Going for gold: Penn athletes competing for Team USA

The 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris open today and run through Sunday, Aug. 11. Around 10,500 athletes will be competing, including 114 from the Ivy League and 12 from Penn. Six Quakers are members of Team USA and six Quakers are competing for Bermuda, Slovenia, Canada, Egypt, and Nigeria.

In a two-part series, Penn Today is spotlighting Penn athletes in the 2024 Paris Olympics. Part 1 highlighted athletes competing for international teams; Part 2 showcases athletes competing for Team USA. (Part 1 listed 13 Penn athletes; 2023 alumna Samy Morton is an alternate for the Australian women's rowing team but will not be competing in Paris.)

Interim President J. Larry Jameson posted a video to social media wishing a hearty congratulations and good luck to all of the Penn students and alumni competing in Paris.

Penn athletes competing for Team USA are:

Nia Akins - Track and Field/Women's 800m
Nia Akins, a 2020 alumna and former member of the women's track and field team, is competing in the 800m. Her track and field record is longer than a DC-20 aircraft.

She is one of the greatest athletes in school history. She is first all-time at Penn in the indoor and outdoor 800m, indoor and outdoor 4x800m relay, outdoor 1500m, outdoor 4x400m relay, outdoor distance medley relay, and indoor 1000m. She is second all-time in NCAA history in the indoor 800m. In 2019, she was the NCAA National Runner-Up in the indoor and outdoor 800m, and she became the first Penn athlete to win College Athlete of the Meet at the Penn Relays. At the U.S. Olympic Trials in June, she placed first with a time of 1:57.36, a personal best.

Akins started running track in elementary school. She's also a singer-songwriter and plays the guitar.

Sam Mattis - Track and Field/Men's Discus
2016 alumnus Sam Mattis is competing in the men's discus. This will be his second consecutive Olympic appearance. He took part in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics (held in 2021 due to the pandemic) and placed eighth.

Mattis was a member of the men's track and field team while an undergrad. In 2015, he won the NCAA National Championship in the discus and was the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Outdoor Male Field Scholar Athlete of the Year. He was a three-time Ivy Heps champion in the discus, a three-time First-Team Outdoor All-Ivy selection, and a two-time First-Team All-American.

Mattis is a cancer survivor. He holds the school record in the discus: 67.45 meters (221 feet, 3 inches).

Isabella Whittaker - Track and Field/Women's 4x400 relay, Women's 4x400 mixed relay
Isabella Whittaker, a 2024 alumna, is a part of the relay pool for the women's 4x400 relay and the women's 4x400 mixed relay.

Whittaker was a member of the women's track and field team at Penn. She concluded her collegiate career as the school record-holder in the 200m and 400m, and co-record-holder in the 4x100 relay, 4x400m relay, and the sprint medley relay. In June at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, she placed fifth overall in the 400m and set a new school and Ivy League record with a time of 50.17. At the U.S. Olympic Trials, she finished sixth with a time of 50.68.

Whittaker didn't start running until high school. Her brother Alex Whittaker ran track at and cross country at Yale and her sister Juliette Whittaker runs track at Stanford. Juliette will be joining her in Paris to compete in the 800m.

Matt Fallon - Swimming/Men's 200m breaststroke
Matt Fallon, a rising fourth-year, is competing in the 200m breaststroke.

He is a member of the men's swimming and diving team. Last summer, Fallon won the national championship in the 200-meter breaststroke for the second year in a row at USA Swimming Phillips 66 National Championships in Indianapolis. This past collegiate season, he won the Ivy League title in the 200-yard breaststroke and placed second at the NCAA Championships in the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:48.48, a new school record. He finished first in the 200m breaststroke at the U.S. Olympic Trials in June with a time of 2:06.54, a new American record. He is only the fifth men's swimmer in school history to qualify for the Olympics.

Fallon began competitive swimming at 5 years old. Both of his parents are former Penn swimmers.

Regina Salmons - Rowing/Women's 8+
2018 alumna Regina Salmons is competing in the women's eight. This will be her second straight Olympic appearance. She competed in the women's eight at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and placed fourth.

During her Quaker days, Salmons was a member of the women's rowing team. She was a 2018 First-Team All-Ivy honoree, a 2018 Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association All-Conference selection, and a member of the Quaker varsity eight squad that placed third at the 2018 Ivy Championship.

Salmons is a poet. While an undergrad, she was the editor in chief of the feminist literary and arts magazine "The F-word" and chaired the poetry workshop group "The Body Electric."

Grace "Sunny" Choi - Breaking/Women's
Grace "Sunny" Choi, a 2011 alumna, is competing in women's breaking (or breakdancing), a new sport in the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Choi was a member of the gymnastics team at Penn before tearing her ACL and withdrawing from the team her first year. She was first introduced to breaking when she saw a group of breakdancers performing at The Rotunda. She says she fell in love with the physical challenges of the dance in combination with the artistic elements of creativity and self-expression. Last November, she won gold in breaking at the Pan American Games to qualify for the Olympics.

"Sunny" is her B-girl name. She is the top-ranked B-girl in America. She recently left her job at Estée Lauder to focus on breaking full-time.