PARIS – Featuring rare gold medals by runner Cole Hocker, cyclist Chloe Dygert and wrestler Sarah Hildebrandt, athletes from Indiana are poised to exceed large medal hauls from the previous two Olympic Games.

Through Wednesday, and with four days of competition left, Indiana-connected Olympians have totaled 15 medals and six golds in Paris.

That follows 19 medals at Rio de Janeiro 2016 and 20 at Tokyo 2021.

If Team Indiana were a separate nation, it would rank 12^th in the standings, behind Canada’s 19 medals. Canada’s population of 39 million is about six times that of Indiana.

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With six golds, Indiana would be tied with Canada for 11^th.

Notre Dame accounts for seven medals, four in fencing. Carmel accounts for four, three in swimming.

The state nearly picked up another medal Thursday afternoon from Indiana University diver Carson Tyler, who finished fourth on 3-meter springboard.

Reaction to Hocker’s upset victory Tuesday in one of the greatest 1,500-meter races of all time created a near-earthquake in his home state and the United States. The Indianapolis native had a time of 3:27.65, an Olympic record and equivalent to a 3:44.3 mile.

Nearly obscured was Yared Nuguse, a Notre Dame graduate who not only won bronze in 3:27.80, but very nearly nabbed gold.

Inevitably, there will be attempts this summer to lower the world record of 3:26.00, which has stood since 1998. Hocker is scheduled for 1,500s at Lausanne, Switzerland, on Aug. 22 and Zurich on Sept. 5

No Indiana runner in 120 years had medaled at a distance longer than 400 meters. At the 1904 St. Louis Olympics, Muncie’s Jim Lightbody won golds in the 800, 1,500 and steeplechase, and Lacey Hearn of Portland, Ind., took bronze in the 1,500.

Column: Cole Hocker never wavered in his quest to become the best miler in the world.

Other native Hoosiers coming close to distance medals:

∎ Max Truex, Warsaw, was sixth in the 10,000 meters in 1960, setting an American record of 28:50.34.

∎ Charles Hornbostel, Evansville, was sixth in the 800 in 1932 and fifth in 1936.

∎ Don Lash , Auburn, was eighth in the 10,000 in 1936.

In track cycling, Dygert, of Brownsburg, was part of a U.S. quartet winning a first-ever gold in team pursuit Wednesday. It was her fourth Olympic medal, two less than the record by a female cyclist from any nation.

Among Hoosiers in all sports, only Evansville swimmer Lilly King, with six, has more medals than Dygert.

Also Wednesday, Sarah Hildebrandt of Granger took gold in the 110-pound weight class. She became the second Indiana woman to win an individual gold medal, after King in the 100-meter breaststroke in 2016.

Hildebrandt, bronze medalist in 2021, also became the second American woman to earn two Olympic wrestling medals, tying Helen Maroulis, who is going for a third Friday.

Still in the mix for individual medals are former Purdue hurdler Devynne Charlton in track and field, Mary Theisen-Lappen in weightlifting, and Mason Parris and Kayla Miracle in wrestling.

Poised for medals in team sports are Notre Dame midfielder Korbin Albert in soccer; Matt Anderson and Annie Drews in men’s and  women’s volleyball; the Pacers’ Tyrese Haliburton, Princeton's Jackie Young and Notre Dame’s Jewell Loyd in basketball.

Contact IndyStar correspondent David Woods at dwoods1411@gmail.com. Follow him on  Twitter: @DavidWoods007.

Indiana athletes who won medals at 2024 Paris Olympics

Diving (1)

Sarah Bacon, Indianapolis, synchro 3-meter, silver

Cycling (2)

Chloe Dygert, Brownsburg, team pursuit, gold

Dygert, individual time trial, bronze

Fencing (4)

Lee Kiefer, Notre Dame, foil, gold

Kiefer, team foil, gold

Nick Itkin, Notre Dame, foil, bronze

Eszter Muarhi, Notre Dame (Hungary), epee, bronze

Swimming (4)

Lilly King, Evansville/IU, and Alex Shackell, Carmel, 4x100 medley relay, gold

Chris Giuliano, Notre Dame, 4x100 freestyle relay, gold

Shackell and Anna Peplowski, IU 4x200 freestyle relay, silver

Drew Kibler, Carmel; Blake Pieroni, Chesterton/IU; Giuliano, 4x200 freestyle relay, silver

Tennis (1)

Rajeev Ram, Carmel, doubles, silver

Track and field (2)

Cole Hocker, Indianapolis,1,500 meters, gold

Yared Nuguse, Notre Dame, 1,500 meters, bronze

Wrestling (1)

Sarah Hildebrandt, Granger, 110 pounds, gold

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana athletes having a golden summer at Paris Olympics