College athletes are the lifeblood of Olympic sports. But there is a threat on the NCAA landscape.

The beauty of the Olympic Games is found in the stories of those who compete, in tracing the disparate paths that took athletes from all corners of the nation toward the same sporting goal, in learning what it took for each of them to earn the right to wear a red, white, and blue uniform. Yet for three-quarters of the American roster competing in the Paris Games, one portion of their journey was the same: college sports. Given the vast network of NCAA sports that weave their way through the nation, that statistic is by no means shocking.

The American college sports system may see its biggest headlines go to longstanding television darlings football and basketball, but its legacy in feeding so many other so-called non-revenue sports is undeniable. From archery to wrestling, and all the alphabetical points in between, Olympians are nurtured on college campuses. Advertisement But the collegiate landscape is shifting in seismic ways, and amid the loudest debates over the merits of expanded football playoffs and major conference realignment or the impact of NIL money, there is a gnawing fear among US Olympic leaders about an unintended consequence of the money and attention focused there: The effect on the development of Olympic athletes could be devastating.

“If Olympic sports are lost, that’s critical to us,” said Sarah Hirshland, CEO of the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee, at a pre-Olympic media summit. “You have seen the numbers, seen the data. Not only is the US c.