For nearly a century, Michigan State University Spartans have competed on the world’s biggest athletic stage, and the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics will be no exception.
The games run Feb. 6–22 in Italy, where two former MSU men’s hockey players will take to the ice. Wojciech Stachowiak, who played at MSU from 2018 to 2020, will compete for Team Germany, and Dustin Gazley, on MSU’s team from 2007 to 2011, will skate for the host Italian team.
Together, they add to an Olympic legacy more than 120 Spartans strong. And they have been successful. Since 1928, Spartans have brought home 18 gold, 13 silver and five bronze medals.
In fact, Spartans have competed at every Summer Olympics since 1924 and every Winter Olympics since 1984. Here is a look at every medal winner:
1928 – Frederick P. Alderman was the first Spartan to win Olympic gold. A sprinter at the 1928 Summer Games in Amsterdam, Alderman helped Team USA set the world record in the 4x400-meter relay.
1952 – Clarke C. Scholes, class of 1952, won Olympic gold in the 100-meter freestyle at the 1952 Summer Games in Helsinki, setting the Olympic record in a preliminary heat.
1960 – Doug Blubaugh, MSU assistant wrestling coach from 1966 to 1972, won a gold medal in freestyle wrestling at the Rome Olympics.
1960 – Eugene W. Grazia, class of 1960, and Weldon H. Olson, class of 1955, each won gold medals as members of the USA hockey team in the 1960 Winter Olympics at Squaw Valley.
1968 – Linda Gustavson (McGuire), class of 1972, won a gold medal in the 4x100-meter freestyle swimming relay in Mexico City.
1968 – Harry Kendrick and Marvin Knight, both from the class of 1970, were members of the gold medalist U.S. baseball team. Baseball was a demonstration sport in 1968 but was elevated to an official Olympic sport in the five Olympiads from Barcelona 1992 to Beijing 2008.
1968 – Kenneth M. Walsh, class of 1967, won two gold medals in swimming at the Mexico City Summer Games — in the 4x100 freestyle relay and the 4x100 medley relay.
1992 – Earvin “Magic” Johnson won gold at the 1992 Barcelona Games as a member of the U.S. men’s basketball team, also known as the Dream Team.
2000 – Savatheda Fynes, class of 1998, member of the Bahamian women’s track team, won a gold medal in the 4x100-meter relay at the Sydney Olympics.
2000 – Steve Smith won gold at the 2000 Sydney Games as a member of the U.S. men’s basketball team.
2010 and 2014 – Duncan Keith won men’s ice hockey gold twice with his Canadian teammates.
2016 – Emily Regan, a 2010 graduate of MSU, won gold in women’s eight rowing.
2016 and 2021 – Draymond Green and Team USA won gold in men’s basketball.
1956 - Kevan Gosper, class of 1956, and David Lean, class of 1958, won silver medals as members of the Australian 4x400-meter relay team at the 1956 Melbourne Summer Games.
1956 – Weldon H. Olson, class of 1955, won a silver medal with the U.S. men’s ice hockey team at the Cortina d’Ampezzo Winter Olympics.
1964 – Gary J. Dilley, class of 1967, won swimming silver in the 200-meter backstroke at the Tokyo Summer Olympics.
1968 – Donald R. Behm, class of 1968, won wrestling silver in the bantamweight class at the Mexico City Summer Olympics.
1968 – Linda Gustavson (McGuire), class of 1972, won a silver medal in 400-meter freestyle swimming to add to her relay gold at the Mexico City Summer Games.
1968 – Pamela Kruse, class of 1973, won a silver medal in 800-meter freestyle swimming at the Mexico City Summer Games.
1968 – Kenneth M. Walsh, class of 1967, won silver in the 100-meter freestyle in swimming at the Mexico City Summer Olympics.
1984 – Judi Brown Clarke, class of 1983, won track silver in the 400-meter hurdles at the Los Angeles Summer Olympics.
1994 – Dwayne Norris won a silver medal as a member of Canada’s ice hockey team in Lillehammer, Norway.
1996 – Savatheda Fynes, class of 1998, won track silver with the women’s Bahamian 4x100-meter relay team in Atlanta.
2002 – Mike York won hockey silver on the U.S. men’s team at the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics.
2010 – Ryan Miller, goalie with U.S. men’s ice hockey, won a silver medal in Vancouver.
1948 – Leland G. Merrill won wrestling bronze in the 160.5-pound class at the London Summer Olympics.
1964 – Marcia Jones Smoke, class of 1964, won the bronze medal in kayak at the1964 Tokyo Summer Games.
1968 – Linda Gustavson (McGuire), class of 1972, won the bronze medal (she totaled three medals in 1968), in 100-meter freestyle swimming at the Mexico City Summer Games.
1968 – Marilyn Corson Whitney, class of 1972, won a bronze medal with Canada in the 4x100-meter freestyle relay at the Mexico City Summer Games.
1976 – Stan Dziedzic, an assistant wrestling coach at MSU from 1972 to 1978, won a bronze in freestyle wrestling at the Montreal Olympics.
This list was updated from a 2008 Spartan Alumni Magazine story.