Meet the Olympians and Paralympians with North Carolina ties heading to Paris
Aug 6, 2024
Originally published on Axios – July 24th, 2024
It’s time for the 2024 Olympic Games.
State of play: The opening ceremony for the Olympic Games in Paris is Friday, July 26, which you can watch at 1:30pm on NBC’s platforms, including Peacock. NBC will air the opening ceremony again at 7:30pm Friday night.
The opening ceremony for the Paralympic Games is Aug. 28.
Here are the athletes with North Carolina ties competing in the Olympics and Paralympics.
Editor’s note: Athletes are listed alphabetically and will compete for Team USA unless otherwise noted.
- Liel Abada
Charlotte FC’s forward will represent Israel at the Olympics. They open their Olympics campaign against Mali at 3 pm on Wednesday, July 24.
Sport: Soccer - Bam Adebayo
The Miami Heat player grew up in Pinetown, North Carolina.
Sport: Basketball - Hannah Aspden
The Paralympian swimmer, Raleigh native, and Queens University of Charlotte alumna is heading to her third Paralympic Games.
She won two bronze medals in Rio in 2016 and two gold medals in Tokyo.
Sport: Paralympics swimming
Hannah Aspden competes in the women’s 200-meter individual medley in the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. - Elizabeth Balogun
The Duke alumna will represent Nigeria. This will be her second Olympics.
Sport: Basketball - R.J. Barrett
The former Duke Blue Devil will represent Canada.
Sport: Basketball - Ana Belac
The former Duke golfer will represent Slovenia.
Sport: Golf - Katharine Berkoff
Berkoff is an N.C. State alumna.
Sport: Swimming - Celine Boutier
The former Duke golfer will represent France.
Sport: Golf - Kaylyn Brown
The Charlotte native and Mallard Creek High alumna is currently enrolled at Arkansas. The 19-year-old has run the 400-meter distance under 50 seconds more than five times.
Sport: Track and Field - Cierra Burdick
The Charlotte native and Butler High alumna has won seven gold medals with USA Basketball.
Sport: 3×3 basketball - Gianluca Busio
The Greensboro native plays professional soccer in Italy for Venezia FC.
Sport: Soccer - Andrew Capobianco
Capobianco, who is from Holly Springs, will compete in his second Olympic Games. He earned a silver medal at the Tokyo Games in the men’s synchronized 3m springboard dive.
Sport: Diving - Carson Clough
The Charlotte Latin alum played lacrosse at North Carolina. Then a 2019 boating accident on Lake Norman led to partial amputation of his right leg. Clough, a triathlete, is also the co-founder of Giddy Goat Coffee Roasters in Plaza Midwood.
Sport: Paralympics triathlon - Anna Cockrell
Cockrell, a Charlotte native, will compete in the 400-meter hurdles. The Providence Day alumna graduated with honors from the University of Southern California in 2019. She also competed in the Tokyo Olympics.
Sport: Track and field - Stephen Curry
The NBA superstar is a Charlotte legend. The Charlotte Christian and Davidson alum has a key to the city, and now he’ll make his Olympics debut. Men’s USA Basketball open their Olympics campaign vs. Serbia on Sunday, July 28, at 11:15am.
Sport: Basketball - Pascual Di Tella
The Argentine athlete athlete attended Duke.
Sport: Fencing - Crystal Dunn
The former North Carolina Tar Heel will compete in her third Olympics.
Sport: Soccer - Casey Eichfeld
Eichfeld, who calls Huntersville home, is heading to his fourth Olympic Games. You may have run into him at the U.S. National Whitewater Center where he trains and was previously a raft guide.
Sport: Canoe/Kayak - Field Hockey
Charlotte is home to the USA Field Hockey women’s national team. Leah Crouse played at Duke. Several athletes on the roster played at North Carolina, including: Ashley Hoffman, Ashley Sessa, Meredith Sholder and Cassie Sumfest. Find the full roster here. - Emily Fox
Fox, a former North Carolina Tar Heel, will make her Olympics debut.
Sport: Soccer - Veronica Fraley
The Raleigh native competed for Clemson and Vanderbilt, pursuing her second master’s degree at the latter. She will compete in the discus throw.
Sport: Track and field - Daniel Golubovic
The former Duke athlete will represent Australia in the decathlon.
Sport: Track and field - Chelsea Gray
The Duke alumna won a gold medal with Team USA in Tokyo.
Sport: Basketball - Josh Green
The Australian guard, who was recently traded to the Charlotte Hornets, is heading to his second Olympics. He won a bronze medal in Tokyo.
Sport: Basketball - Simen Guttormsen
The pole vaulter, who competed for Duke and Princeton, will represent Norway.
Sport: Track and field - Dearica Hamby
The Wake Forest alumna and WNBA player will represent Team USA.
Sport: 3×3 basketball - Quanera Hayes
Hayes, a world-champion 400-meter runner, is heading to her second Olympics. In college, she ran for Livingstone in Salisbury.
Sport: Track and field - Ryan Held
In 2016, the N.C. State alum won gold in Rio.
Sport: Swimming - Rinky Hijikata
The former North Carolina Tar Heel will represent Australia in his first Olympics.
Sport: Tennis - Lauren Hoffman
The former Duke Blue Devil will make her Olympic Games debut. She will represent the Philippines in the 400-meter hurdles.
Sport: Track and field - Patrick Hussey
The North Carolina Tar Heel will represent Canada in his first Olympics.
Sport: Swimming - Sanu Jallow
The West Mecklenburg High alumna and Arkansas runner will represent Gambia in the women’s 800-meter.
Sport: Track and field - Brynn King
King’s specialty is pole vault. The Texas native earned a degree in evolutionary anthropology at Duke. She competed for the Blue Devils before transferring to Roberts Wesleyan.
Sport: Track and field - Evy Leibfarth
The Bryson City native frequently trains at the U.S. National Whitewater Center. She made history at the Tokyo Olympic Games as the youngest athlete to represent the U.S. in canoe slalom in the Olympics. Now she will compete in her second Olympics.
Sport: Canoe/kayak - McKenzie Long
Long, who ran track at N.C. State before transferring to Ole Miss as a graduate student, runs in memory of her late mother, Tara Jones.
Sport: Track and field - Khaman Maluach
The Blue Devil’s 7-foot-2 center will represent South Sudan.
Sport: Basketball - Leona Maguire
The former Duke athlete will represent Ireland.
Sport: Golf - Aranza Vazquez Montano
The North Carolina Tar Heel will compete in her second Olympics. She will represent Mexico.
Sport: Diving - Casey Murphy
The North Carolina Courage goalkeeper will compete in her first Olympics.
Sport: Soccer - Maria Liana Mutia
Mutia, a Raleigh native, will compete in her second Paralympics. The visually-impaired athlete wrestled and began competing in judo, a martial art, in high school.
Sport: Paralympics judo - Fiona O’Keeffe
The marathoner calls Chapel Hill home.
Sport: Track and field - Toni Payne
The Duke alumna will represent Nigeria.
Sport: Soccer - Tommy Paul
Paul grew up playing on clay courts in Greenville, N.C. Now he will compete in his second Olympics.
Sport: Tennis - Maddy Price
Price earned her undergrad and master’s at Duke. She will represent Canada at her second Olympics.
Sport: Track and Field - Quinn
The Duke alum will represent Canada. Quinn, who has won gold with Canada in Tokyo, became the first openly transgender, non-binary person to win an Olympic medal, according to the Canadian federation. This will be their third Olympics.
Sport: Soccer - Ethan Ramos
Ramos competed for the North Carolina Tar Heels in college. Now he’s an assistant coach for Duke. He’ll represent Puerto Rico at the Games.
Sport: Wrestling - Hannah Roberts
Roberts lives in Jacksonville, North Carolina. She won silver at the Tokyo Games.
Sport: BMX freestyle - Sofia Roma
The former Duke basketball player will represent Puerto Rico.
Sport: Basketball - Apsara Sakbun
Sakbun, a Wells Fargo analyst who calls Charlotte home, will swim for Cambodia. She trains at the Dowd YMCA and Queens University of Charlotte.
Sport: Swimming - Morgan Stickney
Stickney is a two-time Paralympic gold medalist. Her family moved to Cary so she could train after surgeries to amputate her legs below the knee. She will compete in her second Paralympics.
Sport: Paralympics swimming - Sammy Sullivan
Sullivan, who grew up in Fayetteville, began playing rugby at West Point. She currently holds the rank of captain in the Army.
Sport: Rugby - Taekwondo
USA Taekwondo is based in Charlotte.
Sport: Taekwondo - Naya Tapper
The West Mecklenburg High alumna and former North Carolina Tar Heel was a member of Olympic team for the Tokyo Games. Prior to playing rugby in college, she was an All-America track and field athlete in high school.
Sport: Rugby - Jayson Tatum
The Boston Celtics star played at Duke.
Sport: Basketball - Jack White
White also played basketball at Duke. He will represent Australia at the Games.
Sport: Basketball - Evan Wilkerson
The Wake Forest native, who is visually impaired, will compete in his first Paralympic Games.
Sport: Paralympics swimming - Danielle Williams
The Johnson C. Smith University alumna and two-time world champion 100-meter hurdler will compete in her first Olympic Games, representing Jamaica.
Sport: Track and field
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