One of the more remarkable Olympic streaks has already been extended in Rio. On Saturday, Katinka Hosszu of Hungary, a former USC swimmer, set a world record in winning the women’s 400-meter individual medley, continuing USC’s streak of having a Trojan win a gold medal at every Summer Games since 1912.
Hosszu’s winning time of 4:26.36 broke the world record by more than two seconds. Hosszu, the five-time NCAA champion while at USC and now a four-time Olympian, is scheduled to swim in four more events in Rio.
USC is represented at the Rio Olympics by 44 current, former and incoming USC students competing in Rio, more than from any U.S. university. Those athletes are representing the USA and 19 other countries. It is the fifth consecutive Summer Games with at least 40 Trojan Olympians.
In its history, USC has had more Olympians (452), medalists (290) and gold medalists (136) than any U.S. university. Trojan Olympians have represented 64 countries and have participated in 29 sports.
Fred Kelly began the USC streak 104 years ago when he won the 110-meter high hurdles in the 1912 Stockholm Games for the USA.
The gold-medal streak also includes the 1980 Moscow Games, which the USA boycotted. USC swimmer Michelle Ford, competing for her native Australia, won the gold in the 800-meter freestyle.
