Natalie Dell holding her bronze medal and smiling for the camera during the Homecoming Parade.

2012 London Olympics

  • NUMBER OF PENN STATERS COMPETING: 17
  • NUMBER OF PENN STATERS IN ALL ROLES: 17
  • NUMBER OF OLYMPIC ALTERNATES: 2

 

The Canadian women’s soccer team that took bronze at the London Olympics included two Penn Staters on its roster. So too did the U.S. women’s volleyball team that claimed silver in Great Britain. They were among 17 Penn Staters who competed in seven different sports during the 2012 Olympic games.

 

Profile: Natalie Dell

Natalie Dell riding in car at Homecoming
Natalie Dell at Homecoming (Penn State News, October 2012)

One of the most notable Penn State athletes competing at the Olympics in London was Natalie Dell. Until arriving at Penn State in 2003, Dell had never encountered the sport of rowing. She first learned to row when she joined the club team at Penn State as a freshman. Dell completed an undefeated 2006 season prior to graduating in 2007.

After Penn State, Dell continued to row for the Riverside Boat Club while attending Boston University for graduate school. Defying the odds as a club rower in college, Dell was named to the U.S. national team pool in 2010. Following two years of intense training with Team USA, Dell was named to the roster in the quadruple sculls for the 2012 Olympics. In the process, Dell became the first Penn State rower to qualify for the Olympic Games.

In London, Dell and her teammates made history as the first U.S. rowing team to medal in the quadruple sculls. The Americans held off the Australian team by 1.04 seconds to claim the bronze medal behind Ukraine and Germany.

The Olympic medalist worked for the Department of Veterans Affairs through 2013 before going into the private sector. Dell currently works as the Head of Industry Sales and Growth in the Financial Services department at Google.

 

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