Kevid Szott in a wrestling pose. He is wearing an open karate gee and flipping his opponent onto their back.

2000 Sydney Olympics and Paralympics

  • NUMBER OF PENN STATERS COMPETING: 6
  • NUMBER OF PENN STATERS IN ALL ROLES: 14
  • NUMBER OF OLYMPIC ALTERNATES: 1

 

The turn of the millennium saw the world converge on Sydney as Australia got its second chance to host the Olympics. More than four decades after Melbourne welcomed the world to Australian soil, the Sydney games marked another milestone for the Olympic movement.

Penn Staters made their largest contributions outside the field of competition, as eight of the 14 members of the Nittany Lions family to cross the Pacific to Sydney served in advisory roles to their national Olympic committees or to the International Olympic Committee. Among athletes, the biggest results transpired not at the Olympics but at the Paralympics held two weeks after the Olympic closing ceremonies.

 

Profile: Kevin Szott

Kevin Szott
Kevin Szott (Penn State Daily Collegian, Dec. 4, 1997)

When he was diagnosed as legally blind at 10 years old, Kevin Szott was never expected to go on to one of the most prolific Paralympics careers in history. Despite dealing with the impact of macular degeneration and retinitis pignatosa from childhood, Szott went on to play as an offensive lineman in high school and at the Division III level in college for St. Lawrence University in New York. Szott also wrestled, earning a district championship in high school.

While at St. Lawrence, Szott earned his first two Paralympic gold medals at the 1984 Los Angeles Paralympics in wrestling and goalball. Szott also claimed a silver medal in the shot put in Los Angeles. Already a decorated Paralympian, and with his brother Dave playing for Joe Paterno on the Nittany Lions football team in the mid-1980s, Szott joined the Penn State football staff in 1987 as a graduate assistant. He earned a Master’s degree in exercise physiology from Penn State in 1989, and continued on as a strength and conditioning coach for the football team until 1996.

In 1996, Szott turned his attention to Paralympic judo and also competed in two throwing events. Competing in Atlanta at the 95-kilogram weight class, Szott claimed a silver medal, his fourth medal in as many sports, while he also finished in the top ten in both the shot put and discus throws. Four years later in Sydney, Szott swept through the men’s 100-kilogram weight class to claim a gold medal in his third Paralympic sport. As a 41-year-old competing in his fourth Paralympics, Szott was selected as the flag bearer for the United States. He went on to secure a bronze medal in the 95-kilogram class.

Szott is a founding member of USA Paralympics and has previously served as the president of the United States Association for Blind Athletes. After leaving Penn State, Szott spent 12 years working in sales at The Hartford before transitioning into a new role as a regional marketing manager for Cigna.

 

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