA’s goals in the women’s soccer finals in the 2008 Beijing Games and the 2012 London Games, and the U.S. won gold medals both years.
Meb Keflezighi
Sport: Track and field
College: University of California–Los Angeles
U.S. News rank: 23 (tie), National Universities
Major: Communications studies
Fun fact: Keflezighi, who was born in Eritrea, emigrated to the U.S. in 1987. He became a U.S. citizen in 1998.
Gwen Jorgensen
Sport: Triathlon
College: University of Wisconsin–Madison
U.S. News rank: 41 (tie), National Universities
Fun fact: Jorgensen earned a a bachelor’s degree and a master’s in accounting at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. She competed for the Badgers at first as a swimmer but eventually made the switch to running.
Find Your Gold-Medal School
If you’re looking to follow in these competitors’ footsteps and become a college athlete, learn how to land athletic scholarships from universities and outside sources.
And don’t forget to follow U.S. News Education on Facebook and Twitter for more education news and tips.
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Do You Share an Alma Mater With an Olympian? originally appeared on usnews.com
