NC State athletics represented with three medals in the Olympics
NC State second-year volleyball coach Luka Slabe will have some gold to show off to his team, which starts its regular season Aug. 21 with a home match against Coastal Carolina.
Slabe was an assistant coach on Team USA's women's volleyball squad that captured the country's first-ever Olympic gold medal by beating Brazil (3-0) on the final day of the Tokyo Olympics.
Slabe's gold is not the lone medal won by a NC State-affiliated representative. Former rifle star Lucas Kozeniesky won the silver medal in the mixed 10-meter air rifle, complementing the silver Kozeniesky captured in the 2018 World Championship for the 50-meter team rifle.
And in a development that highlights the promising immediate future for the men's swimming program, incoming recruit Noe Ponti from Switzerland won a bronze medal in the 100-meter butterfly. The 20-year-old was a semifinalist in the 200-meter butterfly as well, and he was heralded as one of the future breakout stars of swimming.
Ponti helped the Swiss 800 free relay team finish sixth, too.
Here is a rundown of how the others from the Wolfpack did in Tokyo.
• Former NC State swimmer Simonas Bilis was supposed to swim anchor for Lithuania on the 4x100 medley relay, but Lithuania was disqualified for jumping too early on its first exchange.
• Former Wolfpack track star Gabriele Cunningham made it to the finals of the 100-meter hurdles where she finished in seventh place in a time of 13.01 seconds, less than a half second away from the bronze place finisher.
• Former softball player Tatyana Forbes played in all but one game for Team Mexico, primarily in left field but also as a pinch runner and centerfielder. Mexico had a chance to medal but fell 3-2 to Canada in the bronze medal game.
• Swimmer Sophie Hansson, coming off NCAA titles in the 100 and 200-yard breaststroke races at NC State, represented Sweden in both versions of the event. She advanced to the 100-meter finals and was a medal contender but finished sixth.
• Former swimmer and NCAA title winner Anton Ipsen represented his native Denmark in both the 800 and 1500 freestyle distance races, but he did not advance out of either of his heats.
• Swimmer Nyls Korstanje used an Olympic redshirt this past year at NC State to focus on representing his country, Netherlands. Korstanje advanced to the 100 butterfly semifinals where he finished sixth in the same race that Ponti was second.
Kortanje also helped the 4x100 medley relay team finish sixth.
• Like Korstanje, swimmer Alexander Norgaard from Denmark focused on the Olympics this year rather than compete for NC State. Norgaard was expected to be a top freshman on the team this past year.
Norgaard swam with countryman Ipsen in both the 800- and the 1500-meter freestyles, but he failed to advance out of either race despite finishing fourth in his heat in the 800.
• Swimmer Andrea Podmanikova was part of a strong group of female breaststroke performers for NC State this year, earning All-American honors in both the 100 and 200. She represented Slovakia in both races but did not advance out of her heats.
• Swimmer Kacper Stokowski nearly won the 100 backstroke at the 2021 NCAA Championships, coming in second in his debut season with NC State after transferring in from Florida. Swimming for Poland in the Olympics, he decisively won his heat in the 100 backstroke but did not advance to the semifinals.
He also swam on Poland's 4x100 medley relay team that finished sixth in its semifinals heat.
• Former two-time 200-yard butterfly NCAA champion Andreas Vazaios participated in his third Olympics for Greece, swimming in the 200 IM, but did not advance out of his heat. He also swam on Greece's 4x100 freestyle and 4x100 medley relays, but neither reached the finals.
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