The University of Iowa has generated some of the world's greatest athletes, from NCAA all-time scorers to Superbowl champions. The Iowa City school also has produced athletes who have medaled at the Olympics.
With the 2024 Paris Olympics opening ceremonies on Friday, July 26, here 18 former Hawkeyes who have stood at the podium for Team USA:
Frank Cuhel
Frank Cuhel was a multi-sport athlete at the University of Iowa, playing football while also competing for the track and field team. He set multiple records and secured the NCAA championship in the 220-yard low hurdles.
Cuhel, a Cedar Rapids native, competed for Team USA in the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam, Netherlands, in the 400-meter hurdles, where he won silver.
Later he served as a business envoy for several Dutch firms in America. His work led him to Indonesia at the start of World War II, where Cuhel eventually served as a war correspondent.
In February 1943, Cuhel was killed in the crash of the Yankee Clipper, a Boeing 314 flying boat operated by Pan American World Airways. The aircraft crash landed in the Tagus River near Lisbon, Portugal.
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George Saling
George Saling was born in Memphis, Tennessee, but grew up in Croydon, Iowa, 70 miles southeast of Des Moines. He helped power the University of Iowa track and field team during the 1932 NCAA championships, securing a title in the 120-yard hurdles with an unofficial world record time of 14.1 seconds. Unfortunately, his record-setting time was never officially ratified.
Saling won gold for Team USA in the 120-yard hurdles at the 1932 Olympic games in Los Angeles.
Saling was killed six months later in a car accident in Missouri at the age of 23.
Wally Ris
Wally Ris came from an athletic-minded family and excelled on the University of Iowa swim team. Originally from Chicago, Ris was the NCAA national champion in the 100-yard freestyle in both 1948 and 1949.
Ris won two gold medals at the 1948 London Olympics. He was a member of the men's 4x200-meter freestyle relay team and won an individual gold medal in the men's 100-meter freestyle.
Ris was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame as an Honor Swimmer in 1966.
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Bowen Stassforth
Originally from Los Angeles, California, Bowen Stassforth was an eight-time All-American for the University of Iowa swim and was a vital member of the NCAA Championship-winning 3x100 medley relay in 1949.
Despite a fear of water at a young age, Stassforth went on to compete in the 1952 Olympics, which were hosted in Helsinki, Finland. Stassforth won a silver medal in the 200-meter breaststroke race. Stassforth also won a bronze medal in the same race at the 1951 Pan American Games and a gold medal in the medley relay.
Stassforth was inducted into the University of Iowa Hall of Fame in 1996, solidifying his legacy as one of the school's greatest swimmers.
Chuck Darling
Chuck Darling was a two-sport star for the Hawkeyes, earning three letters in basketball and two in track. The Denison native, at the time, was one of three players in program history to be recognized as a consensus first-team All-American, an honor he received during his senior year in 1952.
Darling was selected by the Rochester Royals, now the Sacramento Kings, in the first round of the 1952 NBA draft. Instead, Darling chose to be a member of the American Olympic basketball team, which won gold at the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne, Australia.
Carl Cain
Carl Cain played for the University of Iowa from 1954 to 1956, leading the men's basketball team to back-to-back Final Fours as a key member of the well-known "Fabulous Five." Cain helped the program to 56 wins, including 35 Big Ten victories and two regular-season titles.
Cain was also a member of the gold medal-winning men's team at the 1956 Olympic games in Melbourne, Australia, along with fellow Hawkeye, Chuck Darling. Cain's jersey number, 21, was retired in 1989, and Cain was inducted into the Iowa Athletics Hall of Fame.
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Terry McCann
Terry McCann wrestled for the University of Iowa, losing only three matches in three years. McCann also won three Big Ten and two NCAA titles before heading to the Olympics.
McCann won a gold medal at the 1960 Games in Rome. McCann later was a motivational speaker for Toastmasters, an organization that helps people develop their public speaking and leadership skills. He eventually became executive director of the non-profit.
Beth Beglin
Beth Beglin, originally from Teaneck, New Jersey, came to the University of Iowa to play field hockey.
Beglin was a member of the USA field hockey team for two Olympics and would've competed a third time if not for the 1980 boycott of the Moscow games. Beglin and Team USA won bronze at the 1984 games in Los Angeles. She was also on the 1988 teams and competed in Seoul, South Korea, but the Americans did not medal, placing eighth.
Beglin returned to the University of Iowa once her career was over, coaching the Hawkeye field hockey team for 11 years from 1988 to 1999. Under her direction, the Hawkeyes won 25 straight Big Ten Conference matches from 1990 to 1993.
In 2014, Beglin and her teammates from the 1984 Olympic games were inducted into the U.S. Field Hockey Hall of Fame.
Ed Banach
Ed Banach wrestled for the University of Iowa during Coach Dan Gable's reign from 1980 to 1983 alongside his fraternal twin brother Lou Banach. He was a four-time NCAA All-American and a three-time NCAA national champion. Banach was also the 1983 Big Ten Athlete of the Year.
Banach wrestled for Team USA in the 1984 Olympics, taking home the gold medal in the 198-pound freestyle weight class. Banach is in both the University of Iowa Athletics Hall of Fame and the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.
Banach returned to Iowa after he won a gold medal and became an assistant coach at Iowa State University until 1987. Banach still lives in Ames today.
Lou Banach
Lou Banach, Ed Banach's fraternal twin brother, secured a career record of 92-14-3 at the University of Iowa. He won two national championships in 1981 and 1983.
Lou Banach and Ed Banach were the first American twin brothers to win wrestling gold in the same Olympics.
Lou Banach won a gold medal in Freestyle Wrestling in the 220-pound-weight class at the 1984 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Banach was inducted into the University of Iowa Athletics Hall of Fame in 2002.
Barry Davis
Barry Davis was born in Bloomfield, Iowa but grew up in Cedar Rapids, where he attended Prairie High School, winning three state titles. Davis was a three-time NCAA Division I National Champion at the University of Iowa, earning All-American honors four times.
Davis won a silver medal at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. He also wrestled in the 1988 Olympics but did not medal.
In 1985, Davis returned to the University of Iowa to finish out his final year of eligibility in collegiate wrestling, earning Big Ten Athlete of the Year honors. He then served as a University of Iowa graduate assistant coach and later was an assistant coach from 1988–1992.
Davis was the head coach for the University of Wisconsin wrestling team from 1994 to 2018.
Randy Lewis
Randy Lewis was a two-time NCAA champion and four-time All-American at the University of Iowa.
Lewis was also a two-time Olympic qualifier. He was set to compete for Team USA in 1980 at the Olympics in Moscow, but President Jimmy Carter's boycott prevented the team from traveling and competing in the games. In 1984, he won a gold medal in the featherweight class in Los Angeles.
Lewis was honored as a Distinguished Member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 1998.
Anthuan Maybank
Before coming to the University of Iowa, Anthuan Maybank was setting track and field records at his high school, Georgetown High, in Georgetown, South Carolina. During his time at Iowa, he ran the 200 and 400 meters and also long-jumped. Maybank was a four-time All-American in indoor track and field in 1992 and 1993 and outdoor in 1993 and 1994. He was an NCAA silver medalist in the outdoor 400-meter run.
While Maybank stood out on the university team, he was somewhat of an underdog during the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia. Maybank won a gold medal as part of the 4x400 men's relay team, running the last leg of the race, preventing the United Kingdom from victory.
Maybank is a sprint coach at Tatnall School, a private prep college in New Castle County, Delaware.
Tom Brands
While Tom Brands might be best known as the current head coach of the University of Iowa wrestling team, he wrestled for legendary coach Dan Gable, along with his twin brother, Terry Brands. Tom Brands dominated the collegiate ranks, earning four All-American honors, three NCAA titles, and three Big Ten championships. He capped it off by being named Outstanding Wrestler at the 1992 NCAA tournament.
Brands qualified for the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, winning a freestyle gold medal at 136.6 pounds.
Brands eventually returned to the University of Iowa as an assistant coach from 1993 to 2004 before becoming head coach at Virginia Tech for two seasons. In 2006, Brands returned to Iowa City has led the team to four NCAA team titles and six Big Ten team titles and has coached 13 NCAA individual champions.
Terry Brands
Terry Brands, Tom Brands' twin brother, won two NCAA titles at Iowa, in 1990 and 1992.
Though he didn't qualify for the 1996 Olympics like his brother, he did win a bronze medal at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia.
Brands is associate head coach for the University of Iowa wrestling team, serving under his brother.
Brands was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2006 as a Distinguished Member and was inducted into the Iowa Athletics Hall of Fame in 2005.
Lincoln McIlravy
Former University of Iowa wrestler Lincoln McIlravy' was known for his innovative attacks and stamina. McIlravy was a four-time finalist and three-time NCAA Wrestling Division I champion.
McIlravy took home a freestyle bronze medal at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia.
McIlravy was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame as a Distinguished Member in 2009. He now owns hotels in both Iowa and Nebraska.
Jessica Rish is an entertainment, dining and business reporter for the Iowa City Press-Citizen. She can be reached at JRish@press-citizen.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @rishjessica_
This article originally appeared on Iowa City Press-Citizen: University of Iowa Olympic legends: Hawkeyes USA medalists and more through the years
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