There were millions of moments over the last two or so weeks in Paris that were “Olympic Moments.”
Simone Biles winning all-around gold. Simone Biles gracefully bowing to her rival on the podium. Simone Biles flipping through the air 600 times with the ease of an afternoon stroll you or I would take.
Alright, a lot of them revolved around Simone Biles.
But there were other Olympic moments too, and if you care about Penn State, there were quite a few generated by former Nittany Lions.
Whether it was on the soccer field, the volleyball court and, yes of course, the pommel horse, Penn Staters left a noticeable imprint on the 2024 games, and that’s something that shouldn’t be taken for granted.
As college sports enters an era rooted deeper in profit margin and less in amateurism, Penn State’s 2024 Olympics performance is a reminder of the importance in keeping strong levels of support and investment in the sports that don’t pack 107,000 into Beaver Stadium in the fall.
When you crunch the numbers, there are effectively two Penn State sports that consistently turn a profit: Football and men’s basketball. Women’s basketball, men’s hockey and wrestling teeter on the edge season to season but largely fueled by television contracts and ticket sales, football, and to a lesser degree basketball, keep the lights on. But that brings about an age-old question: Should athletic programs turn a profit?
It’s fantastic that Penn State’s athletic department can be fully self-sustaining at the level at which it generates revenue. In fact, it’s an accomplishment that only a handful of schools can say they do as well. Further, education dollars shouldn’t be spent toward sports – even when sports raise the profile of the university.
But that excess money – profit – is the question. Continual investment back into the university’s athletic department is equally important. How that’s done is also something to debate about. At times, it can feel like Penn State athletic department’s administrative bloat has become an issue. And at other times, part of keeping that profitable – or even self-sustaining – means as a fan you’re impacted by a larger “donation” – effectively a seat license – or increased ticket cost. And while I don’t like those as much as the next guy, the Olympics served as a reminder that there is more to the success of an athletic program than just how many wins the football team puts up and how many of those players go on to play on Sundays.
It may have been instant gratification – or maybe recency bias – to feel this way but there is something uniquely prideful about watching Penn Staters succeed at the Olympics.
Even if Penn State’s trio of men’s volleyball players – Aaron Russell, Matt Anderson and Max Holt – nabbed bronze, there is a sense of pride you can have saying that half of the United State men’s volleyball starting roster “bleed blue and white.” And if the latter two of those three were having their last dance, then what a run it’s been for them. It wouldn’t have happened though if Penn State wasn’t one of just a small handful of Division I schools to support both women’s and men’s volleyball.
Meanwhile, Haleigh Washington and Micha Hancock on the women’s side – two of Russ Rose’s greatest players – were once again contributing to the United States women’s success like so many other former Nittany Lions had done as well.
And for what feels like the second Olympics in a row, we’re also seeing the benefit of investment into the wrestling program – both via the Penn State and Nittany Lion Wrestling Club bank accounts. While Aaron Brooks fell heartbreakingly short of the gold medal match, he still walked away with a bronze – seemingly just another mark in one of the most impressive careers ever for Penn Staters – while Zain Retherford and Roman Bravo-Young competed on the world’s stage.
There was Joe Kovacs’ moment of clinching another medal on his last throw – or even fencer’s Myles Chamley-Watson having a legendary cheering section by way of F1 Driver Lewis Hamilton.
And of course, there were two of the games biggest moments. Alyssa Naeher’s massive save and clean sheet in the women’s soccer gold medal final that probably caused your heart to skip a beat if you cared about American soccer, and there was gymnast Stephen Nedoroscik either eagerly, anxiously or patiently waiting for his crack at the pommel horse. And then pommeling said horse, helping the men’s gymnastic team win bronze and becoming the biggest meme of the games.
Those moments were all uniquely those athletes’. Years of work, dedication and everything else included in the Olympic spirit all part of that. But Penn State played a role in elevating all of that talent and there’s something to be said for that. It is the mark of a well-rounded athletic department that can bring a sense of a pride the way any of those Olympic moments do. It shows what a force Penn State is and can be at the national and even world level.
If you’d Thanos snap Penn State out of the equation, some of those moments in Paris don’t happen and those moments won’t likely happen in the 2028 LA Games either if Penn State doesn’t continue its support for those sports.
As the looming threat of consolidation lingers thanks to things like the House’s ruling or the general hunger to make a buck – and while Pat Kraft has said he’s full bore on supporting Olympic sports – other schools are going to have to make decisions that impact athletes like those who fence, wrestle or swim.
And if Penn State truly wants to be a leader in intercollegiate athletics, it must not waver from that support.
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