COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado – The U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee today announced the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Hall of Fame, Class of 2022, which includes basketball legend Pat Summitt. Summitt is the first woman inducted in the coaching category.
The late Summitt, who passed away in June 2016, was involved with USA Basketball for more than a decade (1973-84) as both a player and a coach, becoming the first U.S. basketball Olympic medalist to lead the USA to Olympic gold as a head coach.
At 24, Summitt, who served as team co-captain, was the oldest member of the silver medal-winning 1976 U.S. Olympic Women’s Basketball Team in the inaugural Olympic women’s tournament. Eight years later, Summitt helped lead the U.S. women’s team to gold at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
As a USA Basketball coach (head and assistant), she helped the USA to a 46-5 record and won six gold medals, including a pair of World Championships in 1979 and 1983. She compiled a 24-8 record as an athlete, winning two gold and two silver medals.
During her tenure as the women’s basketball head coach at the University of Tennessee from 1974-2012, Summitt led the squad to eight NCAA championships and compiled more wins (1,098) than any other Division I college basketball coach in NCAA history, a record that stood until 2020, and never missed the NCAA tournament in 38 years.
“Pat Summitt is extremely deserving of this honor as a pioneer in women’s basketball,” said Jim Tooley, USA Basketball CEO. “Her commitment to USA Basketball was extraordinary, both as a coach and an athlete. Pat left an indelible mark on not only our game but all of sport.”
The Class of 2022 is made up of eight individuals, two teams, two legends, one coach and one special contributor, who will be honored in a ceremony held Friday, June 24, at the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Museum in Colorado Springs.
The distinguished Class of 2022 also includes Natalie Coughlin (swimming), Muffy Davis (Para alpine skiing and Para-cycling), Mia Hamm (soccer), David Kiley (Para alpine skiing, Para track and field, and wheelchair basketball), Michelle Kwan (figure skating), Michael Phelps (swimming), Lindsey Vonn (alpine skiing), Trischa Zorn-Hudson (Para swimming), the 1976 Women’s 4×100 Freestyle Relay Swimming Team, the 2002 Paralympic Sled Hockey Team, Gretchen Fraser (legend: alpine skiing), Roger Kingdom (legend: track and field) and Billie Jean King (special contributor).
The class of 2022 has represented the United States as athletes at a combined 27 Olympic and Paralympic Games, tallying 129 medals, including 86 golds.
National Governing Bodies, alumni, current athletes and additional members of the Olympic and Paralympic community were invited to submit nominations. From there, a nominating committee comprised of individuals from the Olympic and Paralympic movements narrowed it down to a set of finalists. The class of 2022 was determined by a voting process that includes Olympians and Paralympians, members of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic family, and an online vote open to fans. The U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Hall of Fame was one of the first national sports halls of fame to include fan voting as part of its selection process, and this year, more than 432,000 votes were cast across all platforms.
This will be the 17th class inducted into the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Hall of Fame, bringing the total to 168 inductees (individuals and teams). The first class was inducted in 1983 and the most recent class was inducted in 2019.
For more information, visit teamusa.org.
-UT Athletics
