For USC Athletics, a year of championships, challenges and changes
Year in review: USC fans celebrated Olympic medals, three national championships and a couple of headline-grabbing hires that indicate a promising future.
There’s no denying that 2021 was a trying year for USC’s highest-profile athletic program. But off the football field, Trojans celebrated national championships, continued an unprecedented streak of Olympic medals and celebrated some game-changing hires — including one that shook an entire sport to its core. Roll the highlights.
‣ USC’s Olympic tradition continues
The Tokyo Games marked the fifth consecutive Summer Olympics that USC athletes won at least 20 medals. USC continued its streak of having a Trojan win a gold medal at every Summer Olympics since 1912.
USC athletes win 21 medals, including U.S. university best 11 golds, at Tokyo Olympics
Trojans earn 5 track golds; Allyson Felix becomes all-time track leader In Olympic medals
‣ Bringing home the trophy (three times)
The Women of Troy were victorious in the water, on the track and in the sand, adding three more national championships to USC’s collection that now stands at 133 national championships.
Several Trojans also claimed individual championships in track and field: Anna Cockrell (100-meter hurdles, 400-meter hurdles); Isaiah Jewett (800 meters); Kaelin Roberts (400 meters); and Angie Annelus, Jasmine Jones, TeeTee Terry and Lanae-Tava Thomas (400-meter relay).
Women’s track and field team wins second NCAA outdoor championship In 3 seasons
USC beach volleyball team captures fourth national championship
‣ Winners in the classroom, too
Twelve of the 19 USC sports tracked by the NCAA had a graduation success rate above 90%, including six with a perfect 100%: men’s basketball, tennis and volleyball; and women’s lacrosse, soccer, and track and field.
USC Athletics’ graduation success rate hits all-time high for eighth consecutive year
‣ A prestigious honor
Anna Cockrell became the 17th Trojan to earn a Honda Sports Award and joins Virginia Powell (2006) and Angela Williams (2002) as the only USC athletes to receive the honor for track and field.
Anna Cockrell named 2021 Honda Sports Award Winner for track and field
‣ New facilities on the rise
USC’s track and field student-athletes shine on the international stage — and now they have a home that matches their Olympic legacy.
‣ Hires that turned heads
The women’s basketball team’s new coach had a stellar run at Cal before joining the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers as an assistant. And athletic director Mike Bohn pulled off the coup of the year with Lincoln Riley’s hire as head football coach.
Cleveland Cavaliers assistant Lindsay Gottlieb named USC women’s basketball head coach
USC 2021 | A LOOK BACK — See more of our year-end package:
- The passionate Trojans who inspired us.
- A game-changing commitment to sustainability.
- Groundbreaking advances from our research labs.
- Athletic highlights that made the Trojan Family stand up and cheer.
- The stories you couldn’t help but share.
More stories about: Awards, Basketball, Beach Volleyball, Football, Olympics, Track & Field, Water Polo, Year in Review 2021
