Meet the 25 Pennsylvanians headed to the 2024 Paris Olympics
These 25 athletes, who will compete in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris between July 26 and August 11, all call Pennsylvania home.
Pennsylvania is sending more than two dozen athletes in 11 sports to the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. So far, 25 athletes with Pa. hometowns have qualified for the competition — including nine field hockey titans. Be sure to cheer on your fellow Pennsylvanians when the Paris Olympics air between July 26 and August 11.
Archery
Casey Kaufhold
Hometown: Lancaster
Casey Kaufhold is an archer who competes in women’s recurve events, meaning she uses a long, curved bow — the traditional bow you think of when you picture an archer’s bow. Kaufhold is making her second Olympic appearance in Paris, as she also represented the U.S. at the Tokyo Olympics.
Basketball
Kahleah Copper
Hometown: Philadelphia
The Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) has recently been growing in popularity, but you may have heard of Kahleah Copper even before then. The Philadelphia native currently plays on the Phoenix Mercury, but before she was traded earlier this year, she dominated WNBA games as a star of the Chicago Sky. The Summer Olympics in Paris will be Copper’s first Olympics.
Canoe/Kayak
Casey Eichfeld
Hometown: Drums
Casey Eichfeld is a slalom canoeist, meaning he uses his canoe to quickly navigate whitewater courses with upstream and downstream gated obstacles. Eichfeld is originally from Luzerne County’s Drums and was raised on the whitewater of Pennsylvania’s Youghiogheny and Lehigh Rivers. He’s a veteran of the Olympic Games — his first Summer Olympics was in 2008. The Summer Olympics in Paris will be Eichfeld’s fourth Olympics.
Equestrian
Boyd Martin
Hometown: Cochranville
Boyd Martin was raised in Australia to two Olympian parents, but he eventually adopted Chester County’s Cochranville as his hometown. He represented the U.S. in the 2012, 2016, and 2020 Summer Olympics as an equestrian. Martin participates in eventing, which is sort of like an equestrian triathlon, as he and his horse compete in one event that combines dressage, cross-country riding, and show jumping. Martin and his wife own Windurra USA, an equestrian training facility in Cochranville.
Field Hockey
More than half of the 2024 U.S. Olympic Women’s Field Hockey Team hails from Pennsylvania! Southeastern and central Pa. is serious about field hockey, which is why so many of the Olympic field hockey players are from the middle and the eastern part of the state. Why is that? For one, the British woman who first brought field hockey to the U.S. in 1901 eventually became athletic director at southeastern Pa.’s Bryn Mawr College — and the sport spread across the region from there.
Brooke DeBerdine
Hometown: Millersville
Brooke DeBerdine is a midfielder for Team USA and will compete in Paris with her sister, Emma.
Emma DeBerdine
Hometown: Millersville
Emma DeBerdine will compete in Paris alongside her sister, Brooke. Like her sister, she is a midfielder for the team.
Phia Gladieux
Hometown: Oley
Sophia “Phia” Gladieux plays field hockey at Penn State, but for the summer she’ll be a forward on the U.S. women’s team at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
Ashley Hoffman
Hometown: Mohnton
Ashley Hoffman, defender and co-captain of the U.S. women’s field hockey team, comes from an Olympic legacy — her mother won a bronze medal in the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles on the U.S. women’s field hockey team.
Karlie Kisha
Hometown: Hamburg
Karlie Kisha is a defender for the U.S. women’s team. As part of the University of Connecticut women’s field hockey team, Kisha won two NCAA national championships.
Kelee Lepage
Hometown: Honey Brook
Kelee Lepage is a defender for the U.S. women’s team who has been playing field hockey since 2007, meaning the 24-year-old has been playing the sport for more than two-thirds of her life. She’s from the small town of Honey Brook, which is part of Pennsylvania Dutch Country.
Ashley Sessa
Hometown: Schwenksville
Ashley Sessa plays as a forward for the U.S. women’s field hockey team. She’s been playing field hockey since she was just four years old, when she began playing at her local YMCA.
Meredith Sholder
Hometown: Fleetwood
Did you know that all field hockey players use right-handed sticks? Meredith Sholder is a left-handed midfielder for the U.S. women’s team, and she may be a hidden weapon since her left-handed play may be slightly different from the play of most other midfielders!
Maddie Zimmer
Hometown: Hershey
Maddie Zimmer plays midfield for the U.S. women’s field hockey team. She started playing field hockey when she was just seven years old — and now she’s headed to the Olympics!
Rowing
Justin Best
Hometown: Kennett Square
The 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris will be rower Justin Best’s second Olympics appearance, as he also rowed in the 2020 Olympics. His four-men rowing team consists of two other Pa. rowers — Michael Grady and Nick Mead.
Michael Grady
Hometown: Pittsburgh
Michael Grady, a rower on the U.S. men’s team, was in the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. He didn’t medal in Tokyo, but fast forward to Paris, and his four-men rowing team — which is 75% Pennsylvanian — is widely believed to have a shot at bringing home an Olympic gold medal for the U.S. men’s rowing team — the first in 64 years.
Nick Mead
Hometown: Strafford
Nick Mead, the son of two rowers, competed in the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. The Paris Olympics will be his second Olympics appearance. His four-men rowing team also includes Pa. natives Justin Best and Michael Grady.
Rugby
Ariana Ramsey
Hometown: Philadelphia
Ariana Ramsey started her athletic career cheerleading and running track, but eventually she found rugby. The Philly native played rugby at the Tokyo Olympics, and the Paris Olympics will be her second appearance as an Olympian.
Swimming
Chris Guiliano
Hometown: Douglassville
Chris Guiliano, originally from Douglassville, is a swimmer at the University of Notre Dame. He’s also the first swimmer from Notre Dame to qualify for the Olympics! The freestyle swimmer qualified in three individual events and two relays.
Josh Matheny
Hometown: Pittsburgh
Originally from Upper St. Clair near Pittsburgh, Josh Matheny will swim in his first Olympic Games in Paris this summer. He specializes in breaststroke events.
Ivan Puskovitch
Hometown: West Chester
Ivan Puskovitch is an Olympic marathon swimmer, which takes place in open water — e.g., lakes, rivers, and the open ocean. Since open water swimming was added to the Olympics in 2008, Puskovitch is only the fifth male in the U.S. to qualify for the event. The West Chester native currently attends West Virginia University.
Track and Field
Joe Kovacs
Hometown: Bethlehem
Joe Kovacs has appeared in two prior Olympics — the 2016 games in Rio de Janeiro and the 2020 games in Tokyo. He won the silver medal in shot put — which involves throwing a heavy ball as far as possible — in the 2016 Olympics, and he then won the silver in shot put again in the 2020 Olympics! Is an Olympic gold next?
Bridget Williams
Hometown: Greensburg
Bridget Williams, from western Pa., is an Olympic pole vaulter. She won first place in women’s pole vaulting during the U.S. Olympic Team Trials, allowing her to qualify for the Paris Olympics! The 2024 Summer Olympics will be Williams’s first Olympics appearance.
Water Polo
Jovana Sekulic
Hometown: Haverford
Originally from Serbia before adopting Haverford as her hometown, Jovana Sekulic will represent the U.S. on the women’s water polo team at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. Sekulic attends Princeton, where she plays on the women’s water polo team and her brother plays on the men’s water polo team.
Wrestling
Spencer Lee
Hometown: Murrysville
Spencer Lee is an Olympic wrestler who names Murrysville as his hometown, though he also spent time in Saegertown. While Paris will be the first time Lee competes in the Olympics, he did travel to Rio de Janeiro for the 2016 Olympics to serve as a training partner for Olympian Daniel Dennis.
Zain Retherford
Hometown: Benton
Zain Retherford is an Olympic wrestler for Team USA from Benton. Retherford dominated the NCAA wrestling circuit during his time at Pennsylvania State University. The Summer Olympics in Paris will be his first appearance at the Olympics.
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