Rutgers Alums Earn Two Golds and a Bronze Medal at Paris Olympics
Kahleah Copper and Casey Murphy earned gold medals with United States women’s basketball and soccer, respectively, and Sebastian Rivera battled to a bronze in freestyle wrestling for Team Puerto Rico in a winning weekend for Rutgers alums to conclude the Paris Olympics.
Copper was clutch at the close for Team USA, which earned its eighth consecutive gold in its 67-66 championship win over France on Sunday. She scored 12 points off the bench in the final, including 10 in the fourth quarter. Copper’s two free throws with 5 seconds remaining provided the decisive, one-point margin and followed her key basket with 1:18 on the clock.
“This was one of the stars of the game,” NBC Sports announcer Noah Eagle said during the medal ceremony. “Kahleah Copper earned every bit of this medal.”
The Philadelphia native’s heroic efforts were preceded that morning by those of Rivera, who overcame a 4-0 deficit with less than three minutes to go in a 10-9 victory over Mongolia’s Tulga Tumur-Ochir. The Toms River product closed the 65kg bronze medal match with a takedown at the buzzer to become the first Rutgers wrestler to win an Olympic medal.
When video review confirmed Rivera’s victory, he did a somersault into a twisting backflip on the mat before hugging former Rutgers associate head wrestling coach Donny Pritzlaff.
“He’s been down in every single match that I’ve watched him wrestle this week,” said NBC Sports analyst Jordan Burroughs. “He’s got the heart of a champion. Never stops fighting.”
Murphy began the Rutgers medal count on Saturday when the Americans defeated Brazil, 1-0, in the women’s soccer final, the team’s fifth gold. The goalkeeper from Bridgewater was joined on the U.S. roster by alumna Denise Reddy, who served as assistant coach.
The duo returned to Rutgers with the USWNT to practice on the Busch Campus before travelling to Paris.
Despite not finishing on the podium, alums Rudy Winkler and Arella Guirantes also excelled on the world stage.
Winkler, the United States record holder in the hammer throw, placed sixth in the event with a throw of 77.92 meters. It marked the three-time Olympian’s best finish at the games after placing seventh at Tokyo in 2021.
Guirantes averaged a team-best 12.3 points-per-game on the hardwood for Puerto Rico in three group stage contests, including a 20-point scoring performance against China.
The three medals contribute to a long Olympic history at Rutgers that dates back to 1908. Murphy became the third Rutgers alumna to earn gold on the pitch, joining Saskia Webber (1996, Atlanta) and Carli Lloyd (2008, Beijing; 2012, London), while Copper joined Cappie Pondexter (2008, Beijing) on the hardwood.
The 2024 Paris Olympics flame was extinguished in an elaborate closing ceremony on Sunday. The United States topped the final medal count with 126, including 40 gold. Team USA claimed 26 gold medals in women's events, the most in a single Olympics.
To read more about Rutgers’ 2024 Paris Olympians, as well as two past Olympics medalist alumni, visit the Rutgers Foundation and ScarletKnights.com.
