Unbelievable: NCAA athletes won 50 medals at Paralympics in eight different Paralympic sports….
Over the course of the last Sunday’s closing ceremonies of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, 35 former, current, and prospective NCAA student-athletes won 50 medals for their country in eight different Paralympic sports.
As to the NCAA, the athletes were from 28 leagues and 35 NCAA schools across all three categories. Six bronze, 23 silver, and 21 gold medals were won by athletes connected to the NCAA. Approximately 66% of the NCAA medalists, or 23 women, were female. Division I athletes took home the most medals with 33, followed by Division III with 10 and Division II with seven.
An athlete who has won a medal individually or as a member of a winning team or relay is referred to as a medalist. For relay and team events, the data counts medals separately, although in typical Paralympic data counters, these are regarded as individual medals. All medalists, including new athletes for the 2024–25 academic year, are credited to their present institution. Former student-athletes who transfer are only given credit to the institution or conference in which they last participated.
Furthermore, only athletes affiliated with NCAA championship sports or with the Emerging Sports for Women initiative are included in this data.
Athletes with more than one medal
4 medals:
Christie Raleigh Crossley, Para-swimming, Florida State (according to the NCAA). She actually won five medals at Paris 2024 (gold in the 100m backstroke S9 and 100m butterfly S9, silver in the 50m freestyle S10 and 100m freestyle S9, and bronze in the mixed 4×100 m freestyle relay 34 points).
3 medals:
Olivia Chambers, Para-swimming, University of Northern Iowa.
Noah Malone, Para-athletics, Indiana State.
Top 4 Paralympic sports
1. (tie) Para-athletics (track and field): 18 medals won by 11 NCAA athletes – eight gold, six silver and four bronze.
1. (tie) Para-swimming: 18 medals won by 10 NCAA athletes – six gold, 11 silver and one bronze.
3. (tie) Para-triathlon: Four medals won – two gold, one silver and one bronze.
3. (tie) Sitting volleyball: Four gold medals won.
Schools with more than one medal
-4 medals:
Florida State.
-3 medals:
Indiana State.
University of Northern Iowa.
-2 medals:
Arkansas
Biola
Central Oklahoma.
Eastern Michigan.
Gardner-Webb.
Purdue Northwest.
Southern California.
Yale.