It may have been raining, he may have been up against the odds, and still, George Stanich was among the top three in London. But an Olympic bronze medal just years after World War 2 wouldn’t end up being the thing that defined him. No, for Stanich, it’s the fact that he spent 37 years coaching, touching thousands of children’s lives and helping a future Laker thrive. Now at 98, the oldest living American Olympian has a new dream.

Now, with the LA 2028 Olympics less than two years away, Stanich is closing in on his 100th birthday. And despite that, the now 98-year-old former Olympian wants to be there in person celebrating the 80th anniversary of his bronze medal.

“I’m going to be there,” Stanich told Spectrum News. “I’m going to be there. As long as my health holds up, I’m going to be there.”

Because for George Stanich, sports is what made him who he is. The American lost his father when he was still a child and refused to let that incident define him. Instead, he used sports to make his life bigger. 

It became his getaway, and Stanich excelled at everything. He remains one of the rare multi-sport athletes, winning titles in basketball and baseball alongside track and field. It ran in the family, apparently, as his younger brother, John, would represent Team USA in basketball.

“To me, I think they gave me everything,” the former NCAA superstar explained. “Because you had to work for what you got. And the harder you worked, the better you got. So sports were everything for me.”

Later, Stanich was a pitcher for the UCLA Bruins and a basketball star. He even got drafted into the NBA. All that, however, came after his stint as an Olympian. The collegiate athlete took a break to focus on track and field ahead of the 1948 Olympics, and it worked. He qualified, somehow made it to London, and walked away with a bronze medal.

It was his biggest moment as an athlete, and by the early 1960s, he had retired only to return as a coach. That was largely because George Stanich felt so indebted to sports that he felt he had to give back. By the end of his coaching career, he did more than that.

In fact, he spent nearly four decades coaching at El Camino College, mentoring and teaching thousands. That included future Los Angeles Lakers star Keith Erickson.

“Coach Stanich had played for Coach Wooden,” Erickson explained. “Because of that, I got to go to UCLA. We won two NCAA championships there. And because of that I got to play in the NBA for 12 years. I’d never dreamed about anything like that.”

Erickson wasn’t the only athlete whose life George Stanich helped shape during his decades on the sidelines. Years after retiring, El Camino College found a lasting way to honor the coach who had quietly transformed generations of students.

El Camino renames basketball gym in honor of George Stanich

An Olympic medalist, an NBA star and a professional baseball star, there was nothing that George Stanich couldn’t do as an athlete. And as it turns out, that excellence carried over when he became a basketball coach. The now 98-year-old spent 37 years at El Camino College between 1955 and 1992, touching the lives of over 20,000 students.

That included a future Laker, several dozen NCAA stars and title winners; he led El Camino to two NCAA titles along the way. By the time he retired in 1992, he was inducted into the UCLA Hall of Fame, the El Camino College Athletics Hall of Fame, and more.

It’s why the college renamed its basketball gym in honor of George Stanich, as attested by Superintendent Dr. Brenda Thames.

“Coach George Stanich represents the very best of El Camino College,” Thames said in a press release. “His lifelong commitment to education, mentorship, athletic excellence, and student success has inspired generations of Warriors.

“Naming our basketball gym in his honor is a meaningful tribute to a man whose legacy continues to shape our college community and whose impact will be felt for years to come.”

Not just that, as per the press release, the college also created a Valerie and George Stanich scholarship for student-athletes in perpetuity. Nearly eight decades after winning bronze in the London Olympic Games, Stanich is hoping to complete the circle. This time, he’ll return as the oldest living American Olympian.