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Stanford's 27 Medals Are the Best of Any University Worldwide

Erik and Kawika Shoji topped off a record-setting year for Stanford.

Harry How/Getty Images

Stanford completed the Olympics with 27 medals, finishing as the top university in the world. Cal (21) and USC (21) rounded out the top three.

Stanford also broke its record for most medals in an Olympic Games (25 in Beijing, 2008) on the last day of the Rio Olympics when Erik and Kawika Shoji took home a bronze along with the Team USA men's volleyball team. Team USA dropped early in the bronze medal round 0-2 before rallying back to win the medal 3-2.

The Rio Olympics was record-setting for Stanford in many other ways too: Katie Ledecky's five medals is the most from a Stanford athlete ever, Simone Manuel became the first African-American woman to win an individual swimming event, and the 14 medals from the Stanford women's swimming team is the most they've ever won.

If Stanford were a country, its gold medals in ten events would tie with France for the seventh-best country in the world.