From Muhammad Ali to Kelsi Worrell Dahlia, 5 Olympians with Louisville roots who won gold

Muhammad Ali: ‘What’s My Name?’

Louisville has produced its share of gold medalists. Muhammad Ali, who competed as Cassius Clay in the 1960 Olympics in Rome, is known throughout the world for his boxing feats.

Will runner Yared Nuguse or thrower Jayden Ulrich seize the spotlight at the 2024 Games in Paris? Stay tuned.

Here are the five top Olympians (in no particular order) with Louisville roots who have won gold:

Muhammad Ali

As Clay, Ali competed in the light heavyweight division as an 18-year-old at the Rome Games in 1960. He won his four fights easily, defeating three-time European champion Zbigniew Pietrzykowski to win the gold medal. Ali ended his amateur career with a 100-5 record, six Kentucky Golden Glove titles, two national Golden Glove titles and two AAU national titles.

Mary Meagher Plant

Olympic gold medalist Mary T. Meagher, right, waves to the crowd.

Sacred Heart alum Mary Meagher Plant won three gold medals at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics (100-meter butterfly, 200 fly and 4x100 medley relay). Plant completed her swimming career with 24 U.S. national swimming titles. She is a two-time Honda Sports Award winner (given to the most outstanding women's college swimmer of the year) and competed for Cal-Berkeley. She won the Honda Broderick Cup in 1987 as the nation's top female collegiate athlete.

Ralph Beard

Male High School alum Ralph Beard was part of the famed Kentucky Fabulous Five (Alex Groza, Wallace Jones, Cliff Barker and Kenny Rollins) that played for Team USA basketball at the 1948 London Olympics. Beard played two seasons in the NBA before he received a lifetime ban for his alleged role in the 1951 CCNY point-shaving scandal.

Kelsi Worrell Dahlia

Kelsi Worrell Dahlia, who competed for the University of Louisville, won gold at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. She was a member of the 4x100 medley relay and raced in the prelims. Dahlia retired from swimming in 2022 after winning a record nine medals at the 2018 World Championships and won one gold medal at the 2019 World Aquatics Championships after swimming the butterfly leg of the 4x100 medley relay.

Angel McCoughtry

Angel McCoughtry won women's basketball gold in 2012 and 2016 with Team USA. McCoughtry led U of L to the Final Four in 2009. She played in the WNBA for the Atlanta Dream (2009-2019), Las Vegas Aces (2020-2021) and Minnesota Lynx (2022), earning five All-Star selections, six All-WNBA nods, eight All-Defensive team selections and two scoring titles (2012, 2013).

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