AUSTIN, Texas — Dozens of current and former Texas Longhorns are currently representing Team USA and a number of other countries at the Paris Olympics.
A total of 30 athletes and seven coaches affiliated with the University of Texas are competing in France's capital – and quite a few have earned some hardware.
Kevin Durant becomes Team USA's all-time leading scorer
Former Longhorn Kevin Durant is now the career leader in points for Team USA in Olympic competition. Durant passed Lisa Leslie for the title during USA Men's Basketball's quarterfinal game against Brazil on Aug. 6. He has a total of 489 career points in his four Olympic appearances.
He's also on track to become the first men's player in Olympic history with four golds. He was part of the Team USA squads that won titles in London, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo, and the U.S. Men's Basketball team is currently undefeated in Paris.
The team bested Serbia, South Sudan and Puerto Rico in the preliminary round before defeating Brazil 122-87. Team USA will play Serbia in the semifinals on Aug. 8.
Another former Longhorn, Royal Ivey – who led Texas to three straight trips to the NCAA Sweet 16, including a 2003 Final Four appearance – also competed in the Olympics in basketball. Ivey is the head coach of South Sudan's men's team.
Julien Alfred wins gold in 100m, silver in 200m
On Aug. 6, Julien Alfred claimed her second medal in her Olympics debut. She won the silver in the 200-meter dash with a time of 22:08.
Just a few days prior, the Saint Lucia native won her home country's first-ever Olympic medal when she claimed the 100-meter gold with her lifetime-best time of 10.72, , edging out Team USA's Sha-Carri Richardson (10.87) and Melissa Jefferson (10.92).
Alfred was the first Longhorn to win Olympic gold in the 100m and the first Longhorn to win a medal at all in the race since Juliet Cuthbert of Jamaica won silver in 1992. She is also the second Longhorn to ever earn a medal in the 200-meter race, joining Cuthbert, who also won silver in 1992.
Elsewhere during this Olympic Games, Ryan Crouser won his third-straight gold medal in shot put with a winning throw of 22.90m. He became the fifth Longhorn in any sport to win a gold medal in three straight Olympic Games, joining Kevin Durant, Ian Crocker, Gary Hall Jr., Brendan Hansen and Sanya Richards-Ross. He's also the first to ever do it in an individual event.
Leo Neugebauer won the silver medal for Germany in the decathlon after scoring 8,748 points. He joins Trey Hardee as the only two Longhorns to medal in the event at the Olympics after Hardee won silver in London.
Longhorn Ackelia Smith also competed, finishing seventh in the triple jump final on her last attempt at 14.42m.
Golfer Scottie Scheffler wins gold
Former Longhorn and No. 1 golfer in the world Scottie Scheffler claimed the gold medal on Aug. 4 in Paris. Scheffler closed with a 6-under 29 en route to a course record-tying 9-under 62 in Sunday's final round. He won by one stroke.
Scheffler is the first UT athlete to claim an Olympic medal since golf was added to the Olympic Games schedule in 2016.
How did former and current Texas swimmers do?
Rising Texas senior Luke Hobson won a bronze medal in the 200-meter freestyle final. Hobson posted a time of 1:44:79 to finish in third place, but it was a very close race. The silver medal went to Great Britain's Matthew Richards with a time of 1:44:74, and the gold went to David Popovici of Romania with a mark of 1:44:72.
Hobson's was the second bronze medal earned by Texas Men's Swimming in the first three days of competition in Paris, as former Longhorn Carson Foster earned a bronze in the 400-meter individual medley (IM) final. Foster posted a time of 4:08.66 to finish third behind Japan's Tomoyuki Matsushita in second (4:08.62). France's Leon Marchand – who currently trains under Texas Head Coach Bob Bowman – won the gold with a time of 4:02.95.
Foster also placed fourth in the 200-meter individual medley final.
Elsewhere, former Longhorn Caspar Corbeau of the Netherlands finished in eighth place in the 100-meter breaststroke final with a time of 59.98. He also competed as part of Team Netherland's 4x100-meter medley relay final team and mixed 4x100-meter medley relay final team. The country placed eighth and sixth, respectively, in those events.
Rising junior Hubert Kós earned the gold medal for Hungary in the 200-meter backstroke final with a time of 1:54.26.
Rising sophomore Erin Gemmell earned a silver medal for Team USA in the 4x200-meter freestyle relay final, swimming the anchor leg for Team USA as the American team posted a time of 7:40.86 to finish in second place. Australia earned the gold medal with an Olympic record time of 7:38.08.
All the Longhorns competing this Olympics
There is still a lot of action to see from current and former Longhorns as the Olympics continue through Aug. 11.
Below is the full list of current and former UT athletes and coaches competing in Paris:
- Mariam Abdul-Rashid for Canada – Women's Track & Field: 100m hurdles
- Rhasidat Adeleke for Ireland – Women's Track & Field: 400m, mixed 4x400m relay
- Julien Alfred for Saint Lucia – Women's Track & Field: 100m, 200m
- Yvonne Anderson for Serbia – Women's Basketball
- Bob Bowman for France – Men's Swimming: National team coach
- Carol Capitani for Team USA – Women's Swimming: Assistant coach
- Emelia Chatfield for Haiti – Women's Track & Field: 100m hurdles
- Angie Coe for Taiwan – Women's Swimming: 200 IM
- Caspar Corbeau for the Netherlands – Men's Swimming: 100 breast, 200 breast
- Ryan Crouser for Team USA – Men's Track & Field: Shot Put
- Tara Davis-Woodhall for Team USA – Women's Track & Field: Long Jump
- Kevin Durant for Team USA – Men's Basketball
- Anna Elendt for Germany – Women's Swimming: 100 breast, 4x100 medley relay
- Edrick Floréal for Great Britain, Ireland and Saint Lucia – Men's and Women's Track & Field: Coaching Staff
- Carson Foster for Team USA – Men's Swimming: 200 IM, 400 IM
- Jim Garnham for Germany – Men's Track & Field: Assistant coach
- Erin Gemmell for Team USA – Women's Swimming: 200 free, 4x200 free relay
- Alison Gibson for Team USA – Women's Diving: 3-meter Springboard
- Julia Grosso for Canada – Women's Soccer
- Luke Hobson for Team USA – Men's Swimming: 200 free, 4x200 free relay
- Royal Ivey for South Sudan – Men's Basketball: Head coach
- David Johnston for Team USA – Men's Swimming: 1500 free, open water 10K
- Drew Kibler for Team USA – Men's Swimming: 4x200 free relay
- Kaitlin Knifton for Team USA – Rowing: Women's Four
- Hubert Kos for Hungary – Men's Swimming: 200 back, 100 fly, 100 back
- Sara Kouskova for the Czech Republic – Women's Golf: Individual stroke play
- Daisy Mazzio-Manson for Team USA – Rowing: Women's Four
- Leo Neugebauer for Germany – Men's Track & Field: Decathlon
- Chiaka Ogbogu for Team USA – Women's Volleyball: Indoor volleyball
- Scottie Scheffler for Team USA – Men's Golf: Individual stroke play
- Matt Scoggin for Team USA – Diving: Coaching staff
- Aaron Shackell for Team USA – Men's Swimming: 400 free
- Ackelia Smith for Jamaica – Women's Track & Field: Long Jump, Triple Jump
- Erik Sullivan for Team USA – Men's Volleyball: Team leader
- Lulu Sun for New Zealand – Women's Tennis
- Lanae-Tava Thomas for Jamaica – Women's Track & Field: 200m
- Stacey-Ann Williams for Jamaica – Women's Track & Field: 400m, 4x400m relay