Olympic Hall of Famer

Anita DeFrantz ’74 will be inducted into the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Hall of Fame this summer.

Anita DeFrantz ’74, the first—and so far, only—Black woman to earn an Olympic medal in rowing, will be inducted into the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Hall of Fame in July along with Serena Williams, Allyson Felix, Gabby Douglas, and other athletes and legends. 

DeFrantz’s career began during a chance encounter with Conn rowing coach Bart Gullong during a walk across campus during her sophomore year. By the end of the conversation, DeFrantz had accepted an invitation to join the team.

“I knew nothing about rowing, but I loved the opportunity to be out on the water, and the freedom that came with it,” she recalled. “Racing with the school uniform on was something that was magical to me, and I loved working really hard with the team.”

While studying law at the University of Pennsylvania after graduating from Conn, DeFrantz rowed with UPenn’s Vesper Boat Club and earned the role of captain on the U.S. Women’s Olympic Rowing team for its inaugural season in 1976. The team earned a bronze medal in the 8+ women’s event at the Summer Olympics in Montreal that year. She is currently one of 10 Conn grads to compete in the Olympics, but she remains the first and only to earn an Olympic medal. 

In 1978, she won a silver medal at the World Championships in the 4+ women’s event. In 1980 she was set to compete in the Olympics again, but the U.S. boycotted the Moscow games in response to the USSR’s invasion of Afghanistan. She was among the 461 would-be athletes to receive the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian honor in the United States, in recognition of her athletic excellence later that year. 

As a key participant in bringing the Olympics to Los Angeles in 1984, she kept the LA84 Foundation going for the past 28 years and has helped to distribute around $225 million to over 2,000 youth sports organizations in the area. She now plays a role on LA 2028, the committee planning for the Olympic Games’ return to the city in three years. 

DeFrantz was elected to the International Olympic Committee in 1986, making her both the first American woman and first ever African American to hold that position. In 1997, she became the first woman elected as IOC vice president, a position she held until 2001. She returned to the role for a second term in 2018. In 1999, DeFrantz was honored with the NCAA Silver Anniversary Award.

In 2016, she was inducted into the Rowing Hall of Fame alongside fellow Camel Tim Young ’92, and in 2024 she received the 2024 NCAA President’s Gerald R. Ford Award, in honor of her significant leadership as a continuous advocate for intercollegiate athletics.

DeFrantz is an emeritus trustee and was inducted into the Connecticut College Athletic Hall of Fame in 1989. In 1995, Kathryn Smith ’84 established the Anita L. DeFrantz Award, given annually to the graduating man and woman who best exemplify DeFrantz’s qualities of sportsmanship, leadership and athletic prowess.