Paris 2024 Olympics: What you need to know
Summer Olympics 2024 in Paris will feature 329 events.
Problem Solved
The 2024 Paris Olympics begin this week and run through mid-August, and nearly two dozen American athletes with Michigan connections have qualified for the Paris Games. Here’s a look at the top athletes who’ll be competing for the U.S.:
Heath Baldwin
Event: Decathlon.
Michigan connection: Michigan State University.
Schedule: Aug. 2-3; first event (100 meters), Aug. 2.
The buzz: In winning the U.S. trials in June, Baldwin became the first Spartan to qualify for the Olympic decathlon since Paul Terek in 2004. He totaled a personal-best 8,625 points to finish first in the 19-athlete field. His score is the sixth-best in the world this year and third all-time among collegians.
DAVE BIRKETT: I ran into Michigan State’s assistant track coach at Olympics
Devin Booker
Event: Men’s basketball.
Michigan connection: Grandville High School.
Schedule: July 27-Aug. 10; first game, July 28 vs. Serbia.
The buzz: The Phoenix Suns star is making his second appearance with the Olympic basketball team after helping lead Team USA to the gold medal in Tokyo. Last season, Booker averaged 27.1 points, 6.9 assists and 4.5 rebounds per game with the Suns.
Adam Coon
Event: Greco-Roman wrestling (130 kg).
Michigan connection: University of Michigan.
Schedule: Aug. 5-6; first match, Aug. 5.
Highlights: Coon finished his Fowlerville High School career with a 212-3 career record, with three straight undefeated seasons. In 2019, Coon won gold in the 130 kg event at the Pan American Wrestling Championship. Coon has also flirted with football, after lettering at Fowlerville; he signed with the Tennessee Titans, making the practice squad before getting hurt, and then signing with the Seattle Sea Dragons of the defunct XFL.
Freddie Crittenden III
Event: Athletics (110-meter hurdles).
Michigan connection: Utica High School.
Schedule: Aug. 4-8; first round, Aug. 4.
The buzz: The 2013 Michigan boys hurdles champ — and five-time All-American at Syracuse — made his first U.S. squad last year with a third-place finish at the U.S. championships. At age 29, after being eliminated in the semifinals of the 2016 and 2021 U.S. trials in Oregon, Crittendon finally earned an Olympic berth with a personal-best 12.93-second time, good for second at the 2024 trials. Not that he has only been focused on running; without sponsorships, Crittenden has a full-time job with an Arizona non-profit providing after-school care for kids. He also has played violin since third grade.
FROM ANN ARBOR: Why Team USA’s Frederick Richard wants to be Michael Jordan of gymnastics
Aaron Cummings
Event: Rugby Sevens.
Michigan connection: Grand Haven High School.
Schedule: July 24-27; first match, July 24.
The buzz: A rugby player since high school, the 27-year-old won the 2021 club sevens national championship with the Chicago Lions. He was named to the Rugby World Cup sevens squad in 2022 and has 22 appearances for the U.S., though this will be his Olympic debut.
Andrew Evans
Event: Discus.
Michigan connection: Portage North High School.
Schedule: Aug. 5-7; qualification, Aug. 5.
Highlights: Evans is in his second Olympics after securing gold at U.S. trials last month. He launched a commanding throw of 218 feet, 6 inches on his third attempt for the win. The Portage native made his Olympic debut in 2016, finishing 16th in the Rio Games.
Grant Fisher
Event: Athletics (5,000 meters, 10,000 meters).
Mcihigan connection: Grand Blanc High School.
Schedule: Aug. 2-10; 10,000m race, Aug. 2; first 5,000m race, Aug. 7.
Highlights: The Canadian native will be making his second Olympic appearance after finishing fifth in the 10,000 meters in the Tokyo Games. A running star in high school, Fisher became just the seventh prep runner to run a sub-4-minute mile in 2015. He qualified for the 2024 games with wins in the 5K and 10K at the U.S. trials in June, and holds the American record times in both events, at 12:46.96 and 26:33.84, respectively. He also holds the U.S. record in the 3,000 meters, at 7:25.47.
Tori Franklin
Event: Athletics (Triple jump).
Michigan connection: Michigan State University.
Schedule: Aug. 2-3; qualifying, Aug. 2.
The buzz: The MSU record-holder in the triple jump (outdoors) made history in 2023 when she earned bronze at the World Championships — the first U.S. woman to medal at Worlds. The 31-year-old will face a tougher challenge at the Olympics, where no U.S. woman has ever placed higher than fourth. This will be her second Olympics; the Illinois native finished 25th at the Tokyo Games.
Zach Hammer
Event: Sport climbing (speed).
Michigan connection: Ann Arbor Skyline High School.
Schedule: Aug. 6-8; qualification, Aug. 6.
The buzz: At just 18, Hammer will be the youngest Michigan athlete to represent the U.S. in the Olympics. He has been climbing since he was 3 and competing since age 9. Hammer’s 5.15-second climb at the U.S. trials was a personal best and makes him the third-fastest American on the team.
IT TAKES A VILLAGE: At Olympic Village, athletes get cardboard beds, rationed eggs and a chance to compete
Payton Jacobson
Event: Greco-Roman wrestling (87 kg).
Michigan connection: Northern Michigan University.
Schedule: Aug. 7-8; first match, Aug. 7.
The buzz: The Wisconsin native overcame a hip condition as a child to become a star wrestler in high school and make NMU’s Olympic training program. At NMU, Jacobson won the under-20 world team title in 2022. He’s not considered a medal favorite, but should be a crowd favorite in Paris. “Some athletes are gifted, but also with those gifts, you have to outwork everyone,” said Bill Kahle, Jacobson’s former coach at Ringers Wrestling Club in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin. “You still have to outwork everyone and he’s the one who outworks everyone, even if he’s got special gifts.”
Paul Juda
Event: Gymnastics.
Michigan connection: University of Michigan.
Schedule: July 27-29; qualification, July 27.
The buzz: After injuring his ankle in an accident on the high bar and missing his senior season (2023) in Ann Arbor, Juda recovered to rack up the top score at June’s 2024 U.S. trials in Minneapolis. (He also was tops in floor exercise in the NCAA in 2024.) The Big Ten Gymnast of the Year in 2021 and 2022 ranked in the top five in all four events — second in floor, third in pommel horse, fourth in vault, and fifth in high bar — at the U.S. trials en route to Paris.
Hobbs Kessler
Event: Athletics (800 meters, 1,500 meters).
Michigan connection: Ann Arbor Skyline High School.
Schedule: Aug. 2-10; 1,500m first round, Aug. 2; 800m first round, Aug. 7.
The buzz: Kessler, a prep star who turned in a 3:57.66 mile as a high school senior in 2021, holds the North American under-20 record in the 1,500. He ran a 3:34.36 1,500 in 2021 en route to becoming the fourth Michigander to be named Gatorade National Track and Field Athlete of the Year. At the U.S. trials in June, Kessler finished second in the 800 and third in the 1,500.
Sorin Koszyk
Event: Rowing (Men’s double sculls).
Michigan connection: Grosse Pointe South High School.
Schedule: July 27-Aug. 1; heats, July 27.
Highlights: Koszyk qualified, with partner Ben Davison, with a win at the 2024 World Rowing Final Olympic & Paralympic Qualification Regatta in Lucerne, Switzerland, following a 13th-place finish at the 2023 worlds. Koszyk won six club national championships and three Midwest Championship titles with Detroit Boat Club while only in high school, then starred at Cornell with an All-Ivy League nod as a senior in 2020.
Alena Olsen
Event: Women’s rugby sevens.
Michigan connection: University of Michigan.
Schedule: July 28-30; first match, July 28.
The buzz: A Caledonia native, Olsen began playing rugby at Michigan, where she earned All-American honors. She debuted for the U.S. in 2018 and has made 24 international appearances, including the USA’s gold-winning victory in the 2023 Pan American Games. This is her second Olympics, after a stint on the team for the Tokyo Games.
Mason Parris
Event: Wrestling (125 kg).
Michigan connection: University of Michigan.
Schedule: Aug. 9-10; first match, Aug. 9.
The buzz: A four-time All-American, two-time NCAA finalist and the 2023 NCAA heavyweight champ (as part of Michigan’s NCAA title team), Parris will be making his Olympic debut for the U.S. after going undefeated at the U.S. trials in April (though he advanced directly to the finals after taking bronze in last year’s World Championships). The Indiana native is also third all-time in Michigan program history in pins (45).
Frederick Richard
Event: Gymnastics.
Michigan connection: University of Michigan.
Schedule: July 27-29; qualification, July 27.
The buzz: The “Michael Jordan of gymnastics?” A bronze medalist at last fall’s World Championships — the first U.S. all-around medalist at Worlds since 2010 — the Massachusetts native broke through in 2024, taking Big Ten Gymnast of the Year honors. At the U.S. Championships, Richard finished second in the all-around competition, fueled by the top score in floor and the No. 2 score in high bar.
Hannah Roberts
Event: BMX (freestyle).
Michigan connection: Buchanan High School.
Schedule: July 30-31; qualifying, July 30.
The buzz: BMX has been an Olympic sport for two Games, and Roberts has been there for both after becoming the first American to qualify in freestyle for the Tokyo Games. She’ll be looking to improve on her Tokyo performance, in which she finished with silver after hitting a poor landing on her second run in the final. The 22-year-old is coming off gold at the 2023 Pan-Am Games.
Donald Scott
Event: Athletics (triple jump).
Michigan connection: Eastern Michigan University.
Schedule: Aug. 7-8; qualification, Aug. 7.
The buzz: Scott will be the eighth EMU alumnus to make multiple Olympic teams, following a seventh-place finish at the Tokyo Games. This time around, the 32-year old — a three-time All-American during his EMU stint (2010-15) — finished third at the U.S. trials in June with a 16.87-meter jump. The Florida native also suited up for the Eagles in football, catching five passes for 53 yards in 2013.
Grace Stark
Event: Athletics (100-meter hurdles).
Michigan connection: White Lake Lakeland High School.
Highlights: Stark has come a long way since winning back-to-back state titles in 2018-19, the latter coming in 13.43 seconds. The University of Florida alumnus — who won the 60-meter hurdles at the 2022 NCAA indoor championships — set a new personal best time of 12.45 seconds last month in the semifinals at the U.S. trials, then topped that with a 12.31 in the finals — the second-best time ever by a college athlete — to finish third.
Charlie Swanson
Event: Swimming (100-meter breaststroke).
Michigan connection: University of Michigan.
Schedule: July 27-28; qualifying, July 27.
The buzz: A four-time All-American and All-Big Ten pick at U-M, the Virginia native is making his Olympic debut. The 26-year-old has plenty of international experience, however; he took gold in the 400-meter individual medley at the 2019 Pan-American Games. Entering the U.S. trials in June, Swanson was seen as a potential challenger in the 200 breaststroke, but a surprisingly strong showing in the 100 — he finished second, just 0.08 seconds off winner Nic Fink’s time — changed his Paris plans.
Abby Tamer
Event: Field hockey.
Michigan connection: University of Michigan.
Schedule: July 27-Aug. 9; first match, July 27 vs. Argentina.
The buzz: The U-M junior sent the U.S. into Olympic play with the game-winning goal against Japan in January’s qualifying tournament. The U.S. can thank her athletically minded parents — father Chris played parts of 11 seasons in the NHL after playing for the Wolverines, and mother Keely played on U-M’s field hockey team in the 1990s — for the boost after Tamer wanted to quit the sport as a child: “I actually didn’t love it to begin with, and if my parents would’ve let me, I probably would’ve quit a short bit into the season,” said Tamer, who had nine goals and four assists in 20 games as a sophomore at U-M. “But my parents were big on seeing things through, and by a month of playing, I loved it and already had dreams of playing in college.”
They are the world
In addition to the Michigan-made athletes competing for the U.S., there are 31 Olympians with Michigan ties competing for other countries:
Athletics
Dubem Amene, Nigeria (U-M)
Ben Flanagan, Canada (U-M)
Ayden Owens-Delerme, Puerto Rico (U-M)
Cindy (Ofili) Sember, Great Britain (U-M)
Savannah Sutherland, Canada (U-M)
Basketball
Shay Colley, Canada (MSU)
Franz Wagner, Germany (U-M)
Moritz Wagner, Germany (U-M)
Cycling
Mike Woods, Canada (U-M)
Golf
Ashley Lau, Malaysia (U-M)
Gymnastics
Lais Najjar, Syria (U-M)
Kevin Penev, Bulgaria (U-M)
Rowing
Abigail Dent, Canada (U-M)
Paige Badenhorst, South Africa (U-M)
Soccer
Jayde Riviere, Canada (U-M)
Swimming
Nikola Acin, Serbia (U-M)
Yousuf Al-Matrooshi, United Arab Emirates (U-M)
Felix Auböck, Austria (U-M)
Stephanie Balduccini, Brazil (U-M)
Eitan Ben-Shitrit, Israel (U-M)
Gal Groumi, Israel (U-M)
Siobhán Haughey, Hong Kong (U-M)
Natalie Kan, Hong Kong (U-M)
Maggie MacNeil, Canada (U-M)
Eduardo Moraes, Brazil (U-M)
Letitia Sim, Singapore (U-M)
Triathlon
Sophie Linn, Australia (U-M)
Water Polo
Abby Andrews, Australia (U-M)
Wrestling
Myles Amine, San Marino (U-M)
Austin Gomez, Mexico (U-M)
Stevan Micic, Serbia (U-M)
Source link : https://www.freep.com/story/sports/olympics/2024/07/26/olympians-from-michigan-connections-qualified-paris-games/74491239007/
Author :
Publish date : 2024-07-26 06:10:34
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.