Athletes are gearing up for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games set to begin on July 24. The opening ceremony is on July 26. (Credit: Unsplash/Solen Feyissa)
By Mekhi Abbott
AFRO Sports Intern
mabbott@afro.com
and
Kelsi Jones
AFRO Sports Intern
kejon59@morgan.edu
With the July 26 opening ceremony for the 2024 summer Paris Olympics comes the need to pay attention to several athletes in each discipline. AFRO sports interns Kelsi Jones and Mekhi Abbott highlight the athletes you need to keep an eye on as the biggest sporting event across the globe is fast approaching.
Abbott and Jones will focus on the Olympic athletes who made the United States national team. However, top global competitors will also be highlighted.
Track and Field – Women
Event: 100-meter dash
Event Begins: Aug. 2
Event Final: Aug. 3
Sha’Carri Richardson, 24, is searching for redemption as she qualifies for the first Olympics of her young, accomplished career. The 2023 World Champion was ruled ineligible to compete at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics due to testing positive for cannabis after winning the 2020 United States (U.S.) Olympic trials. Now, after repeating as the U.S. Olympic trials 100-meter dash champion, Richardson will look to claim the gold medal in Paris; something she didn’t even have a chance to do in 2021. As Richardson loves to say, “I’m not back. I’m better.”
Richardson and her two training partners Melissa Jefferson and TeeTee Terry made history by becoming the first female training group to sweep an event at an Olympic trial meet. The trio, coached by Dennis Mitchell, will be looking to get the same result in Paris. The only coach to successfully lead his camp in sweeping both the national trials and the Olympics was Jamaican coach Glen Mills. Headlined by track and field legend Usain Bolt, Mills led his camp in sweeping the 200-meter dash at both the Jamaican trials as well as the 2012 London Olympic Games.
Event: 200-meter dash
Event Begins: Aug. 4
Event Final: Aug. 6
Gabby Thomas, 27, will look to use her Olympic experience to her advantage as she prepares for the trip to Paris. The 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games bronze medalist and 2023 World Championship silver medalist in the 200-meter dash will be looking to continue her strong 2024 outdoor campaign after dropping a world-leading time of 21.78 seconds at the U.S. Olympic trials.
Veteran Jamaican sprinter and five-time Olympic medalist Shericka Jackson will challenge Thomas for the gold as she attempts the double (winning both the 100-meter dash and the 200-meter dash). Thomas’ teammate McKenzie Long will also be vying for a spot on the podium. The budding star has captured the hearts of America after the death of her mother. Long was able to channel her grief into motivation, winning the double at the 2024 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Outdoor National Championships. She currently has the second fastest 200-meter time in the world right now at 21.83 seconds, according to World Athletics.
Event: 400-meter hurdles
Event Begins: Aug. 4
Event Final: Aug. 8
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, 24, looks to continue to be in a class of her own as she prepares for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. McLaughlin-Levrone is already the world record holder in the 400-meter hurdles, lowering the world record she already held to 50.65 seconds at the U.S. Olympic trials. The New Jersey native is already in contention for the best track and field athlete of all time, as she is an Olympic champion and a World champion in the 400 meter hurdles before the age of 25. She also currently has the fastest 400-meter dash time and sixth fastest 200-meter dash time in the world right now, but opted to focus solely on the 400-meter hurdles in Paris.
Vying for a podium finish is Anna Cockrell, who will be competing in her second Olympic Games. She finished seventh in the 2021 Tokyo Olympic 400-meter hurdle final, but was eventually disqualified due to a lane error. McLaughlin-Levrone’s stiffest competition will come from Dutch superstar Femke Bol. Bol is the world record holder in both the indoor 400-meter dash and the 300 meter hurdles.
Event: Long jump
Event Begins: Aug. 6
Event Final: Aug. 8
2024 World Indoor Champion Tara Davis-Woodhall, 25, looks to claim her first Olympic gold medal in Paris. Davis-Woodhall currently has the second furthest long jump distance in the world at 7.18 meters. Davis-Woodhall’s husband, Hunter Woodhall, will also be competing in 2024 at the Paralympic Games.
Former Florida Gator star Jasmine Moore, 23, made her second consecutive U.S. Olympic team and currently has the third furthest distance in the long jump at 6.98 meters (22 ft, 10.8 in.).
Event: 100-meter hurdles
Event Begins: Aug. 7
Event Final: Aug. 10
Maryland’s own Masai Russell currently holds the fastest 100-meter hurdles time in the world at 12.25 seconds. The world-leading time was a breakthrough performance for the 24 year old. Russell dropped the blazing time in the 100-meter hurdle final at the 2024 U.S. Olympic trials, taking home the gold.
The women’s short hurdles are one of the most competitive events in the world right now. Russell will be looking to continue her winning ways against world record holder and 2022 World Champion Tobi Amusan out of Nigeria and the reigning Olympic champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn who was born in the United States but competes for Puerto Rico.
Track and Field – Men
Event: 100-meter dash
Event Begins: Aug. 3
Event Final: Aug. 4
Noah Lyles will be seeking to do something that only nine other men to grace this planet Earth have ever done – win both the 100-meter dash and the 200-meter dash at the Olympics. The historic Olympic “sprint double” has only been achieved four times since 1984, and three of those were courtesy of one of the greatest sprinters of all time, Usian Bolt. Lyles, the reigning 200-meter World champion, is the favorite in the 200 but the 100-meter dash is very much up for grabs.
Challenging Lyles for gold in the 100-meter dash is Kishane Thompson of Jamaica, reigning Olympic 100-meter champion Lamont Marcel Jacobs and Kenya’s Ferdinand Omanyala.
Event: 110-meter hurdles
Event Begins: Aug. 4
Event Final: Aug. 8
Grant Holloway, 5-time World champion and currently the second fastest man to ever run the short hurdles, will look to avenge his upset defeat at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
Reigning Olympic champion Hansle Parchment will be in the hunt to reclaim his title, while USA’s Daniel Robert will attempt to step out of Holloway’s shadow and have his breakthrough moment in Paris.
Event: Javelin
Event Starts: Aug. 6
Event End: Aug. 8
Two-time Olympian Curtis Thompson will be looking to add an Olympic medal to his résumé. Thompson is already a NCAA champion, a three-time American champion and won the Pan American Games in 2023. He was the only javelin thrower from the United States to qualify for the Olympics.
India’s Neeraj Chopra will be looking to reclaim his title as Olympic champion in the men’s javelin. Chopra was the first Asian athlete to win an Olympic gold medal in the javelin ever.
Event: Shot put
Event Starts: Aug. 2
Event End: Aug. 3
Already regarded as the greatest shot putter of all time, Ryan Crouser will be looking to add yet another Olympic gold medal to his illustrious career. The three-time World champion and two-time Olympic gold medallist already holds both the world and Olympic records.
Crouser’s stiffest competition will be fellow American Joe Kovacs. Kovacs defeated Crouser at the 2019 World Championships in Doha, but finished second to Crouser at both the 2016 Rio Olympics and the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
Men’s Basketball – Team USA
Begin Play: July 28
Gold Medal and Bronze Medal Game: Aug. 10
The 2024 roster for Team USA Basketball appears to be one of the most talented teams in Olympic history, being challenged only by the 1992 Dream Team and the 2008 Redeem Team. Highlighted by LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Anthony Edwards, this team will look to prove to Noah Lyles and others that they are truly the best team in the world. Big additions to Team USA include Stephen Curry, who is surprisingly playing for Team USA for the first time ever, and 2023 NBA MVP Joel Embiid.
Team USA has a tough challenge ahead of them, however, as many believe that the basketball talent around the world is beginning to catch up with the Americans. Team USA’s biggest challenger will likely be Canada, sporting a roster that includes First Team All-NBA guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Dillion Brooks. This is also believed to be the last Olympics for both James and Durant.
Men’s 3×3 Basketball – Team USA
Begin Play: July 30
Gold Medal and Bronze Medal Game: Aug. 5
3×3 basketball officially became an Olympic sport in 2017 and was contested for the first time at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. Latvia took home the gold at the last Olympics, but Team USA will be looking for better fortune this time around.
The 3×3 roster is led by former NBA sharpshooter Jimmer Fredette and 3×3 veteran Kareem Maddox. Maddox, a Princeton grad, won Ivy League defensive player of the year honors back in 2011 and was a part of the 2019 FIBA 3×3 World Cup team that won gold in Amsterdam. He also holds two gold medals from the Pan American Games from both 2019 and 2023.
Women’s Gymnastics
Event Begins: July 28
Event Final: Aug. 6
The USAs Women’s Gymnastics team is set to compete at the 2024 Paris Olympics where you will be able to watch the top US gymnasts like Simone Biles, Suni Lee, Jordan Chiles, Jade Carey, and Hezly Rivera. Biles is definitely someone to keep an eye on this summer as she has taken home over 30 Olympic and World medals. She is sure to make history as she makes her way to Paris.
Women’s Basketball
Begin Play: July 29
Gold Medal and Bronze Medal Game: Aug. 11
The USAs Women’s Basketball team is making history right now. The team has earned seven Olympic medals back to back. Their first match up will begin July 29. In Paris, they are set to play a number of teams that are in their equal group (group C) including Germany, Japan, and Belgium. To win gold, the Americans must advance from a team of 4 groups where they will then have to take home 3 consecutive wins in the knockout round. There is a multitude of talent on this year’s roster including A’ja Wilson, Brittney Griner, Diana Taurasi, Kelsey Plum, Alyssa Thomas, and more.
Women’s Soccer
Begin Play: July 25
Bronze Medal Match: Aug. 9
Gold Medal Match: Aug. 10
The USAs Women’s Soccer team is headed to Paris with a roster filled up with 18 talented women. The team is now led by new head coach Emma Hayes and she is ready and eager to fight for this year’s gold medal. The women’s team had a heartbreaking loss as the team had to exit the World Cup in 2023 unexpectedly. The opening ceremony is set to be Friday, July 26 but the team is scheduled to have their first match a day before as they face Zambia. After, they will then be preparing to play Germany July 28, and Australia on July 31. The quarter finals will begin Aug. 3.
Tennis
Begin Play: July 27
Women’s Single Gold Medal Match: Aug. 3
Women’s Double Gold Medal Match and Single Bronze Medal Match: Aug. 4
The USAs olympic tennis teams first tournament is set to begin July 27 to Aug. 4 in the Roland Garros on the red clay courts. This will be the first time Olympic tennis will be playing on the clay courts since 1992. Tennis was one of the nine original Olympic sports at the very first games in Athens 1896. The team consists of gold medalist Coco Guaff, Jessica Pegula, Dannielle Collins, and Emma Navarro in singles. Desirae Krawczyk will be participating in the doubles round.
