This isn’t a graduating class, but it certainly attained full honors. USC created a gold medal-winning Class of 2016 at the Rio Summer Olympics in Brazil. Only three American universities — Stanford (11), UCLA (7), and Florida (7) — earned more golds in Rio.
USC won nine golds and 21 overall medals in Rio. If USC was its own nation-state competing in the 2016 Summer Olympics, its combined medal haul would have been 11th in the world.
The foremost stars of the Trojans’ 2016 Olympic contingent in Brazil displayed a broad reach through numerous sports, an indication that the Trojans are likely to continue their streak of consecutive Summer Olympics with at least one gold medal. That streak encompasses 24 straight Olympic competitions.
Shown in the cover photo for this story is DeMar DeRozan. He is celebrating (with Kyle Lowry) the gold medal won by the United States men’s basketball team, which defeated Serbia for the Olympic championship.
Dalilah Muhammad won gold in the women’s 400 meter hurdles in Rio. She won gold at the 2019 World Championships in Doha, making her a leading contender for Tokyo in 2021.
Katinka Hosszu is legitimately the most versatile female swimmer on the planet — that’s not a hyperbolic statement for a swimmer who owns the current world records in the 100, 200, and 400-meter individual medley races, plus the 200-meter backstroke.
In Rio in 2016, Hosszu set an Olympic record in the process of winning gold in the 200 individual medley, and a world record in a gold medal-winning 400 individual medley. Hosszu added a third medal at the Rio Games in the 100 backstroke. She collected a silver in the 200 backstroke. She intends to compete in Tokyo, and no one should assume she is past her prime.
Allyson Felix — once her Olympic career ends — will become the next USC Trojan to enter the United States Olympic Hall of Fame. She has medaled in four Olympics and won gold in three. She took silver in the 2004 Athens Olympics (women’s 200 meters) and then won gold in 2008 in Beijing (4 X 400 relay), 2012 in London (women’s 200, the 4 X 100 relay, and the 4 X 400 relay), and 2016 in Rio (4 X 100 relay, 4 X 400 relay). She has also won two other silver medals as well, one in 2008 and one in 2016.
Felix has won nine Olympic medals and six golds. She will try to reach double figures in Tokyo.
Kami Craig represents USC’s proud and illustrious water polo tradition. Craig won silver with the United States Olympic water polo team in 2008 in Beijing. Craig helped the Americans win golds in 2012 (London) and 2016 (Rio). The team will go for a three-peat next summer in Japan.
Kaleigh Gilchrist joined Craig on the 2016 gold medal water polo team in Rio. She suffered a significant injury in 2019 and is trying to recuperate. The one-year delay of the Tokyo Olympics could give her a chance to be ready, though no one should make any assumptions at this point.