USOPC CEO Sarah Hirshland Speaks at White House Roundtable on College Sports on March 6, 2026

Good afternoon. Thank you for the opportunity to join you today.

Thank you to President Trump and your administration for your continued support of Team USA and the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

It is no surprise to anyone in this room that we are the greatest sporting nation in the world. Team USA is the most successful team in history with more Olympic Medals than any other nation.

One of our competitive advantages is the education-based sport system our country has embraced for more than a century. America’s colleges and universities built a world-class athletic system that develops the whole athlete — academically and competitively.

This system is the envy of the world and has also been the backbone of Team USA for generations. The results speak for themselves.

At the Paris 2024 Games, 75 percent of U.S. Olympians and 53 percent of Paralympian's had collegiate affiliations. These athletes represented 231 di0erent collegiate institutions and 71 conferences. 90 different schools were represented by our medal winners.

At the recent Olympic Winter Games, 20 schools celebrated medal winners.

This success does not happen by accident. It is directly impacted by the broad- based, sustained investment in sport on campus, and it is not something we can take for granted.

To say that our country should be grateful to colleges and universities — and their athletic programs — would be an understatement.

While the United States has topped the gold medal table in eight of the last ten summer Games, the margin is narrowing. Around the world, nations are investing aggressively in sport — building centralized training systems, expanding funding, and prioritizing athlete development in new ways.

And that growing global competition comes at a moment when U.S. colleges must increase their investments in football to be competitive. The economic pressures are unsustainable. Olympic sport programs are inevitably the first budgets to be impacted — and in some cases, women’s and men’s sports may be eliminated.

When those investments are reduced, or disappear, the consequences have a significant ripple effect. Ultimately hindering the future pipeline of Team USA and threatening the future health of sport in our country.

We cannot wait for the economic pressure to create this crisis.

We are here today to demonstrate our solidarity and partnership with the collegiate sports community, to encourage Congress to pass legislation that stabilizes the foundation of sport on campuses and ensures a healthy and robust ecosystem for student-athletes across a wide array of Olympic sports.

Let me conclude by assuring you that American athletes are ready for the global challenges ahead. In fact, they welcome it.

But their pursuit of excellence deserves a system that continues to invest in them.

Thank you, Mr. President, and to our congressional leaders, to the college administrators, and to the many representatives from across the sport community who are here today — we truly value your commitment to this partnership.

Sarah Hirshland

USOPC CEO