Root for These 18 Michigan star athletes at the 2024 Olympics
The 2024 Summer Olympics are just around the corner, and Michigan has plenty of hometown heroes to root for. Check them out here.
Later this month, 196 countries are coming together to participate in the Olympics. But even with that many competitors, you can still find the Michigander spirit among them.
The 2024 Summer Olympics are scheduled to begin in Paris, France, on Jul. 26, 2024. The games, sometimes alternatively called Paris 2024, will run until Aug. 11, 2024. Team USA includes 592 athletes from across the country, but plenty have Michigan ties.
For the 2020 games in Tokyo, nearly 82 percent of American medalists had ties to collegiate programs. And as any Michigander knows, whether you believe in “Going Blue” or that the “Spartans Will,” collegiate sports are big here. In fact, some athletes, such as alumni from the University of Michigan’s track and field program, are representing other countries that are not Team USA.
Michigan has quite a hankering for the Olympics. Among the cities that have bid but never been chosen, it’s likely that Detroit has bid more times than any other city. Though the city has expressed interest nine separate times, the Motor City has never been chosen as a site for the Olympics. Detroit came the closest in 1956 and 1968, when even President John F. Kennedy offered an official video message of support for the 1968 Detroit bid.
Both NBC and Telemundo will broadcast the Summer Olympics. You can watch live streams from home through Peacock or through the NBC and NBC Sports apps. But if you’re looking for some hometown heroes to root for, we’ve got your list right here.
Women’s Sports Competitors
Delaney Schnell
Michigan Origin: Iron Mountain
Sport: Women’s Diving
Delaney Schnell is an Upper Peninsula native who started diving at the age of 10. She got the highest score in the individual event at the U.S. Olympic Diving Trials. She previously attended the Olympics in 2020 and brought home a silver medal. Schnell would like to become a physical therapist after she is done competing.
Abby Tamar
Michigan Origin: Whitmore Lake
Sport: Women’s Field Hockey
Abby Tamar isn’t just a hockey athlete. She has a hockey pedigree. Abby is the daughter of Keely (Libby) Tamar, who was a star field hockey player at the University of Michigan in the 1990s and current sport. Her father, Chris Tamar, played 11 seasons of professional ice hockey in the NFL. Abby, too, went on to the University of Michigan, but took a year off for her Olympic aspirations.
Alena Olsen
Michigan Origin: Grand Rapids
Sport: Women’s Rugby
Alena Olsen is a University of Michigan alum who played with the women’s rugby club while she was a Wolverine. Olsen started playing rugby as a college athlete and was a two-time All-American. She originally graduated from Caledonia High School, so she’s been Michigan-born and raised her whole life. She made the roster for the rugby sevens team.
Hannah Roberts
Michigan Origin: Buchanan
Sport: Women’s Cycling
Hannah Roberts has been a BMX biker since age 9, following in the footsteps of her professional BMX rider cousin, Brett Banasiewicz. She entered her first BMX competition when she was only 12. She previously competed as a freestyle cyclist at her Olympic debut in the 2020 Olympics and brought home a silver medal.
Grace Stark
Michigan Origin: White Lake
Sport: Women’s Track and Field
Grace Stark has already been setting records as a runner, having set the record for the fastest 100-meter hurdler in Michigan high school history during her time at White Lake Lakeland High School. She qualified for the 2024 Olympics by beating her opponent by just 0.06 seconds. She got so good at jumping hurdles after being a gymnast in her youth, even though she couldn’t stay in gymnastics due to injuries. Stark is interested in studying physical therapy and working in sports medicine.
Men’s Sports Competitors
Adam Coon
Michigan Origin: Fowlerville
Sport: Wrestling
Adam Coon attended the University of Michigan as a proud Wolverine studying aerospace engineering. Coon came close to qualifying for the Olympics twice before, and even took time off to pursue a professional football career. But now, he’s returning to wrestling and finally going to Paris.
Mason Parris
Michigan Origin: Ann Arbor
Sport: Wrestling
“Parris in Paris” became so popular that it became a reality—and now even has merch! Mason Parris, a former heavyweight wrestler for the University of Michigan, graduated as a four-time All-American and finished 33-0.
Aaron Cummings
Michigan Origin: Muskegon
Sport: Men’s Rugby
Muskegon native Aaron Cummings will compete on the world’s biggest stage with Team USA Rugby Sevens. He’s the first person from Davenport University to compete in the Olympic games, having previously competed there at the collegiate level. He started playing rugby at Grand Haven High School.
Sorin Koszyk
Michigan Origin: Grosse Pointe Park
Sport: Men’s Rowing
Though Sorin Koszyk qualified for the Olympics with the California Rowing Club in Oakland, California, he previously attempted an Olympic run with Philadelphia’s Penn AC Rowing Association. Originally, though, he’s from Michigan’s Grosse Pointe Park. He secured his spot after placing first in the men’s double sculls final at the 2024 World Rowing Final Olympic and Paralympic Qualification Regatta.
Zach Hammer
Michigan Origin: Ann Arbor
Sport: Men’s Sport Climbing
Zach Hammer didn’t exactly have Olympic aspirations at first. His sport, competitive rock climbing, wasn’t added as an Olympic event until the 2021 Tokyo Games. But rock climbing has been a passion for Zach since he was three years old. The Skyline High School graduate trained at Ann Arbor’s Planet Rock gym alongside fellow Olympian Hobbs Kessler.
Devin Booker
Michigan Origin: Grand Rapids
Sport: Men’s Basketball
Devin Booker has made headlines as a top player for the Phoenix Suns, the NBA team he’s spent nine seasons playing for. However, he’s actually a West Michigan native. He moved from Grandville to Mississippi during high school but remembers his years in Michigan fondly, especially the Michigan-Michigan State rivalry games. Now, his stardom has taken another level, as he will compete on the star-studded Team USA basketball team, side-by-side with household names like LeBron James and Steph Curry.
Frederick Richard
Michigan Origin: Ann Arbor
Sport: Men’s Gymnastics
Fred Richard is currently enrolled at the University of Michigan’s College of Literature, Science, and Arts, but he’s already been named a “Big Ten Gymnast to Watch.” He is a three-time NCAA All-American. For the Olympics, he scored at the top of the men’s gymnastics division. Though he’s only twenty years old, he’s not only going to the Olympics, but he’s also the CEO of sports apparel company Frederick Flips, as well as an influencer and YouTuber.
Paul Juda
Michigan Origin: Ann Arbor
Sport: Men’s Gymnastics
Paul Juda is a University of Michigan graduate student with a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology, currently studying Real Estate Development. But he’s also one of the best gymnasts among the Wolverines. After a freak accident on the high bar that sidelined him during his senior year, he’s making a strong comeback fulfilling his lifelong dream of becoming an Olympic athlete in the Final Five.
Andrew Evans
Michigan Origin: Portage
Sport: Men’s Track and Field
Andrew Evans is a local brewer from Kalamazoo Brewery, Wax Wings Brewing Company, but he’s also a skilled athlete with a discus in hand. He took third place at the New York Grand Prix to qualify for the Olympics—and his friends and coworkers at Wax Wings couldn’t be prouder, with support for this brewmaster pouring out on social media. A special beer release is planned for Wax Wings in Evans’s honor, with proceeds going towards his Olympic journey. He also previously attended the Olympic Games in 2016.
Heath Baldwin
Michigan Origin: Kalamazoo
Sport: Men’s Track and Field
Heath Baldwin is a current Michigan State University graduate student. He became the first Spartan since Paul Terek in 2004 to qualify for the Olympic decathlon. Baldwin finished first in the 19-athlete field and secured the sixth-best score in the world. The Kalamazoo native received a triumphant going-away party from his high school, where he was the 2019 Mr. Michigan Track & Field.
Hobbs Kessler
Michigan Origin: Ann Arbor
Sport: Men’s Track and Field
Hobbs Kessler is an Ann Arbor native, but he’s also a record-breaking runner who began his professional athletic career right after high school by signing with Adidas. As of this year, he’s the first American male athlete to qualify for the Olympic 1500 and 800 double since 1976. He comes from a family of runners—his father, Michael, was on Eastern Michigan University’s track team, and his mother, Serena, made the 2012 US Olympic Trials.
Donald Scott
Michigan Origin: Ypsilanti
Sport: Men’s Track and Field
Donald Scott originally received a scholarship to play football at Eastern Michigan University, but once he joined the Eagles track team, his life went in a different direction. As a collegiate athlete, he was a three-time All-American and still holds the indoor and outdoor conference meet records in the triple jump. Donald Scott previously attended the Olympic Games in 2020. He works at a local juvenile center because working with youth is one of his other passions.
Grant Fisher
Michigan Origin: Grand Blanc
Sport: Men’s Track and Field
A U.S. distance runner has not taken the gold at the Olympics in forty years, but if anyone can do it, Grant Fisher can. Grant Fisher, a native of the Flint area, already attended the Olympics in 2020, and now he’s coming back for more. Grant Fisher already holds the best time in the world at 10,000 meters since Cheptegai, a Ugandan, set his record in 2020. Fisher got started distance running when he joined his middle school cross country team and later played for Grand Blanc High School. One of his hobbies is computer programming, and he holds a degree in electrical engineering.
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