Whittaker punches ticket to Paris Olympics

2024 graduate Isabella Whittaker will be traveling to the Paris 2024 Summer Olympic Games after earning a spot in the U.S. Olympic Team's 4x400 relay pool.

Whittaker, from Laurel, Maryland, competed in the 400 meter at the recent U.S Olympic Trials in Eugene, Oregon, and finished sixth with a time of 50.68.

Her younger sister Juliette, a rising second-year at Stanford, will be joining her in Paris to compete in the 800 meter.

The Paris Olympics run July 26 to Aug. 1.

Whittaker concluded her Penn career as the school record-holder in the 200 meter (23.18), 400 meter (50.17), 4x100 relay (43.74, alongside third-year Caia Gelli, second-year Moforehan Abinusawa, and second-year Christiana Nwachuku), 4x400 meter relay (3:29.29, alongside third-year Jocelyn Niemiec, fourth-year Aliya Garozzo, and Nwachuku), and the sprint medley relay (3:42.32, alongside Abinusawa, Nwachuku, and third-year Bronwyn Patterson).

In early June at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Eugene, Oregon, Whittaker placed fifth overall in the 400 meter and set a new school and Ivy League record with a time of 50.17. Her finish garnered First-Team All-American honors, making her only the third First-Team All-American in the history of Penn women's track and field program. (Nia Akins and Anna Peyton Malizia earned First-Team All-American honors in 2019; Akins is competing in the Paris Olympics in the 800 meter).

Whittaker has one year of eligibility remaining and will compete next season for the Arkansas Razorbacks.