The foundation of 21 teams is made up of athletes with past, present and future ties to the NCAA. Fourteen of these teams are made up entirely of athletes who have been developed through the sport at the collegiate level. The three leading NCAA schools represented on Team USA are Stanford, UCLA and USC.

The NCAA will be the backbone of Team USA in Paris 2024. In fact, it has always been the backbone on the Olympic stage, not just in these upcoming Games. Wednesday's release of Team USA's full roster confirms that college sports are the foundation for Olympic athletes.

This summer in Paris 2024, 75% of Team USA's Olympic athletes will have a collegiate background as part of their journey to Team USA. This includes NCAA programmes, junior colleges, NAIA and clubs. Of those, 65% (385 of 592) have competed in NCAA collegiate sports across all three divisions. In total, 151 NCAA schools from 45 conferences will have one or more Team USA Olympic athletes competing in Paris. 

Twenty-one teams are made up of at least 80 per cent of collegiate athletes, including 14 teams that are made up entirely of NCAA athletes.

Fourteen teams from the USA are composed entirely of athletes with ties to the NCAA. GETTY IMAGES
Fourteen teams from the USA are composed entirely of athletes with ties to the NCAA. GETTY IMAGES

The 100% NCAA teams are:

Women's Basketball

Men's 3x3 Basketball

Women's 3x3 Basketball

Beach Volleyball (men's and women's)

Diving (men's and women's)

Fencing (men's and women's)

Men's golf

Men's gymnastics

Field hockey (women)

Modern Pentathlon

Men's volleyball

Women's volleyball

Men's water polo

Women's Water Polo

At the Paris 2024 Olympics, near gender parity between male and female athletes will be achieved. GETTY IMAGES
At the Paris 2024 Olympics, near gender parity between male and female athletes will be achieved. GETTY IMAGES

"We are incredibly grateful to the collegiate sports administrators, coaches, and support staff who inspire greatness in the student-athletes representing Team USA in Paris this summer," said Sarah Hirshland, CEO of the USOPC. "With over 440 current and former collegiate athletes on the U.S. Olympic Team, we know they are competing not just for themselves and our country, but proudly for their schools and school communities." The top three NCAA schools represented on Team USA are Stanford (38 athletes), UCLA (17), and USC (16).

In terms of Olympic sports, the top five with NCAA athlete representation are track and field (113 athletes), swimming (44), water polo (26), volleyball (24), and rowing (24). The collegiate footprint of Team USA is defined as athletes who have represented or will represent their university in competition. This includes athletes who have completed their collegiate careers, those currently competing, and those who have signed national letters of intent.

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a voluntary association of approximately 1,200 colleges and universities, athletic associations and sports organizations dedicated to the administration of intercollegiate athletics. In the USA, basketball has the strongest collegiate tradition, although collegiate sports provide the foundation for the country's five most popular sports: baseball, basketball, ice hockey, American football and soccer, the latter of which has grown in popularity in recent decades. Such has been the rise of women's football that the team is now one of the most successful in the world. In 1991, 1999, 2015 and 2019, they have won the FIFA Women's World Cup four times. The team has also won four Olympic gold medals in 1996, 2004, 2008 and 2012.