McCombs Goes for Gold

Students and alumni make their mark at the Paris Olympic Games

A half dozen remarkable Texas McCombs students and alumni have competed this year at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris — and three of them stood on the podium to receive medals. They are among 30 UT student-athletes and alumni representing 16 countries and 12 sports.

These remarkable athletes have showcased the hard work, dedication, and excellence that are integral to making our McCombs community. As this year’s Olympic Games come to a close this weekend, we congratulate our McCombs Longhorns on their outstanding performances in Paris and raise our horns in their honor. Visit the Team USA website for more detailed information, recaps, and medal counts.

Swimming
Erin Gemmell, BBA, Rising Sophomore
Silver Medal

Swimming runs in the family for Erin Gemmell: Her father was a captain for the University of Michigan swim team, and her brother swam for Team USA in the 2012 London Olympics. During Fall 2023, Gemmell started her collegiate career swimming for UT and taking classes in the McCombs BBA program. After helping the Longhorn team become Big 12 champions during the 2024 season, she competed in her first Olympic Games at just 19 years old. Gemmell swam alongside Katie Ledecky, Paige Madden, and Claire Weinstein in the women’s 4×200-meter freestyle relay, leading the U.S. to take home the silver medal. Gemmell also placed sixth in the 200-meter individual freestyle semifinals.

Track and Field, Shot Put
Ryan Crouser, MSF ’16
Gold Medal

After a promising start at high school track and field in his Oregon hometown, Ryan Crouser gained further prestige as a member of The University of Texas at Austin track and field team while he was an undergrad at McCombs. He was a four-time NCAA shot put champion and nine-time NCAA All-American during his Longhorn career. Crouser returned to McCombs to pursue a Master of Science in finance while simultaneously preparing for his first Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. He took home a gold medal at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in 2016 and again in the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. Crouser won the gold medal in shot put in the 2024 Games, making him the first athlete to win three consecutive gold medals in shot put and cementing himself as the “best shot putter of all time,” according to USA Today.

Golf
Scottie Scheffler, BBA ’18
Gold Medal

Originally from New Jersey, Scottie Scheffler came to Austin to play on the Longhorn golf team and pursue a BBA in finance. He helped propel the team to win three Big 12 championships while also starting his professional career at his first U.S. Open in 2016. Scheffler most recently won the 2024 Masters Championship and held the No. 1 golf ranking in May 2023. He is the first player to win The Players Championship in back-to-back years. With 12 PGA Tour wins under his belt, Scheffler took on his first Olympic Games in Paris this summer. He proved himself yet again to be one of the best players in the game, finishing with a score of 62 and winning the gold medal.

Women’s Basketball
Yvonne Anderson, BBA ’12

With offers from the table from Illinois, Missouri, and Vanderbilt, Yvonne Anderson chose to start her collegiate basketball career as a Longhorn. She garnered attention for her performance both on the court and in the classroom: She maintained a 4.0 GPA and was nominated for the Academic All-America team, an organization that honors student-athletes’ outstanding academic and athletic achievement, two years in a row. After graduating, Anderson obtained Serbian citizenship and began playing point guard for Fenerbahçe, a professional team in Europe’s Women’s Basketball Super League. She played on the Serbian national team in this year’s Olympic Games and helped the team beat the Chinese national team 81–59 in the preliminary round. The Serbian team ended its Olympic run in the quarterfinals after an 85–67 loss to Australia.

Women’s Rowing
Kaitlin Knifton, BBA ’22

Born and raised in Austin, 24-year-old Kaitlin Knifton competed in her first Olympics this year after showing her strength on the UT Women’s rowing team. She helped the Longhorn rowing team win two NCAA championships while also serving on the student council and being a member of the National Honor Society. After graduating with a BBA in marketing from McCombs, she stayed at UT to earn a graduate certificate in sports communication from the Moody College of Communication and continue her Longhorn rowing career. Knifton earned a spot on the USA Women’s Rowing Team in 2024 and took part in the four-person competition. After the first heat, the team came in first in the repechage round and came in fifth place in the finals.

Women’s Rowing
Daisy Mazzio-Manson, MSM, ’21

After transferring to McCombs from Yale University to pursue a Master of Science in marketing, Daisy Mazzio-Manson made a splash as part of the championship team at UT. While at Yale, Mazzio-Manson was named a 2019 Collegiate Rowing Association First-Team All-American and earned 2018 CRCA Second-Team All-American honors. She was a two-time All-Ivy First Team selection and received the Chris Ernst Award for Excellent Performance in her first year at Yale. She recently won a silver World Championship medal and has been participating in women’s rowing for eight years. This was also Mazzio-Manson’s first Olympics, and she rowed alongside Kaitlin Knifton in the four-person competition for Team USA.

Story by Amanda Waxman