Meet the 6 Stanford athletes who have already won 17 Olympic medals in Rio

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Stanford is one of the top academic institutions in America, but if the Summer Olympics are any indication, it's also an international athletic powerhouse.

At least one Stanford athlete has walked away a medalist from every Olympics since 1912. Prior to the Rio Games, Stanford athletes won a total of 243 Olympic medals (125 gold, 66 silver, and 52 bronze).

This month, 29 current, former, and incoming Stanford students are competing in Rio for Team USA — more students than any other American university. So far, they've won a combined 17 medals led by swimming superstars Katie Ledecky, Simone Manuel, and Maya DiRado, who have each won four medals.

Read on to meet the Stanford medalists of the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Katie Ledecky - Swimming

Julian Finney/Getty Images

Age: 19

Major/year at Stanford: Undeclared, class of 2020 (she'll enter Stanford this Fall)

Medals in Rio:

Gold, 200 Free
Gold, 400 Free
Gold, 800 Free
Gold, 800 Free Relay

Simone Manuel - Swimming

Adam Pretty/Getty

Age: 20

Major/year at Stanford: Unknown, class of 2018

Medals in Rio:

Gold, 100m Freestyle
Gold, 400 Medley Relay
Silver, 50 Free
Silver, 400 Free Relay

Maya DiRado - Swimming

Harry How/Getty

Age: 23

Major/year at Stanford: Management science and engineering, class of 2014

Medals in Rio: 

Gold, 200 Back
Gold, 800 Free Relay
Silver, 400 Individual Medley
Bronze, 200 Individual Medley

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