A Look At South Dakota's Winter Olympics Medal Drought

With the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy this year, a long streak involving South Dakota athletes will remain intact.

These winter games will once again see the Mount Rushmore State come up empty on the medal stand.

According to BeenVerified.com, no South Dakota-born athlete had ever placed in the top three in any of the previous 24 winter games.

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That streak has now reached over 100 years, dating back to the first Winter Olympics in Chamonix, France, in 1924.

So, how can we be so sure that no South Dakota-born athlete will break through in 2026?

According to the official Team USA website, none of the 232 American athletes competing in Milano Cortina was born here.

South Dakota isn't alone; 21 states have never produced a gold medalist at the Winter Olympics:

Alaska
Arkansas
Arizona
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Mississippi
Missouri
Oklahoma,
South Carolina
Tennessee
Virginia
West Virginia
Wyoming

The states most represented in these games are Colorado (30 athletes), our neighbors to the east, Minnesota (24 athletes), and California (19 athletes).

Over the years, only a trio of local athletes has qualified for the Winter Olympics.

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To find the last time, you'll have to go back 16 years, when Black Hawk native and Rapid City Central graduate Jana Lindsey was making her second straight appearance in Freestyle Skiing.

(L) Aerialist skiier Jana Lindsey, February 25, 2010, Vancouver, Canada. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images for Budweiser)/ (R) Jana Lindsey of the United States competes in the freestyle skiing ladies' aerials of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

She finished 16th in Turin, Italy, in 2006 and 17th in Vancouver in 2010.

Her appearance on the Team USA roster broke a drought of more than 30 years for South Dakota-born athletes in the winter games.

In 1972, Deadwood native Scott Berry finished 47th and 52nd in the large hill and normal hill Ski Jumping events in Sapporo, Japan.

South Dakota's first athlete to compete in the Winter Olympics came in 1948 when Watertown's William Johnson made the Alpine Skiing team in St. Moritz, Switzerland.

South Dakota in the Summer Olympics

The medal numbers have been much better for local athletes in the Summer Olympics.

In all, South Dakota-born athletes have won a total of 18 Olympic medals - nine gold, three silver, and six bronze medals:

SOUTH DAKOTA-BORN OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALISTS

1920: Ivan Dresser (Flandreau): Track & Field/3,000 Meter Team Race
1920 & 1924:John O'Neil (Faulkton): Rugby
1932: Jim Bausch (Marion Junction): Track & Field/Decathlon
1948: Wilbur Thompson (Frankfort): Track & Field/Shot Put
1964: Billy Mills (Pine Ridge): Track & Field/10,000 Meters
1984: Randy Lewis (Milbank): Wrestling
1992: Crissy Ahmann-Leighton (Yankton): Swimming/4x100 Meter Medley Relay & 4x100 Meter Freestyle Relay

SOUTH DAKOTA-BORN OLYMPIC SILVER MEDALISTS

1924: Glenn Hartranft (Aberdeen): Track & Field/Shot Put
1992: Dennis Koslowski (Watertown): Wrestling
1992: Crissy Ahmann-Leighton (Yankton): Swimming/100 Meter Butterfly

SOUTH DAKOTA-BORN OLYMPIC BRONZE MEDALISTS

1908: Clare Jacobs (Madison): Track & Field/Pole Vault
1932: Larry Knapp (Garden City): Field Hockey
1932: Harold McCallister (Madison): Water Polo
1988: Dennis Koslowski (Watertown): Wrestling
1988: Bill Scherr (Eureka): Wrestling
2000: Lincoln McIlravy (Rapid City): Wrestling

South Dakota-Born Olympic Athletes

In all, 25 South Dakota-born athletes have competed at the Summer Olympics over the years. In addition to the above-mentioned medal winners, nine others have represented the Mount Rushmore State on the Team USA roster:

1920: Gene Vidal (Madison): Track & Field/Decathlon
1976: Darrell Vreugdenhil (Mitchell): Rowing
1988: Duane Koslowski (Watertown): Wrestling
1988: Jim Scherr (Eureka): Wrestling
1992: Chad McConnell (Sioux Falls): Baseball
1996: Orly Fuentes (Ellsworth Air Force Base): Judo
2000: Ryan Bolton (Rapid City): Triathlon
2008: Brian Beaman (Mobridge): Shooting
2008 & 2012: Brad Walker (Aberdeen): Track & Field/Pole Vault
2020: Alison Weisz (Rapid City): Shooting
2024: Taryn Kloth (Sioux Falls): Volleyball

TRENDING FROM RESULTS-TOWNSQUARE SIOUX FALLS:

LOOK: 20 Fascinating Photos From the First Modern Olympic Games in 1896

To celebrate the history of international sports cooperation, Stacker took a look back at that groundbreaking event in Athens, when the modern Olympics were born in 1896. Keep reading to learn more about the athletes, spectators, and sports at that iconic event.

Gallery Credit: Caitlin PenzeyMoog