Colorado is sending more than two dozen athletes to the Summer Olympic Games in Paris that start this week.
By the numbers: The roughly 28 athletes who call the Centennial State home will compete in 12 sports and 28 disciplines, according to the official roster of 592 athletes from the Colorado Springs-based U.S. Olympic Committee.
- The sports range from women's 100m breaststroke and pairs rowing to equestrian dressage and golf.
What we're watching: Colorado athletes are poised to win big as they defend titles from the Tokyo Games three years ago.
- The women's soccer team features three Colorado players — Lindsey Horan, Mallory Swanson and Sophia Smith — who are looking for Olympic gold after finishing with a disappointing bronze in 2021.
- In track and field, Longmont's Valarie Allman is looking for her second gold in the women's discus throw after dominating the competition in Tokyo.
- Aurora's Jordyn Poulter and Colorado Springs' Haleigh Washington lead Team USA as it tries to defend its gold medal in volleyball.
The bottom line: Turn on the TV to watch the Olympics and you're likely to see a Colorado athlete on the screen.
Go deeper: Check back for continual updates through the Olympics.
3x3 Men's Basketball
From left, Canyon Barry, Dylan Travis, Jimmer Fredette and Kareem Maddox of Team USA after winning the Gold Medal in Men's Basketball 3x3 at the Santiago 2023 Pan Am Games in Chile. Photo: Andy Lyons/Getty Images
Two of the four members of the first-ever Team USA 3x3 men's basketball team to qualify for the Olympics live here.
Littleton's Jimmer Fredette , 35, is the former 2011 national college player of the year from his days at Brigham Young University, where he led the nation in scoring.
- He played parts of six seasons in the NBA and then in overseas leagues.
- In the 2023 World Cup, where Team USA finished with the silver medal, he led all scorers with 59.
Canyon Barry of Colorado Springs is a 3x3 veteran with experience in two World Cups and numerous other international tournaments.
- The 30-year-old played college ball at Charleston and Florida and then in the NBA's G League for the Iowa Wolves.
- His family is steeped in basketball history. His father is NBA Hall of Famer Rick Barry and his brother, Brent, is also an NBA champion.
The two other team members are Kareem Maddox and Dylan Travis.
Fun fact: Barry shoots free-throws underhanded , a shot perfected by his father.
Cycling
Christopher Blevins competes in an April mountain bike race in Brazil. Photo: Piotr Staron/Getty Images
Durango's Christopher Blevins returns for his second Olympics and leads a handful of cyclists from Colorado into the Paris Games.
Blevins , 26, started racing at age 12 and shifted to mountain biking ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Games. He finished 14th in the cross-country mountain bike race.
Dig in: His pre-race ritual includes eating pancakes and drinking coffee three hours before the start and then meditating.
Riley Amos competes at the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in Val Di Sole, Italy, on June 16. Photo: Piotr Staron/Getty Images
Riley Amos , 22, is making his Olympic debut. He is the under-23 gold medalist in this year's UCI Mountain Bike World Cup and won four USA Cycling national titles as a junior in high school.
Fun fact: He first started mountain biking at age 2.
Chloe Patrick, Colleen Gulick, Olivia Cummins and Shayna Powless of Team USA compete in track cycling at the 2023 Pan Am Games. Photo: Ezra Shaw/Getty Images
Olivia Cummins , 20, will compete in the women's team pursuit track cycling race for Team USA. She is from Fort Collins and attends Colorado Mesa University in Grand Junction.
- She races road bikes and track — a sport she began at age 5. "I wouldn't be who I am today without cycling. It has taught me everything I know about compassion, integrity, teamwork, relationships, and so much more," she says on her Team USA page .
Colby Lange, left, and Grant Koontz, right, pose on the podium at the 2023 Pan Am Games. Photo: Buda Mendes/Getty Images
Grant Koontz , the 30-year-old track cyclist, calls Nederland home and stands out with his mullet haircut.
- Instead of a car at age 16, he received a bike for his birthday. He went on to win a national championship in college and dozens of other medals for USA Cycling on the track and road.
Rowing
Two seconds is all that separated Jessica Thoennes from Olympic glory three years ago.
Zoom in: Thoennes, a rower from Highlands Ranch, took fourth place in the U.S. women's eight-person rowing team in the pandemic-delayed 2020 Tokyo Games, missing out on a bronze by a pair of seconds .
- Now, Thoennes joins Azja Czajkowski, who's making her Olympic debut in Paris, for another shot at a podium finish — this time for the U.S. women's pair team.
The intrigue: Thoennes, who attended Mountain Vista High School, hadn't rowed before walking on to the team at the University of Washington.
What they're saying: "I've always been scrappy. I've never been the No. 1 … I'm a bit of a stubborn creature and I just keep working at things," Thoennes told the Highlands Ranch Herald about her work ethic, which she credits with getting her to the Olympics.
What's next: Women's pair rowing begins Sunday.
Shooting
Rylan Kissell during the Division 1 Men's and Women's Rifle Championship in March 2021. Photo: Jay LaPrete/NCAA Photos/NCAA Photos via Getty Images
Littleton's own Rylan Kissell will join Keith Sanderson, who lives in Monument, as sharpshooters in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The big picture: Sanderson, a San Antonio native , is making his fourth Olympic appearance, while Kissell, a recent University of Alaska Fairbanks grad, will make his debut at the Games.
Zoom in: Kissell, 22, attended Dakota Ridge High School in Littleton before embarking on a decorated college career highlighted by a national title in 2023 .
- He trained at the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Training Center in Colorado Springs to prepare for the Summer Games.
Sanderson began his shooting career in a U.S. Marine Corps competition in 1996.
- He made his Olympic debut in Beijing in 2008, placing fifth in the rapid-fire pistol category.
What's next: Shooting competitions begin Friday.
Soccer
Mallory Swanson, Lindsey Horan and Sophia Smith after a game at Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City in June. Photo: Photo: Justin Edmonds/USSF/Getty Images for USSF
A cohort of Colorado women will lead the U.S. women's soccer team in Paris with a unified goal: Returning the gold medal to American soil.
The big picture: The team begins its 2024 Olympic campaign on Thursday against Zambia, which is making its second overall appearance in the games.
- Meanwhile, the USWNT is one of two teams that have appeared in all eight editions of the tournament (the other is Brazil) since the sport debuted at the Olympics in 1996.
State of play: Lindsey Horan (Golden) is captain, while Mallory Swanson (Highlands Ranch) and Sophia Smith (Windsor) will serve as the primary attacking players for the gold-medal favorite team.
Horan, a midfielder, is the team's most veteran player, with 148 appearances for the national team, and 35 career goals.
- Horan attended Golden High School, opting to turn pro after graduating.
Swanson, a forward, has netted 34 career goals. She became the youngest player to ever score for the U.S. team during her 2016 Olympics appearance at age 18.
- Swanson attended Mountain Vista High School.
Smith, a forward, has 19 career goals with the team, and despite being the youngest Coloradan on the squad, at 23, she's arguably its biggest rising star.
- Smith, who attended Fossil Ridge High School, was selected first overall by Portland Thorns RC during the 2020 NWSL College Draft.
The intrigue: The USWNT hasn't won Olympic gold since 2012 in London, its longest stretch without a top finish since winning its first title in 1996.
- The team won a bronze during the 2020 games.
Swimming
Emma Weber competes in the U.S. Olympic Team Swimming trials June 19. Photo: Al Bello/Getty Images
The much-hyped Olympic swimming competitions will feature Denver's Emma Weber in the breaststroke.
State of play: This is the 20-year-old's first Olympics but not her first moment in the spotlight. Weber was the state champion in the 100-meter breaststroke and 200-meter individual medley at Regis Jesuit High School and helped lead the University of Virginia to a national championship this March.
- She finished second in the U.S. Olympic trials just behind reigning Olympic gold medalist Lydia Jacoby and ahead of world-record holder Lilly King.
- Weber didn't expect to qualify and instead bought spectator tickets to cheer on her college teammates, her mother told reporters .
Fun fact: Her great-grandmother, Louise Weigel, competed in the 1932 and 1936 Olympics as a figure skater.
What to watch: The first 100-meter breaststroke heats air at 3am July 28 on Peacock and NBCOlympics.com. The final is July 29.
Sign up for Axios newsletters for free.
Local Colorado State
Most Popular
Comments / 0