Cal at "Tokyo 2020" Olympics: The results of all 49 "Calympians"
The final Cal medal tally: 4 Golds (in 3 events), 5 Silvers, and 7 Bronzes
After an extra year of delay, no fans in the stands, and the threat of cancelation even after the Games had started, the Tokyo 2020 Olympics that took place in 2021 has finally ended. While the Paralympics is well worth your attention as well, here are the final results for the 49 active “Calympians”1 from Japan over the past 2.5 weeks.
Check back later this week when I will attempt to interpret these results to forecast what this all means for the future of Cal Athletics.
Cal Olympic Medals (4 Golds, 5 Silvers, 7 Bronzes):
GOLDS
Rosemary Popa (Australia) - Women’s Four
Sydney Payne (Canada) - Women’s Eight
Ryan Murphy and Tom Shields (USA) - Men’s 4x100m Medley Relay, Murphy swam in the final while Shields swam in the prelim
SILVERS
Valerie Arioto (USA) - Softball
Katie McLaughlin (USA) - Women’s 4x200m Freestyle Relay, McLaughlin swam in both the prelim and the final
Ryan Murphy (USA) - Men’s 200m Backstroke
Abbey Weitzeil (USA) - Women’s 4x100m Medley Relay, Weitzeil swam in the final
Roser Tarrago (Spain) - Women’s Water Polo
BRONZES
Abbey Weitzeil (USA) - Women’s 4x100m Freestyle Relay, Weitzeil swam in the final
Ryan Murphy (USA) - Men’s 100m Backstroke
Jack Cleary (Australia) - Men’s Quadruple Sculls
Joachim Sutton (Denmark) - Men’s Pair
Caileigh Filmer (Canada) - Women’s Pair
Alex Morgan (USA) - Women’s Soccer
Anna Illes (Hungary) - Women’s Water Polo
For more information on these Cal triumphs, including links to highlights (from NBC Sports on YouTube, so only accessible if you are inside the USA), you can find them below:
Part 1 (Weitzeil, Murphy, Arioto, Popa, Cleary)
Part 3 (Filmer, Payne, 2nd Murphy)
Part 4 (Weitzeil, Murphy, Shields)
Part 5 (Morgan, Illes, Tarrago)
Yes, my count is a bit different from what Cal Athletics currently has (as of Sunday night, August 8th) since they have yet to include Caileigh Filmer for this Olympics game. Their count of 15 total medals (4 Golds, 5 Silvers, 6 Bronzes) and using that figure to compare to other nations is also problematic since it’s across 14 events where a sovereign nation in the count would only be credited with one medal per event.
The one medal short as well as counting a relay twice do cancel out and I do agree with their conclusion that if Cal is a country, the 15 total medals would be the 18th-most in the world to be tied with Cuba, just behind Spain’s 17 medals, and ahead of Poland’s 14 medals.
By the way, my pre-Olympic prediction of 13 Cal medals plus/minus 4 also turned out to be fairly close2 even if I was counting on a couple more swimming medals and was a lot less sure about the successes of the international Cal rowers.
I will do more comparison in my next post, but thanks to a large number of USA Olympians on the highly successful women’s teams, Stanford and USC are way ahead of Cal in the medal count this year, even if you just count each event as one medal.
Cal Medal Breakdowns:
Most successful individual - Ryan Murphy (USA), 1 Gold, 1 Silver, 1 Bronze
Murphy also now has 6 total Olympic medals from two Olympic Games.
2nd most successful individual - Abbey Weitzeil (USA), 1 Silver, 1 Bronze
What a ride. What a Team. What an experience 🤍🇺🇸 There’s nothing like being on this team there are no words. Thank you to everyone who has supported me through it all 💕
Weitzeil’s Silver and Bronze from Tokyo add to her Gold and Silver from Rio for 4 in her Olympic career thus far.
Other repeat Olympic medal winners - Tom Shields (2nd Gold from swimming the prelim of Men’s 4x100m Medley Relay), Alex Morgan, Roser Tarrago
1st-time medalist of multiple-time Calympians: Anna Illes (2nd Olympics), Caileigh Filmer (2nd Olympics)
Women - 10 total for 9 women, Men - 6 total for 4 men
By nation:
1) USA (9 medals - 2 Golds, 4 Silvers, 3 Bronzes)
T2) Canada (2 medals - 1 Gold, 1 Bronze) and Australia (2 medals - 1 Gold, 1 Bronze)
T4) Spain (1 medal - Silver), Denmark (1 medal - Bronze), Hungary (1 medal - Bronze)
By sports:
1) Swimming - 7 in 6 events
2) Rowing - 5
3) Water Polo - 2
T4) Soccer, Softball - 1
And finally, by Cal Athletics Programs:
1) Cal Men’s Swimming - 4, Ryan Murphy (3, G/S/B) and Tom Shields (G)
T2) Cal Women’s Rowing - 3, Rosemary Popa (G), Sydney Payne (G), Caileigh Filmer (B)
T2) Cal Women’s Swimming - 3, Abbey Weitzeil (2, S/B), Katie McLaughlin (S)
T4) Cal Women’s Water Polo - 2, Roser Tarrago (S), Anna Illes (B)
T4) Cal Men’s Rowing - 2, Joachim Sutton (B), Jack Cleary (B)
T6) Cal Women’s Soccer - 1, Alex Morgan
T6) Cal Softball - 1, Valerie Arioto
Honorable Mentions
While one can argue that awarding medals to 2nd and 3rd place is already enough of awarding athletes who did not win, numerous Calympians came very close to claim medals. I will list them here.
4th Place
Colby Mefford (USA) - Men’s 200m Backstroke
Collin Morikawa (USA) - Men’s Golf, runner-up for the Bronze after a 7-way tie at the end of stroke play (4 rounds of golf)
Rowan McKellar (Great Britain) - Women’s Four
Julian Venonsky (USA) - Men’s Eight
Andrew Seliskar (USA) - Men’s 4x200m Freestyle Relay, Seliskar swam in the prelim
Other Finalists
5th - Camryn Rogers (Canada) - Women’s Hammer Throw
5th - Mixed Medley Relay (USA) - Tom Shields and Abbey Weitzeil swam in the prelim, Ryan Murphy swam in the final that missed the podium despite Murphy giving the USA a lead after the first leg
5th - Martin Mackovic (Serbia) - Men’s Pair
5th - Maarten Hurkmans (Netherlands) - Men’s Eight
6th - Angus Dawson (Australia) - Men’s Eight
6th - Hugo Gonzalez (Spain) - 100m Backstroke
8th - Alicia Wilson (Great Britain) - 200m IM
8th - Abbey Weitzeil (USA) - 100m Freestyle
8th - Abbey Weitzeil (USA) - 50m Freestyle
Note that swimming finals had 8 lanes while rowing finals only had 6 lanes.
It is also promising for the remainder of their collegiate career that Olympic finalists Camryn Rogers, Hugo Gonzalez, and Alicia Wilson are all current Cal student-athletes. Colby Mefford may also be back next year given the extra eligibility awarded to everyone for 2021.
Golf (1)
Men’s Individual
USA
Collin Morikawa - 4th
1st-time Olympian, Cal Alumnus (‘19)
Using a late surge on Day 4, Morikawa found himself in a 7-way tie for the Bronze after 4 rounds of golf. He eventually lost the Bronze in the 4th hole of the playoffs after outlasting 5 golfers.
Rowing (14)
Australia
Jack Cleary (Men’s Quadruple Sculls) - Bronze
1st-time Olympian, Cal Alumnus (‘18)
Angus Dawson (Men’s Eight) - 6th
1st-time Olympian, Cal Rising Sophomore
Rosemary Popa (Women’s Four) - Gold
1st-time Olympian, Cal Alumna (‘14), W4C Profile
Canada
Sydney Payne (Women’s Eight) - Gold
1st-time Olympian, Cal Alumna (‘19)
Caileigh Filmer (Women’s Pair) - Bronze
2nd-time Olympian, Cal Alumna, CGB Rio 2016 Profile
Denmark
Joachim Sutton (Men’s Pair) - Bronze
1st-time Olympian, Cal Alumnus (‘19), W4C Profile
Great Britain
Rowan McKeller (Women’s Four) - 4th
1st-time Olympian, Cal Alumna (‘17), W4C Profile
Italy
Gennaro di Mauro (Men’s Single Sculls) - 8th
1st-time Olympian, Cal Incoming Freshman
Netherlands
Maarten Hurkmans (Men’s Eight) - 5th
1st-time Olympian, Cal Alumnus (‘19), W4C Profile
Niki van Sprang (Men’s Pair) - 7th
1st-time Olympian, Cal Alumnus (‘16), W4C Profile
Serbia
Martin Mackovic (Men’s Pair) - 5th
1st-time Olympian, Cal Alumnus (‘18)
USA
Kendall Chase (Women’s Four) - 7th
1st-time Olympian, Cal Alumna (‘16), W4C Profile
Kara Kohler (Women’s Single Sculls) - 9th
2nd-time Olympian (London 2012 - Bronze in Quad Sculls), Cal Alumna (‘14)
Julian Venonsky (Men’s Eight Coxswain) - 4th
1st-time Olympian, Cal Alumnus (‘16), W4C Profile
Rugby (2)
Men’s 7
USA - 6th
Danny Barrett
2nd-Time Olympian (Rio 2016), Cal Alumnus (‘13), CGB Rio 2016 Profile
Team USA made the knockout stage by going 2-1 in group play before a tough 26-21 loss to Great Britain in the quarterfinal match. USA then beat Canada before losing to South Africa in the 5th place match.
Barrett had a try in that Great Britain match.
South Korea - 12th
Andre Jin Coquillard
1st-Time Olympian, Cal Alumnus (‘13)
While South Korea went winless at the Tokyo Olympics, Coquillard did score two tries in the tournament to co-lead the Korean squad that had trouble finding the try zone in every match other than the finale against Japan.
Soccer (3)
Women’s Team
New Zealand - 12th (Did not make the knockout stage)
Daisy Cleverley
1st-time Olympian, Cal Alumna (‘20), W4C Profile
Betsy Hassett
3rd-time Olympian (London 2012, Rio 2016), Cal Alumna (‘13), CGB Rio 2016 Profile
USA - Bronze
Alex Morgan
3rd-time Olympian (London 2012 - Gold, Rio 2016), Cal Alumna (‘10), CGB Rio 2016 Profile
Former Cal teammates Alex Morgan and Betsy Hassett both scored a goal in the high-scoring USA vs. New Zealand matchup in group play. Those were also the only goals scored by the Calympians at the Tokyo Games, not counting the converted penalties by Morgan in the quarterfinal win over the Netherlands.
USA lost to Canada, who eventually won the Gold, in the semifinal before beating Australia for the Bronze medal.
Softball (1)
USA - Silver
Valerie Arioto
1st-time Olympian, Cal Alumna (‘12), W4C Profile
Despite just three hits (the entire team USA struggled offensively this tournament), Arioto scored or drove in the lone run in a couple of USA’s 1-0 victories. USA fell to host Japan 2-0 in the Gold Medal match.
Swimming (16)
Croatia
Ema Rajic (Women’s 50m Free - 45th, Women’s 100m Breast - 33rd)
1st-time Olympian, Cal Rising Senior, W4C Profile
Egypt
Farida Osman (Women’s 50m Free - 24th, Women’s 100m Fly - 20th, Women’s 100m Free - 33rd)
3rd-time Olympian (London 2012, Rio 2016), Cal Alumna (‘17), CGB Rio 2016 Profile
Great Britain
Alicia Wilson (Women’s 200m IM)- 8th
1st-time Olympian, Cal Rising Senior, W4C Profile
This was a very promising result for the returning Cal senior to make the Olympic Final.
Hong Kong
Stephanie Au (Women’s 100m Back - 26th, Women’s 4x100m Free Relay - 15th)
4th-time Olympian (Beijing 2008, Londonn 2012, Rio 2016), Cal Alumna (‘14), CGB Rio 2016 Profile
Camille Cheng (Women’s 4x100m Free Relay - 15th)
2nd-time Olympian (Rio 2016), Cal Alumna (‘15), CGB Rio 2016 Profile
The two Calympians teamed up in Women’s 4x100m Free Relay for Hong Kong where Cheng swam the 2nd leg and Au swam the 3rd leg. They were about 7.5 seconds outside of the top 8 to advance to the final.
Singapore
Zheng Wen Quah (Men’s 100m Back - 22nd, Men’s 100m Fly - 34th, Men’s 200m Fly - 22nd)
3rd-time Olympian (London 2012, Rio 2016), Cal Alumnus (‘20)
Quah made the semifinals in both 100 Fly and 200 Fly at Rio but could not get out of the heat with a top-16 results in Tokyo.
Spain
Marina Garcia (Women’s 200m Breast - 22nd)
2nd-time Olympian (2012 London), Cal Alumna (‘17)
This was Marina Garcia Urzainqui’s 2nd Olympic Games after making the London 2012 Game prior to her time at Cal.
Hugo Gonzalez (Men’s 100m Back - 6th, Men’s 200m IM - 11th)
2nd-time Olympian (2016 Rio), Cal Rising Senior
Sweden
Björn Seeliger (Men’s 50m Free) - 23rd
1st-time Olympian, Cal Rising Sophomore
Seeliger came close to earning a spot in the semifinals. He will likely be counted on as Cal’s anchor for all of the relays in the remaining years of his collegiate career.
Robin Hanson (Men’s 100m Free - 27th, Men’s 200m Free - 23rd)
1st-time Olympian, Cal Incoming Freshman
USA
Katie McLaughlin (Women’s 4x200m Free Relay) - Silver
1st-time Olympian, Cal Alumna (‘19)
Katie McLaughlin used a great prelim swim to also earn a spot on the final for Team USA.
Bryce Mefford (Men’s 200m Back) - 4th
1st-time Olympian, Cal Alumnus (‘21)
For the second consecutive Olympic Games, a Cal swimmer placed just off the podium in this event. While 2021 was technically his senior season, Bryce Mefford does still have an extra year of eligibility at Cal if he wants to use it.
Ryan Murphy (Men’s 100m Back - Bronze, Men’s 200m Back - Silver, Men’s 4x100m Medley Relay - Gold, Mixed 4x100m Medley Relay - 5th)
2nd-time Olympian (Rio 2016 - three Golds), Cal Alumnus (‘17), CGB Rio 2016 Profile
Ryan Murphy battled Russia’s Rylov four times in Tokyo, head-to-head. Rylov won Golds in both of the individual races, but Murphy was ahead as the leadoff backstroke leg for both the Men’s and Mixed Medley Relay.
Andrew Seliskar (Men’s 4x200m Free Relay) - 4th
1st-time Olympian, Cal Alumnus (‘19), W4C Profile
Seliskar only swam in the prelim that gave USA a lane in the final. This was the first time ever in over 90 chances that Team USA had missed the podium in a swimming relay.
Tom Shields (Men’s 100m Fly - 15th, Men’s 4x100m Medley Relay - Gold, Mixed 4x100m Medley Relay - 5th)
2nd-time Olympian (Rio 2016 - 1 Gold), Cal Alumnus (‘13), CGB Rio 2016 Profile
Shields again earn an Olympic Gold for swimming the prelim butterfly leg of the 4x100m Medley Relay. USA actually needed Shields’ great split in the prelim to barely earn a lane for the final. Shields also swam the prelim of the Mixed Medley for Team USA.
Individually, Tom Shields made the semifinal of 100m Fly.
Abbey Weitzeil (Women’s 50m Free - 8th, Women’s 100m Free - 8th, Women’s 4x100m Free Relay - Bronze, Women’s 4x100m Medley Relay - Silver, Mixed 4x100m Medley Relay - 5th)
2nd-time Olympian (Rio 2016 - 1 Gold, 1 Silver), Cal Alumna (‘20), CGB Rio 2016 Profile
Weitzeil swam in two medal-winning relay finals for Team USA. She also swam the prelim of the ill-fated Mixed 4x100m Medley Relay where USA placed 5th.
Individually, Weitzeil making both finals was an improvement over Rio 2016 when she only made it for one of the sprint events, but that first individual Olympic medal remains elusive for now.
Table Tennis (2)
USA
Lily Zhang (Women’s Singles - Round 3, Team - Round 1)
3rd-time Olympian (London 2012, Rio 2016), Cal Alumna (‘19), CGB Rio 2016 Profile
Nikhil Kumar (Men’s Singles - Round 2)
1st-time Olympian, Incoming Cal Freshman
While Table Tennis is not a sponsored sport by Cal Athletic, Team USA had two members with Cal ties in Lily Zhang and incoming freshman Nikhil Kumar, who plans to major in Computer Science.
Thanks to her professional successes after turning pro, Zhang was considered a dark horse in this tournament but still could not quite break through to serious medal contention yet. She was eliminated by Taiwanese competitors in both the singles and the team competition, where she lost in the doubles and her singles match was not necessary.
Zhang, the current top American, should be back for Paris. We shall see if Kumar still wants to compete in table tennis at a high level in three years.
Tennis (1)
Japan (Men’s Doubles - QF, Mixed Doubles - QF)
Ben McLachlan
1st-time Olympian, Cal Alumnus (‘14), W4C Profile
Ben McLachlan came so close to playing for a medal in both the Men’s Doubles, with Kei Nishikori (knocked out in the 3rd round), and Mixed Doubles, with Ena Shibahara (knocked out in the 2nd round).
After getting back to the US, McLachlan has already won the Men’s Doubles, with partner Raven Klaasen, at Citi Open in Washington, DC this past week as a tune-up for the upcoming US Open.
Track and Field (1)
Canada
Camryn Rogers (Women’s Hammer Throw) - 5th
1st-Time Olympian, Cal Rising Senior
Needing just one throw to qualify for the final, Camryn Rogers’ 2nd throw out of 6 in the final was her best. That throw briefly put her in the lead but slid to 5th in the end for the Cal rising senior, who was significantly younger than the bulk of the field. Rogers did already set a new Canadian Olympic record and should do even better in Paris in three years.
Water Polo (8)
Women’s Team
Canada - 7th
Kelly Mckee
1st-time Olympian, Cal alumna (‘15)
Kindred Paul
1st-time Olympian, Cal alumna (‘18)
Emma Wright
1st-time Olympian, Cal Rising Senior, W4C Profile
Canada made the knockout stage but had to face USA, the tournament favorite and eventual Gold medalists, in the quarterfinals. After losing to USA, Canada lost in penalties to Australia before beating China for 7th place overall.
Hungary - Bronze
Anna Illes
2nd-time Olympian (2016 Rio), Cal Alumna (‘18), CGB Rio 2016 Profile
Scoring the game-winning goal in the Bronze medal match against Russia (ROC), Anna Illes and Hungary finally broke the streak of 3 consecutive 4th place finishes (last 2 with Calympians) at the Olympics and earned a medal.
Netherlands - 6th
Kitty Lynn Joustra
1st-time Olympian, Cal Rising Senior
The Dutch team was eliminated from medal contention after losing to Hungary in the quarterfinal stage. They then beat China but lost to Australia to finish 6th.
Spain - Silver
Roser Tarrago
3rd-time Olympian (2012 London - Silver, 2016 Rio), Cal Alumna (‘17), CGB Rio 2016 Profile
After winning its group, Spain defeated China and Hungary en route to the Gold Medal match where they lost to USA. Spain won their 2nd Silver Medal in three Olympics, all with Roser Tarrago on the squad.
Men’s Team
USA - 6th
Luca Cupido
2nd-time Olympian (Rio 2016), Cal Alumnus (‘17), CGB Rio 2016 Profile
Johnny Hooper
1st-time Olympian, Cal Alumnus (‘18), W4C Profile
By going 2-3 in group play, Team USA made the knockout stage, unlike at Rio 2016. They were eliminated from medal contention by Spain in the quarterfinals and eventually placed 6th after beating Italy but losing to Croatia.
In addition to the 49 active Calympians listed above, an additional two Cal Bears were in Tokyo as reserve athletes while 8 alumni and/or current Cal coaches were there as coaches. They are:
Reserves in Tokyo:
Ollie Maclean, New Zealand Rowing - Cal rising senior
Jacinta Edmunds, Australian Rowing - Cal alumna (‘16)
Coaches in Tokyo (listed by Cal Athletics):
Current Cal coaches
Dave Durden, Head Coach for USA Men’s Swimming, Cal Men’s Swimming head coach
Teri McKeever, Assistant Coach for USA Swimming, Cal Women’s Swimming head coach
Robyne Johnson, Assistant Coach for USA Track and Field (multis and jumps), Cal Director of Track and Field/Cross Country
Mohamad Saatara, Assistant Coach for Canada Track and Field (basically just coach for Calympian Camryn Rogers), Cal Assistant Coach in Track and Field (Throws)
Cal alumni
Gavin Arroyo, Assistant Coach for USA Men’s Water Polo, Cal Alumnus (‘94) and 2x Calympian (Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000)
Laurel Korholz, Assistant Coach for USA Women’s Rowing (especially for fellow Calympian Kara Kohler), Cal Alumna (‘93) and 3x Calympian (Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000, Athens 2004)
Chris Oeding, Assistant Coach for USA Women’s Water Polo (that won the Gold Medal), Cal Alumnus (‘92) and 2x Calympian (Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000)
Also listed, former long-time Cal coach (it also helps that the USA Men’s Rowing headquarter is next door to Cal Men’s Rowing boathouse)
Mike Teti, USA Men’s Eight Rowing Coach, former Cal head coach (2008-17)
If we are stretching the “Cal list” to include past coaches, we probably should also include the current Cal volunteer coach in Men’s Tennis (despite their season ended up being cut way short as the lone Cal program really impacted by COVID in 2021).
Rajeev Ram, Tennis, USA - Mixed Double (out first round) with Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Men’s Double (out second round) with Frances Tiafoe
Congratulations to ALL of the Calympians for their effort both before and during the past 2+ weeks. Thank you all for giving us Cal fans a lot to cheer for remotely!
GO BEARS!
Yes, our count is slightly different from that of Cal Athletics since they have not updated their list once the Games had started as we had with the inclusion of incoming freshman Nikhil Kumar (US Olympian in Table Tennis) and somehow forgotten 2x Canadian-Calympian in rower Caileigh Filmer (who also won a medal).
Of course, I was fairly conservative with that large error bar of 4 medals. I also did not factor in Filmer who would have been another “very good chance” medal candidate.
Thanks again for all your hard work compiling our Cal Olympic athletes this year Ruey!
WTF, you're going to count an incoming freshman, who has never set foot on campus, nor taken any classes at Cal but yet you have an issue with USC claiming Allison Felix who went to and graduated from USC???
GTFOH