23 Ivy Athletes to Represent the League in Salt Lake City

The Olympics are steeped in a tradition as rich as that of the Ivy League. Both the Olympics and the Ivy League trace their symbolic historical legacy to ancient Greece, where the world’s first Olympic athletic competitions and higher education was first theorized. Both the Olympics and the Ancient Eight claim to showcase the world’s best in their respective fields, brawn and brains. And so it is fitting that 23 Ivy League graduates or undergraduates will be competing in the winter Olympic games in Salt Lake City, Utah this month.

In past summer and winter games, 121 Ivy Leaguers have now combined to win 149 Olympic gold medals according to IvyLeagueSports.com.

With millions of viewers likely to watch the games on NBC, these Ivy graduates are out to prove that they are not only among the brainiest athletes in the world, but also among the most skilled. So as the torch has been carried by runners across the country, these athletes have packed their bags and made the trip from their East Coast intellectual havens to Olympic Town, USA.

“Starting on Friday, you’ll be able to track on our front page the progress of our competitiors,” Ivy League Sports representative Nathan Fry said.

Only six Ivy League schools will be represented by these 23 athletes, the two exceptions being Columbia and Yale. While the Lions and Bulldogs will not have any athletes competing in the games, nine current and former Dartmouth students will be participating. Harvard will have the second most representatives at the games with six. Brown and Cornell each have three athletes competing in Utah, while Penn and Princeton bring up the rear with one athlete apiece.

In the 1998 Nagano games, seven Ivy athletes won gold medals. All of them were on the women’s ice hockey team and had attended either Brown, Harvard, or Dartmouth.

The explanation for these numbers is actually quite simple; Harvard is located in Cambridge, Mass. and Dartmouth is situated in Hanover, N.H. These cold northern environs are condusive to winter sports, and both schools have strong ice hockey and skiing programs. In fact, 20 of the competitors will be competing in either men’s or women’s ice hockey or some form of skiing competition.

Columbia is one of only two Ivy League schools without a varsity ice hockey team.

Columbia has had six athletes compete and win medals in past summer Olympic games. Most recently, former Lion swimmer Christina Teuscher CC ’00, won a bronze medal in the 2000 Sydney games and a gold medal in the 1996 Atlanta games.