Why SoCal produces so many Olympians. It's not just the weather

Once again, Southern Californians are making a big splash at the Summer Olympics.

Of the nearly 600 members of Team USA, a fifth are from the Golden State, with the largest contingent hailing from SoCal.

More than 50 Southern Californians are competing in Paris — more athletes than some countries are sending. Part of their dominance has to do with the large population base, but is there also something in the water — or rather, about the weather?

World No.2 Lilia Vu of Fountain Valley is part of the women's golf team.

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Not just the weather

Balmy temperatures and sunny days do indeed make for ideal training conditions for Olympians who can get more practice in outdoors.

But the region's robust sports culture and long history with the Olympics also gets credit for fostering home-grown talent.

"There's always been a lot of support, lot of fandom, lot of boosterism for sports," said Robert Barney, director of the International Centre for Olympic Studies at the University of Western Ontario. 

That boosterism goes for both professional and college sports, and extends to the Olympics, Barney said.

The region's history with the games began about a century ago, when L.A. leaders made a failed bid for the games in the 1920s.

L.A. would go on to host in 1932, and again in 1984. When the Olympics returns to L.A. in summer 2028, it will become the only U.S. city to have hosted the games three times.

Role models

So many current and former Olympians have settled in SoCal that it's not unusual to have one living in your midst.

You've heard that oft-repeated quote from Sally Ride: "You can't be what you can't see."

Well, in SoCal, it's not hard to find an Olympian, making the feat of becoming one seem more attainable, said David Wallechinsky, an Angeleno who wrote The Complete Book of the Summer Olympics.

Olympian Michael Norman of Murrietta competes in the men's 400 meter final at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Track & Field Trials last month in Eugene, Ore.

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Kendall Ellis, a member of the U.S. Olympic track and field team, is a Trojan who hails from North Hollywood.

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"If you're a big, strong man, for example, you might want to become a football player," said Wallechinsky, who is also the former president of the International Society of Olympic historians. "But if you are exposed to Olympic sports, you might want to become a shot putter or a weight lifter or a wrestler."

Medal contenders

If you want to master an Olympic sport, California has just the school for you to do that. USC and UCLA are some of the top producers of Olympians, along with Cal and Stanford to the north.

Leading contenders for medals in this Olympics include UCLA Bruin Lilia Vu of Fountain Valley, golf's World No.2. Her teammate Rose Zhang, ranked No. 9, is from Irvine and goes to Stanford.

Most of Team USA's water polo players are from SoCal, such as two-time gold medalist and UCLA graduate Maddie Musselman of Newport Beach.

Two-time gold medalist LeBron James is playing again for Team USA in Paris.

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Expectations are high for the U.S. track and field team, which is enjoying the return of Olympic medal-holders Kendall Ellis from North Hollywood and Michael Norman from Murrieta, both of whom are Trojans.

The tally of Southern Californian Olympians tops 50, and that's not counting athletes who came from out-of-state to attend California schools, or Lakers icons like LeBron James.

While some Olympians update their hometown to their current SoCal residence, the bio of the two-time gold medalist still states his as Akron, Ohio — his birthplace.