Fansided

The greatest Olympic athlete from every U.S. state

By Adam Strangis

16th October 1964: Alfred A Oerter, American winner of the Gold Medal in the Tokyo Olympics 1964 for Discus throwing. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)
16th October 1964: Alfred A Oerter, American winner of the Gold Medal in the Tokyo Olympics 1964 for Discus throwing. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images) /
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Arizona: Charlie Hickcox

Sport: Swimming

Olympics: Mexico City 1968

Charlie Hickcox is certainly not a household name as he only went to one Olympic Games but when he did, he won a total of four medals. Hickcox was born in Phoenix in 1947 and showed how promising he was in his sport while attending Indiana University. In his time there, he won seven NCAA championships from 1967 to 1969. During that period, he represented the United States in Mexico City at the Summer Olympics.

While in Mexico City, Hickcox won three gold medals. Two were in individual events, the 200-meter medley and the 400-meter medley. He actually set an Olympic record in the 200-meter event. Hickcox also won a gold as part of the 4×100-meter medley team. As if that wasn’t enough, Hickcox took home the silver in the 100-meter backstroke. That’s not too shabby for a young man who was still in college.

To top off his exceptional 1968, he was named World Swimmer of the Year and then later was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame. Hickcox has one of the shorter careers of any Olympian on the list. He only swam at Indiana and in one Olympics. Even though the length of the career is short, there are not many people who can claim multiple Olympic gold medals. After his swimming career was done, he moved on to a successful coaching career and did some broadcasting as well. Hickcox passed away in 2010 due to cancer.

Honorable Mention: Kerri Strug, gymnastics in Barcelona 1992 and Atlanta 1996

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