During the Paris 2024 Summer Olympic Games and Paralympic Games, more than a thousand medals were awarded to athletes from around the world. Several California State University student and alumni athletes participated in the Games, demonstrating their incredible skills and tenacity. Six of those athletes earned medals and returned home to Olympic glory.
Meet the Olympic medalists who kicked off their athletic careers at the CSU.
Taylor Spivey
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
Silver, Triathlon Mixed Team Relay
United States
Taylor Spivey competes in the 2023 World Triathlon Championship Series, where she earned a bronze medal. (Photo courtesy Marcel Hilger)
In her Olympic debut, Cal Poly at San Luis Obispo alumna
Taylor Spivey ('14) earned silver in the triathlon mixed relay event. As the second leg of the team, Spivey was tagged by teammate Seth Rider and gained ground for the team, moving the U.S. to fifth place. Spivey, along with her teammates, had an intense finish for second place with a time of 1:25:40, beating Great Britain by only milliseconds. For the women's triathlon event, Spivey placed tenth with a time of 1:57:11.
As an experienced lifeguard and college athlete, the former Mustang competed in long-distance swimming while earning her degree in architecture at Cal Poly. It was at the end of her collegiate swimming career that Spivey completed her first triathlon and fell in love with the variety of racing in three sports. She now competes as a member of the U.S. National Team and is a frequent U.S. mixed relay competitor. Some highlights of her extensive triathlon career include her fourth place ranking in the 2022 World Triathlon Championship Series and being a runner-up in the 2022 Super League Championship Series.
Shanieka Ricketts
San Diego State University
Silver, Women’s Triple Jump
Jamaica
Shanieka Ricketts (Thomas) celebrates after taking silver in the Women's Triple Jump Final at the Olympic Games Paris 2024. (Photo courtesy Clive Rose/Getty Images)
Shanieka Ricketts (Thomas), who earned a bachelor's degree in economics from San Diego State in 2014, flew to second place in the women's triple jump event. In her second round, Ricketts locked in an impressive 14.87-meter jump, making a season best for Ricketts and her best performance at any of her three Olympic Games. In her previous appearances, the Jamaican representative placed fourth in the 2020 Tokyo Games (which took place in 2021) and 14th at the 2016 Rio Games.
The
SDSU Hall of Famer is a three-time triple jump national champion and a two-time NCAA runner-up in triple jump. Since 2013, her women's triple jump record remains undefeated at the university. She is the second Aztec women's track and field alumni Olympic medalist since 1984.
Nevin Harrison
San Diego State University
Silver, Women’s 200-Meter Sprint Canoe
United States
Nevin Harrison holds her silver medal from the 200-meter women's sprint canoe while on the Olympic podium. (Photo courtesy Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)
In a photo finish, Nevin Harrison was just one crushing 100th of a second away from winning her second gold medal in the women's 200-meter sprint canoe event at the Paris Games. The third-year San Diego State biology student won the country's first gold medal in sprint canoeing at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, and she had hoped to do that again this year. But Harrison's path back to the Olympics has been far from easy. She dealt with injuries before the World Championships in 2023, and even tore ligaments in her neck during practice a week before her 2024 Olympic sprint.
In preparation for the Paris Games, Harrison paused her education to train full-time. While the games have postponed her plans to graduate next spring, she still intends to finish her degree at SDSU and attend graduate school to pursue a career in the medical field.
Torey James (TJ) DeFalco
California State University, Long Beach
Bronze, Men’s Volleyball
United States
TJ DeFalco competes in a volleyball game during his career at Cal State Long Beach. (Photo courtesy Roger Kirk/CSULB)
Cal State Long Beach alumnus TJ DeFalco ('19) sported a bronze medal from the men's volleyball event when he returned home to Manhattan Beach from the Paris Games. In a close game, DeFalco's offensive prowess and finishing-set skills against Italy secured third place for the U.S. team. The 27-year-old volleyball star was recruited for the U.S. National Team in 2015 while he was still in high school. He also competed in the 2020 Tokyo Games where the team placed tenth.
During his time at
CSULB, the consumer affairs major led the school's volleyball team to back-to-back
NCAA National Championship wins in 2018 and 2019 and was named
National Player of the Year twice.
Kayla Canett
San Diego State University
Bronze, Women’s Rugby Sevens
United States
Kayla Canett competes at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. (Photo courtesy Kayla Canett)
A fourth-year kinesiology major at San Diego State,
Kayla Canett played as a starting back for the U.S. Women’s Rugby Sevens team, helping propel Team USA to its first Olympic medal in women's rugby history. Team USA secured the medal in a dramatic finish with a 94-yard sprint by Canett’s teammate Alex Sedrick, beating out 2016 Olympic gold medalist Australia.
During the push for the medal, Canett scored six points against Japan, two points against France and two points against Great Britain. She logged 11 minutes on the pitch during the bronze medal match.
The two-time Olympian—having competed in Tokyo and Paris—Canett hopes to return as part of Team USA at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games, as well as join a professional international rugby team after her spring 2025 graduation.
Katie Holloway Bridge
California State University, Northridge
Gold, Women’s Sitting Volleyball
United States
Katie Holloway Bridge competes with Team USA's women's sitting volleyball at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games, held in 2021.
Now a five-time Paralympian and five-time medalist,
Katie Holloway Bridge ('08) and Team USA took home the gold for women’s sitting volleyball at the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games. An outside sitter, Holloway Bridge helped her team beat China 3-1 in the final game with 15 points on 12 kills, two blocks and one ace. Holloway Bridge and Team USA won silver medals at the 2008 Beijing Paralympics and 2012 London Paralympics and won gold at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Paralympics and 2020 Tokyo Paralympics. At the 2020 Games, she served as the team’s captain and was named MVP.
While earning her degree in sociology at CSUN, Holloway Bridge was a four-year athlete on the women’s basketball team and became the first woman to compete with a prosthetic limb in NCAA Division 1 basketball history.
Congratulations to these incredible Olympians!