These Current and Former University of Cincinnati Athletes are Heading to the Olympics

The 2024 Olympics in Paris kicks off Friday, July 26 with the opening ceremony, and several current and former University of Cincinnati student-athletes will be competing this year.

UC says six Bearcats total — four former and two current — will be representing five different countries, including the United States, Canada, Saint Kitts and Nevis, the Republic of Haiti and Egypt, on athletics’ biggest world stage. Their sports include track and field events, volleyball, soccer and diving.

Annette Echikunwoke - USA (Hammer Throw)

Schedule (all times are ET):

• Qualifying rounds: Sunday, Aug. 4 at 4:20 a.m.
• Finals: Tuesday, Aug. 6 at 1:55 p.m.

Annette Echikunwoke is one of the most decorated female athletes in UC’s history, winning the 2017 NCAA Indoor Championships national title in the weight throw. She’s also the school record holder in four of the five throwing events she competed in at UC and was a seven-time AAC Champion and a four-time All America First Team honoree.

Echikunwoke made it to the 2024 Olympics after winning the hammer throw at the U.S. Olympic Trials. She had a season-best toss of 74.68 meters. This is her second time qualifying, but first time competing.

Jordan Thompson - USA (Volleyball)

Schedule:

• USA vs. China: Monday, July 29 at 11 a.m.
• USA vs. Serbia: Wednesday, July 31 at 11 a.m.
• USA vs. France: Sunday, Aug. 4 at 7 a.m.

Jordan Thompson played volleyball for UC from 2015 to 2019, where she earned American Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year and AAC Player of the Year in 2016, 2018 and 2019. She was the first volleyball player in AAC history to earn unanimous honors and win the award three times.

After college, Thompson earned a spot on the 2020 U.S. Olympic team, which won a gold medal in Tokyo and made Thompson the sixth Bearcat to take home a gold.

Vanessa Gilles - Canada (Soccer)

Schedule:

• Canada vs. New Zealand: Thursday, July 25 at 11 a.m.
• Canada vs. France: Sunday, July 28 at 3 p.m.
• Canada vs. Colombia: Wednesday, July 31 at 3 p.m.

One of the most decorated players in UC women’s soccer history, Vanessa Gilles played for the Bearcats from 2014 to 2017. In her time at UC, she played 82 matches, scored 17 goals, earned all-conference honors all four years and was named the American Athletic Conference Co-Defensive Player of the Year in 2017.

Professionally, Gilles plays center back for Lyon and on Canada’s national team. This will be her second Olympics, having won a gold medal in Tokyo in 2021, making her the fifth Bearcat in UC’s history to do so.

Chris Borzor - Republic of Haiti (100M)

Schedule:

• Preliminaries: Saturday, Aug. 3 at 4:35 a.m.
• Round 1: Saturday, Aug. 3 at 5:45 a.m.
• Semifinals: Sunday, Aug. 4 at 2 p.m.
• Finals: Monday, Aug. 5 at 3:50 p.m.

Chris Borzor ran track for UC from 2018-2021, where he holds two outdoor school records in the 100m and 200m. He also volunteers as an assistant coach for the Bearcats.

Borzor is also the Haitian record holder in the 100m, running a time of 10.14 at the NACAC New Life Invitational in the Bahamas. At the 2024 Olympics, he will compete in a universality place, which are eligibility spots given to National Olympic Committees without any qualified athletes so they can still participate. Athletes first compete in the preliminaries to qualify for the next round.

Naquille Harris - Saint Kitts and Nevis (100M)

Schedule:

• Preliminaries: Saturday, Aug. 3 at 4:35 a.m.
• Round 1: Saturday, Aug. 3 at 5:45 a.m.
• Semifinals: Sunday, Aug. 4 at 2 p.m.
• Finals: Monday, Aug. 5 at 3:50 p.m.

Naquille Harris is a current graduate student at the University of Cincinnati and is the school record holder in the 60m. He’s also the second-fastest runner in the 100m in school history, recording a time of 10.18, just behind Borzor's time of 10.15 in 2022. Harris is also a two-time NCAA First Round qualifier and two-time AAC All-Conference selection. He’ll be competing in a universality spot for Saint Kitts and Nevis.

Ramez Diaa - Egypt (Diving)

Schedule:

• Preliminary: Friday, Aug. 9 at 4 a.m.
• Semifinal: Saturday, Aug. 10 at 4 a.m.
• Final: Saturday, Aug. 10 at 9 a.m.

Ramez Diaa is an incoming freshman at UC. He’ll be competing in the 10-meter platform dive, one of 26 competitors in this event.

UC will also be represented in the broadcasting side of the Olympics. UC alum and James P. Kelly Hall of Famer Lewis Johnson will be working for NBC as a track and field reporter. Johnson holds a school record time of 1:47.00 from the 800m at the 1987 NCAA Outdoor Championships, where he finished eighth. This will be his 13th time reporting at the Olympics.

Learn more about these Bearcat athletes here .