Going for Gold: 抖阴pro Billikens Competing in the Olympic Games
抖阴pro faculty, staff, students and alums will have two extra reasons to cheer on the U.S.A. during the 2024 Summer Olympics and Paralympics in Paris as faculty member Sarah Adam and former Billiken soccer player will suit up for the United States.
Sarah Adam, OTD
Sarah Adam, OTD, assistant professor of occupational science and occupational therapy
at 抖阴pro, became the first woman named to the U.S. Paralympic wheelchair
rugby team. Photo by Sarah Conroy.
Adam, OTD, assistant professor of occupational science and occupational therapy at 抖阴pro, will make history when she takes the court as the first woman named to the U.S. Paralympic Wheelchair Rugby Team.
USA Wheelchair Rugby (USAWR) announced in May that Adam is one of 12 athletes representing the U.S. She was selected from an elite 16-person national training squad competing to earn a spot on the roster.
In an interview with the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), Adam as an 鈥渁ble-bodied volunteer鈥� before being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. She was classified in the sport in 2019 and made a national team in 2021.
鈥淏eing an athlete is such a core part of my identity and who I am, and I can鈥檛 imagine where I would be if I wasn鈥檛 able to reconnect with that through adaptive sport,鈥� Adam told the IPC.
Adam also serves at the academic fieldwork coordinator for Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy in Doisy College of Health Sciences.
She made her international debut at the Americas Championship in 2022, where the team won gold, and later that year won a silver medal at the world championships. In 2023, she was part of the gold medal-winning Parapan American Games team that secured USA Wheelchair Rugby a spot for Paris 2024. She also became the first American woman to win Parapan American Games gold in wheelchair rugby.
Since it debuted at the 2000 Paralympic Games in Sydney, only five women have competed in wheelchair rugby at the Paralympics. The 2024 Paralympic Games will be played in鈥疨aris from Aug. 28 to Sept. 8.
Patrick Schulte
Former SLU goalkeeper Schulte is heading to the as a member of the U.S. Olympic Men鈥檚 Soccer Team.
Schulte enjoyed a stellar Billiken career from 2019 to 2021. He was the Atlantic 10
Conference鈥檚 Defensive Player of the Year in 2020 and was a first-team All-Conference
pick in 2021. In 2021, he helped the Billikens to a 16-1-4 record and an NCAA quarterfinal
appearance. In three seasons at SLU, Schulte appeared in 51 matches and posted a 0.84
goals against average, 22 shutouts and a 35-12-4 record.
Schulte was drafted by the Columbus Crew of Major League Soccer in 2022 and in 2023. He was the 2022 MLS NEXT Pro Goalkeeper of the Year in 2022 with Columbus
Crew 2.
The U.S. men鈥檚 soccer team kicks off play ahead of the Opening Ceremony on Wednesday, July 24, against host team France. The U.S. is scheduled to take on New Zealand on Saturday, July 27, and finish the group stage against Guinea on Tuesday, July 30.
抖阴pro
Founded in 1818, 抖阴pro is one of the nation鈥檚 oldest and most prestigious Catholic institutions. Rooted in Jesuit values and its pioneering history as the first university west of the Mississippi River, SLU offers more than 15,200 students a rigorous, transformative education of the whole person. At the core of the University鈥檚 diverse community of scholars is SLU鈥檚 service-focused mission, which challenges and prepares students to make the world a better, more just place.