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Klay Thompson added an Olympic Gold medal to his trophy case on Sunday when the United State men's basketball team blew out Serbia to win gold. Thompson now has a World Championships gold medal, a NBA championship and an Olympic gold medal.
While Thompson has an impressive collection of championships, he isn't the first WSU Cougar to win Olympic gold. His gold medal is the third won by a Cougar, and gives WSU six Olympic medals. That number was nearly nine, as Brock Motum and Aron Baynes just missed out on a bronze while Bernard Lagat finished fifth in the men's 5000m.
Thompson's Olympic gold is WSU's first in 22 years. Julius Korir won gold in the 3000m steeplechase in the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. Korir's golf followed Pete Rademacher who won heavyweight boxing gold in 1956. Thompson is the first Cougar to medal in basketball or any team sport.
WSU nearly had back-to-back 3000m steeplechase gold medals as Peter Koech won a silver medal in the event in the 1988 Olympics, four years after Korir won gold. Lagat is the only WSU athlete with multiple Olympic medals. He won bronze in the 5000m in 2000 and followed it up with a silver in 2004.
At 26, Thompson is only entering the prime of his basketball career. If his recent career path is any indication, he has a very good chance to be on the 2020 Olympic team and attempt to become the first WSU athlete to ever win multiple Olympic gold medals.
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Football:
WSU Cougars receive 29th-most votes in AP poll | The Spokesman-Review
The Washington State football team received 68 votes in the 2016 preseason Associated Press Top 25 poll released Sunday morning, effectively making it the 29th-ranked team in the country.
How the Pac-12 will be won
There are four main contenders in the Pac-12 this year, two established powers and two up-and-comers. Who has the best shot to win the Pac-12 championship in 2016?
Kirk Herbstreit’s first thoughts on Preseason AP Top 25
ut if I'm looking at all these teams in (the Group of 5), I'd go with Boise State. They’ll be favored in most of their games after Washington State. Boise State can potentially ruffle some feathers if they beat the Cougs in Week 2.