Only 11 Countries Won More Olympic Medals Than Cal at Paris

The Paris Olympic are in the books and only 11 countries claimed more Olympic hardware than the Bears’ total of 23 medals.

Eighteen athletes with Cal affiliations totaled those 23 medals, three of them coming during Sunday's final action.

Swimmer Ryan Murphy, in his third Olympics, led the way. The 29-year-old added three medals to his collection, picking up a gold in the mixed 4x200 medley relay, a silver in the men’s 4x100 medley relay and a bronze in the 100 backstroke.

Ryan Murphy, right, cheers on teammates in the 4x100 medley relay | Grace Hollars-USA TODAY Sports

Murphy, unlikely to return to the Games at Los Angeles in 2028, returns home with nine career Olympics medals, five of them gold.

Swimmers Abby Weitzeil, Jack Alexy and Hunter Armstrong, a member of the pre-Olympics training group at Cal, each won two medals.

Camryn Rogers won Cal’s only individual gold medal in Paris, capturing the women’s hammer throw to go with her world championship title of a year ago.

The 25-year-old, who set the collegiate record and won three NCAA titles at Cal, became the first female Golden Bear to win any Olympic medal in track and field. She also helped her native Canada sweep the hammer throw, with Ethan Katzberg capturing the men’s title.

Mykolas Alekna, left, shows off his Olympic silver medal | John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports

The Bears suffered a near-miss in the men’s discus, where Lithuanian Mykolas Alekna lost the gold medal by two inches to Jamaica’s Roje Stona.

Alekna, a junior at Cal, broke the 38-year-old world record in the discus last spring and at Paris broke the Olympic record held by his father, two-time gold medalist Virgijus Alekna, at the 2004 Games.

Mykolas Alekna, who at 21 was trying to become the youngest gold medalist since 1956, won silver with a best throw of 229 feet, 6 inches (69.97 meters). Stona, a former Clemson and Arkansas athlete, threw 229-8 (70.00 meters).

Georgia Bell, left, poses with fellow 1,500-meter medalists | Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

No doubt the most surprising Cal medalist was 30-year-old Georgia Bell, a 1,500-meter runner from Great Britain, who won bronze with a national-record performance.

Bell had an unremarkable career at Cal, then stepped away from running for more than four years. But against a field of runners that included six of the 13 fastest in history including the world-recordholder, she shaved four seconds off her best time to finish third at 3:52.61, moving her to No. 11 on the all-time world list.

Luca Cupido looks for an open shot | Jack Gruber-USA TODAY Sports

And on Sunday, after a 16-year wait, the USA men’s water polo team — powered by former Cal stars Adrian Weinberg, Johnny Hooper and Luca Cupido — returned to the Olympic medal stand. The Americans beat Hungary 11-8 in a shootout to win the bronze medal.

Twenty of the 23 medals were earned in aquatic sports -- swimming, water polo or rowing. Fourteen of the 23 went to U.S. athletes with Cal alums from five international countries claiming the other nine medals.

CAL’S MEDAL HAUL AT THE PARIS OLYMPICS

Gold (5)

Track and field: Camryn Rogers, Canada, women’s hammer throw

Swimming: Ryan Murphy, USA, mixed 4x200 medley relay

Swimming: Abby Weitzeil, USA, mixed 4x200 medley relay

Swimming: Jack Alexy, USA, 4x100 free relay

Swimming: Hunter Armstrong-x, USA, 4x100 free relay

Silver (10)

Track and field: Mykolas Alekna, Lithuania, men’s discus

Swimming: Ryan Murphy, USA, 4x100 medley relay

Swimming: Jack Alexy, USA, 4x100 medley relay

Swimming: Hunter Armstrong-x, USA, 4x100 medley relay

Rowing: Caileigh Filmer, Canada, women’s eight

Rowing: Sydney Payne, Canada, women’s eight

Rowing: Olav Molenaar, Netherlands, men’s eight

Rowing: Ollie Maclean, New Zealand, men’s four

Swimming: Brooks Curry-x, USA, 4x200 relay relay

Swimming: Abby Weitzeil, USA, 4x100 free relay

Bronze (8)

Rowing: Rowan McKellar, Great Britain, women’s eight

Rowing: Christian Tabash, USA, men’s eight

Swimming: Ryan Murphy, USA, 100 backstroke

Track and field: Georgia Bell, Great Britain, 1,500 meters

Water polo: Kitty Lynn Joustra, Netherlands

Water polo: Adrian Weinberg, USA

Water polo: Johnny Hooper, USA

Water polo: Luca Cupido, USA

x-Member of the Cal swim training group