What to know about CSU commencement speaker Hunter Powell

Hunter Powell, a U. S. Olympian and Colorado State University alum, will be the featured speaker at CSU’s campuswide commencement ceremony May 16 at Canvas Stadium.

The former CSU track and field star competed in the four-man bobsled at the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics. Here are five things to know about the commencement speaker: He’s a proud Fort Collins native Powell grew up in Fort Collins and attended Fort Collins High School, where he was a good but not great athlete in a powerhouse track and field program. He went to Western Colorado University, then Baylor, then CSU, where he became a Mountain West champion and NCAA nationals qualifier.

Powell was out of the country for months before the Olympics but felt the connection through support back home. More: How Hunter Powell's 'crazy' journey led to 2026 Winter Olympics “I had hundreds and hundreds of text messages, Instagram messages, Facebook messages, so many just from people back home in Fort Collins, ‘Our hometown boy; go represent,’” Powell said. “I know it sounds corny, but I cannot describe how cool that is.

It is the most special feeling. ” Powell’s Olympic experience went from nervous sickness to ‘surreal’ Powell said he was so nervous to compete in Cortina for the Olympics that he nearly threw up. “I haven’t had that since I was a little kid,” he said.