UGA athletes welcomed home from Rio with 10 medals

ATHENS, Ga. — Dozens of University of Georgia Olympic Athletes returned to Athens Wednesday to a big welcome home reception.

The school sent 37 athletes and coaches to Rio this year. It is the most ever in school history. All together, the athletes brought home 10 medals.

"It was really cool watching. You got to see people you see in the weight rooms and just walking around campus, and you watch them on TV winning medals,” said Morgan Green, a UGA track team member who attended the reception.

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"There’s a great amount of pride. Unfortunately, I think that starts to fade after the Olympics are gone a month or so. But right now, with school starting up and this many Olympians back on campus, I think there's a great trend of people starting to learn more about track, more about swimming because of these Olympians,” said Leland Barrow with the UGA Athletic Association.

If the University of Georgia were a country, the ten medals would rank 27th among the 207 nations that competed in the games. %

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As far as Bulldog nation is concerned, that's really something to be proud of. Especially down on the track where the reigning Olympic champs are an inspiration.

“It was pretty cool cheering them on and just seeing how well they did for our school,” Green said.

Medal winner Gunnar Bentz, who was involved in an international scandal in Rio along with teammate Ryan Lochte, attended Wednesday's reception.

“It's good to be back at school, and I released my statement online and if you want any information you can check that out,” he said. “It's great representing your country and I’m really happy to have done it and I’m glad to be here."

The complete list of UGA’s representatives at both the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games follows:

2016 OLYMPIC GAMES

Diving

Men (1)

César Castro (volunteer diving coach) — Brazil (fourth Olympics)

Staff (1)

Coach Dan Laak (diving) — Brazil assistant (third Olympics on staff {first 2 with U.S.})

Golf

Men (1)

Bubba Watson (2000-01) — USA (first Olympics)

Gymnastics

Women (1)

Brittany Rogers (2013-16) — Canada (second Olympics)

Swimming & Diving

Men (5)

Gunnar Bentz (2015-Present) — USA (first Olympics)

GOLD MEDAL 4X200 FREE RELAY

Chase Kalisz (2013-15, 2016-Present) — USA (first Olympics)

SILVER MEDAL 400 IM

Jay Litherland (2015-Present) — USA (first Olympics)

Javier Acevedo (2016-Present) — Canada (first Olympics)

Matias Koski (2013-16) — Finland (second Olympics)

Women (7)

Hali Flickinger (2013-16) — USA (first Olympics)

Melanie Margalis (2011-14) — USA (first Olympics)

GOLD MEDAL 4X200 FREE RELAY

Allison Schmitt (2009-11, 2013) — USA (third Olympics)

GOLD MEDAL 4X200 FREE RELAY, SILVER MEDAL 4x100 FREE RELAY

Olivia Smoliga (2014-Present) — USA (first Olympics)

GOLD MEDAL 4X100 MEDLEY RELAY

Amanda Weir (2005) — USA (third Olympics)

SILVER MEDAL 4x100 FREE RELAY

Brittany MacLean (2013-16) — Canada (second Olympics)

BRONZE MEDAL 4X200 FREE RELAY

Chantal Van Landeghem (2013-15, 2016-Present) — Canada (first Olympics)

BRONZE MEDAL 4x100 FREE RELAY

Staff (1)

Coach Jack Bauerle (swimming) — USA assistant (third Olympics on staff)

Table Tennis

Men (1)

Yijun “Tom” Feng (incoming freshman student) — USA (first Olympics)

Track & Field

Men (5)

Kibwe Johnson (2000) — USA (second Olympics)

Cejhae Greene (2014-15, 2016-Present) — Antigua (first Olympics)

Karl Saluri (2014-Present) — Estonia (first Olympics)

Maicel Uibo (2012-16) — Estonia (first Olympics)

Charles Grethen (2013-15) — Luxembourg (first Olympics)

Women (7)

Keturah Orji (2015-Present) — USA (first Olympics)

Kendell Williams (2014-Present) — USA (first Olympics)

Jenny Dahlgren (2004-07) — Argentina (fourth Olympics)

Shaunae Miller (2012-13) — Bahamas (second Olympics)

GOLD MEDAL 400m

Leontia Kallenou (2012-2016) — Cyprus (first Olympics )

Levern Spencer (2006-08) — St. Lucia (third Olympics)

Tynia Gaither (2012-13) - Bahamas (first Olympics)

Staff (2)

Coach Petros Kyprianou — Estonia assistant (second Olympics as a coach)

Coach Ken Harnden - Cayman Islands assistant (fourth Olympics as a coach)

Volleyball

Women (1)

Alexandra Oquendo (2002-05) -- Puerto Rico (first Olympics)

Beach Volleyball

Women (1)

Britta Büthe (2007) -- Germany (first Olympics)

2016 PARALYMPIC GAMES

Swimming

Women (1)

Lindsay Grogan (UGA bachelor’s and master’s degrees) — USA (first Paralympics)

Sitting Volleyball

Women (1)

Michelle Gerlosky Schiffler (B.S. in Biological Sciences in 2008 from UGA) — USA (second Paralympics)

Track & Field

Men (1)

Jarryd Wallace (2008) — USA (second Paralympics)

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