12 athletes with Manatee County ties are set to compete in Paris Olympics. Here’s why

The 2024 Summer Olympics are less than two weeks away.

The opening ceremony for this year’s Olympics is slated for July 26 in Paris, France.

And athletes with connections to Bradenton via IMG Academy are set to compete in basketball, golf, tennis and track and field.

Here’s a look at the former IMG Academy alums competing:

Malcolm Clemons , a first-team All-American for the University of Florida, is a Team USA track and field member. Clemons is a long jumper.

He’s the only IMG Academy alum on Team USA’s track team. Two other former Ascender track stars are representing other nations. They are sprinters Davonte Howell (100 meters, Cayman Islands) and Rikkoi Brathwaite (100 meters, British Virgin Islands).

The men’s long jump qualifying round is Aug. 4, with the medal round scheduled for Aug. 6. The 100-meter dash’s first round for the men is Aug. 3, with the semifinal and medal rounds slated for Aug. 4.

Athletes with Bradenton ties in Paris Olympics

Bradenton native Nelly Korda , the No. 1-ranked women’s golfer , is defending her 2020 Tokyo Olympics gold medal.

On the men’s golf side, Byeong-Hun An , an alum of the defunct Bradenton Prep, joins fellow IMG alums Cristobal del Solar , Emiliano Grillo , C.T. Pan and Nico Echavarria in the Olympic field.

An (Korea), Grillo (Argentina) and Pan (Chinese Taipei) are competing in this week’s Open Championship, the final major on the men’s golf calendar, in Scotland.

Pan won the bronze medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

The men’s and women’s Olympic golf tournaments are contested on Le Golf National , a course near Versailles that hosted the 2018 Ryder Cup.

The men’s event is Aug. 1-4, while the women’s tournament is Aug. 7-10.

Del Solar is representing Chile and Echavarria plays for Colombia.

Another individual sport, tennis, has two IMG alums competing. Danielle Collins represents the United States and Kei Nishikori represents Japan.

The Olympic tennis schedule runs July 27 through Aug. 4.

And Dwight Powell , an NBA player with the Dallas Mavericks , is an IMG Academy alum playing for Canada in men’s basketball.

Canada’s opening group game is against Greece on July 27.

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