I dint know anyone (though I know there are such people) who object to an Olympian, medaled you boot, getting a pass through admissions. Particularly one well prepared for college.
Where it hurts is when some not so outstanding athlete in some not so great sports who has definite deficits in academic resume get passed into highly selective schools.
There has been a lot of focus as to how parents paid their kids’ ways into highly selective schools using fake athletic hooks. That someone playing a summer league sport, sailing some boats etc at a level that was proven only by photos is galling.
I knew a Penn admit with 1100 SATs and a low 3 Gpa. Football quarterback. Yale’s baseball team does not have the scores that Chen sports. I know a number of athletes whose prowess in their sport is not all that incredible, and their academic resumes not even close to the averages these schools have.
How MUCH of a leeway should athletes and other special admissions kids get is a question to discuss.