Stride Inc.

06/08/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 07/08/2024 01:33

Meet the Olympians and Paralympians with North Carolina ties heading to Paris

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.

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 3pm 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: 3x3 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: 3x3 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

Photo: Michael Reaves/Getty Images

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

To learn more about North Carolina Virtual Academy at Hallsville please visit, www.ncva.k12.com.