The University of Pennsylvania, often abbreviated simply as Penn or UPenn, is a private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia. It was one of nine colonial colleges chartered prior to the U.S. Declaration of Independence when Benjamin Franklin, the university's founder and first president, advocated for an educational institution that trained leaders in academia, commerce, and public service. Penn identifies as the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, though this representation is challenged by other universities. Benjamin Franklin and other Philadelphians established the university in 1749, which would make it the fifth-oldest institution of higher education.
The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad and also known as Beijing 2008, were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) competed in 28 sports and 302 events, one event more than those scheduled for the 2004 Summer Olympics. This was the first time China had hosted the Olympic Games, and the third time the Summer Olympic Games had been held in East Asia, following the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, and the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. These were also the second Summer Olympic Games to be held in a communist state, the first being the 1980 Summer Olympics in the Soviet Union.
The Big Ten Conference is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives in 1896, it predates the founding of its regulating organization, the NCAA. It is based in the Chicago area in Rosemont, Illinois. For many decades the conference consisted of 10 prominent universities. As of 2014, it consists of 14 member institutions and 2 affiliate institutions, with 2 new member institutions scheduled to join in 2024. The conference competes in the NCAA Division I and its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, the highest level of NCAA competition in that sport.
Teresa Edwards is an American former women's basketball player and four time Olympic gold medalist.
Sir Charles Benedict Ainslie is a British competitive sailor. Ainslie is the most successful sailor in Olympic history. He won medals at five consecutive Olympics from 1996 onwards, including gold at the four consecutive Games held between 2000 and 2012.
College rugby is played by men and women throughout colleges and universities in the United States of America. Seven-a-side and fifteen-a-side variants of rugby union are most commonly played. Most collegiate rugby programs do not fall under the auspices of the NCAA and are instead governed by National Collegiate Rugby and USA Rugby, two nationwide governing bodies. 27 women's programs participate in the NCAA.
Maria Valentina Vezzali is an Italian politician and retired fencer. As a fencer, Vezzali won six Olympic gold medals and was a 16-time World Champion in foil. She is one of only five athletes in the history of the Summer Olympic Games to have won five medals in the same individual event.
The Penn State Nittany Lions are the athletic teams of Pennsylvania State University, except for the women's basketball team, known as the Lady Lions. The school colors are navy blue and white. The school mascot is the Nittany Lion. The intercollegiate athletics logo was commissioned in 1983.
Rebecca Ward is an American sabre fencer. She won the gold medal at the sabre 2006 World Fencing Championships after beating Mariel Zagunis 15–11 in the final, and took bronze in both individual and team sabre events at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. She also won the women's NCAA national individual sabre championship three times, the first in history to do so in sabre. In 2015, she was inducted into the USA Fencing Hall of Fame.
Giovanna Trillini is an Italian foil fencer. She is a 4-time Olympic champion and she won an additional silver and two bronze medals in individual Olympic competitions.
Cliff Bayer is an American two-time Olympian foil fencer.
The Collegiate Rugby Championship (CRC) is an annual college rugby sevens tournament. The CRC is the highest profile college rugby sevens competition in the United States, with the tournament broadcast live on NBC from 2010–2017, on ESPN News and ESPN3 from 2018–2019, The Rugby Network in 2021 and 2023, and on CBS Sports in 2022. The CRC capitalized on the surge in popularity of rugby following the 2009 announcement of the addition of rugby sevens to the Summer Olympics. Beginning in 2021, the tournament has been organized by National Collegiate Rugby under license for the name and logo.
Race Imboden is an American left-handed foil fencer. Imboden is a nine-time team Pan American champion, six-time individual Pan American champion and 2019 team world champion. A three-time Olympian, Imboden is a two-time team Olympic bronze medalist. Imboden competed in the 2012 London Olympic Games, the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games, and the 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games.
Jacquelyn Kate "Jackie" Johnson is an American heptathlete. She is a four-time NCAA outdoor champion, and a three-time NCAA indoor champion (2006–2008) while competing for Arizona State University. She also set a personal best of 6,347 points by placing second at the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials in Eugene, Oregon, which guaranteed her a qualifying place for the Olympics. Johnson was a member of the track and field team for the Arizona State Sun Devils, where she wa coached and trained by Dan O'Brien, gold medalist in the decathlon at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. In 2008, she won the Honda Sports Award as the nation's best female collegiate track and field athlete.
Nontapat Panchan is a Thai foil fencer. Panchan had won nine medals - 5 Golds and 1 Silver in Individual Men's Foil, 2 Golds, 1 Silver, and 1 Bronze in the Men's Team Foil event Southeast Asian Games 2001 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 2003 in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam, 2005 in Manila, Philippines, 2007 in Bangkok, Thailand, 2011 in Palembang, Indonesia, and 2015 in Singapore. He is also a two-time NCAA champion. Nontapat graduated with an Economics Degree from Pennsylvania State University in State College, Pennsylvania, under a full scholarship grant.
Aleesha Barber is a Trinidadian sprint hurdler. She is a 2007 NCAA All-American honoree, a six-time Big Ten Conference champion, and a seven-time collegiate record holder. She set a personal best time of 12.85 seconds at the 2010 NCAA Eastern First Round Championships on the campus of North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro, North Carolina. Barber also won a gold medal for the 100 m hurdles at the 2010 Central American and Caribbean Games in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, clocking at 13.09 seconds.
Frank Molinaro is an American wrestler and coach. He was the 2012 NCAA Champion with an undefeated season record of 33–0 at 149 lbs, helping him become a four-time NCAA Division I All-American at Penn State. In 2016, Molinaro won the US Olympic Team Trials, earning the ability to qualify and represent the United States at the 2016 Summer Olympics at 65 kg. Molinaro would finish the Rio Olympics in 5th place, after losing to Italy's Frank Chamizo Marquez in the bronze medal match 5–3.
Darrell Hill is an American track and field athlete known for the shot put. On July 1, 2016, at the 2016 Olympic Trials, Hill threw a new personal best of 21.63 m to finish third and qualify for the 2016 Olympics. His previous personal best of 21.16m was set just two weeks earlier at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, California.
Micha Danielle Hancock is an American indoor volleyball player for the United States women's national volleyball team. Hancock played setter for the Penn State women's volleyball team, and won back-to-back national championships in 2013 and 2014. Hancock won gold with the national team at the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics.
United States of America