Columbia University
Location: New York, N.Y.
Nickname: Lions

Lou Gehrig, once a Columbia Lion, was also once baseball's iron man, having played in 2,130 consecutive games. A fellow Lion, Norman Armitage '30, must be fencing's iron man. Armitage, whose weapon of choice was sabre, competed in six Olympic Games from 1928-1936 and 1948-1956, only taking a break for World War II.

He won his only medal at the 1948 London Games, leading the United States to a third-place finish in the team sabre event. He was also awarded the 'Friendship Trophy' as the outstanding American fencer. At the 1952 Helsinki Games, Armitage was the United States' lone flag-bearer at the opening ceremonies. That year, he brought the sabre team to a fourth-place finish.

Including Armitage, sixteen fencers from Morningside Heights have jousted their way to the Olympic games. Charles Fitzhugh Townsend '04 was the first, winning a silver medal for the United States in the team foil competition at the 1904 St. Louis games. On this list are three female fencers, the latest being Sydney-participant Erinn Smart '02 (foil), who has trained with six-time Olympian Peter Westbrook.

Five of Columbia athletes' seven medals have come from non-fencers. One of them was Francis Hussey '31. Hussey has the distinction of winning the medal before he matriculated at Columbia, as he was a student at Stuyvesant High School in New York City at the time of the 1924 Paris games. He was a member of the United States' 4x100-meter relay team that posted a 41.0 mark. Hussey may be best remembered, however, for beating 100-meter gold medallist Harold Abrahams of Great Britain in the first leg of that race.

A more recent medal winner was Cristina Teuscher '00. A swimmer, Teuscher won a gold medal in Atlanta at the 1996 games as a part of the United States' 800-meter freestyle relay team. Four years later, she won the bronze in the 200-meter individual medley at the Sydney games. During college, she was also the recipient of the Honda Broderick Cup, recognizing the best female collegiate athlete in the United States.