University Of Michigan Brings Home the Most Olympic Medals in the Big Ten

"The leaders and the best" aren't just lyrics to Michigan's fight song, they are the truth.  U of M represented Wolverines, Michiganders and Americans proudly in the 2012 Summer Games, bringing home more hardware than any other school in the Big Ten.

All and all, over 100 former and current Big Ten athletes and coaches participated in the 2012 Summer Olympics, representing 32 countries in 24 sports.  As a conference they brought home 35 medals, including 15 gold, 9 silver and 11 bronze.

The Michigan Wolverines did more than their fare share of medal winning, leading the conference with 12 medals, 8 of which were gold.  It helps that the most decorated Olympian of all time, Michael Phelps is a former Michigan swim coach, who alone brought home 4 golds.  His relay team in the 4x200 had two former Wolverines, Charlie Houchin and Davis Tarwater, who each brought home a gold.  Other Michigan swimmers bringing home medals included Tyler Clary who set an Olympic record in the 200 backstroke and Peter Vanderkay who won the bronze in the 400 freestyle.  The Lady Wolverines also fared well, as Betsy Armstrong helped win America it's first gold in water polo and Janine Hanson took the silver in women's rowing.

Other schools in conference performing well included Penn State with 5 medals and Minnesota and Nebraska each walked away with 3.

The Ohio State Suckeyes and the Michigan State Spartans both walked out of the London games, medal-less.

Source: Big Ten