UT Olympic Homecoming with a sign that says 144 Olympic Medals with a longhorn symbol in the middle over a burnt orange background

The UT Austin Tower will turn orange Friday, November 11 to welcome Longhorns who have competed in the Olympics to campus.

More than 140 Longhorns have competed in the Olympics, some of whom will return to the Forty Acres this weekend for the T-Association’s first-ever UT Olympic Homecoming. In addition to the Tower lighting, the athletes will also be honored during the Texas Football game Saturday, Nov. 12.

In its storied Olympics history over the past 80 years, Texas Longhorns have made a significant impact at the Olympic games and wowed the world with their athletic accomplishments. Current and former Longhorns have won a total of 144 Olympic medals — the most among all schools in the Big 12 Conference — including 83 gold medals.

Texas has also won at least 10 total medals in each of the last eight summer Olympiads and produced at least one Olympic medalist in each of the last 11 summer Olympiads, a streak dating back to the 1972 Munich games.

During the 2016 Olympics in Rio, a total of 20 current or former UT Austin student athletes and five coaches with ties to the university competed for gold.

All told, these Longhorns represented seven different countries and competed in 10 sports. The success rate in winning medals by Longhorns in Rio was simply staggering — with 25 total medal opportunities, they brought home 13 medals, including 10 gold.

The Longhorns’ successes in Rio let Texas rank in a tie for fourth among all NCAA Division I institutions for total medals won during the 2016 Olympics.