The University of Kansas will be represented by seven competitors, one coach and one event manager at the upcoming Olympic Games in Paris, France.
Stanley Redwine, entering his 25th season as KU’s men’s and women’s track coach, will serve as head coach of Team USA’s men’s track and field contingent.
Redwine, an assistant coach for Team USA at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, was an assistant coach for Team USA at the 2015 Pan-American Games. He was Team USA’s head men’s track coach at the IAAF World Outdoor Championship in 2022.
“I am honored for the opportunity and am excited that I get to be around the other coaches from other schools and just to help Team USA get better,” Redwine said after his appointment as head coach. “Being around those athletes, there’s not a lot that they really need from me, but I will get more out of it than they will. Just to serve them is a great opportunity.”
Tim Weaver, who was meet director of the Kansas Relays from 2000-06, will serve as event manager for Team USA Track and Field. Weaver has served on 22 international staffs as a manager, coach and team leader, including as manager for the U.S. Olympic Teams in 2008, 2012, 2016 and 2020.
Kansas Jayhawks athletes on Team USA
Two athletes from KU will be representing the United States in Paris.
Bryce Hoppel, a five-time All-American and two-time NCAA champ in the 800 meters, will run the 800 in his second Olympic Games. He finished 16th in the event in 2021 in Tokyo. Hoppel, a 26-year-old native of Midland, Texas, recently won the 800 at the Olympic Trials in a meet-record and personal-best time of 1:42.77.
“I’ve been preparing all year. It’s the culmination of all that training and hard work,” Hoppel told the Eugene Register-Guard.
Also competing for the U.S. — in men’s basketball — is former KU center and 2023 NBA MVP Joel Embiid.
A native of Cameroon, the 30-year-old Embiid became a U.S. citizen in September 2022. He chose playing for the USA over France, which had offered him a spot on its team.
Embiid is the first KU hoops player since Sasha Kaun to participate in the Olympics. Kaun won a bronze medal while representing Russia in the 2012 Olympics in London. The last KU player to play for the USA National Team was Danny Manning in 1988.
Distance runner is representing Kenya
Sharon Lokedi will represent Kenya in the women’s marathon.
Lokedi, 30, won the 10,000 meters at the 2018 NCAA Outdoor championships. As a professional, she won the 2022 New York Marathon while earning a silver medal at the 2024 Boston Marathon and bronze at the 2023 New York Marathon.
She was named to Kenya’s Olympic team when an injury forced former world record holder and reigning Olympic silver medalist Brigid Kosgei to withdraw.
“I AM GOING TO PARIS!!! I am beyond excited to be heading to my first Olympics and my first team selection,” Lokedi wrote on social media.
Meet Saint Lucia’s proud flag-bearer
Michael Joseph, a current member of KU’s track team, will serve as flag-bearer for Saint Lucia at the opening ceremony of the Olympics on Friday.
He qualified for his first-career Olympic games at the 2023 Big 12 Outdoor on May 13, 2023 in Norman, Oklahoma. He ran a new career-best of 44.77 in the men’s 400, setting school and national records. He won the 400 at the Big 12 Indoor Championships last February.
“To be named the flag bearer for St. Lucia is both a crowning achievement of all that I have poured into this sport and a great honor,” Joseph said. “To be able to hoist our flag high and represent the beautiful island of Saint Lucia on the biggest stage in track and field means everything to me.”
Other Jayhawk names to watch
- Alexandra Emilianov will compete in the women’s discus for Moldova. Emilianov, 24, is a two-time world Under-20 championships medalist, a multi-time youth European champion and a multi-time All-American. She finished 30th in her first Olympic appearance — in 2021 in Tokyo.
- Yoveinny Mota, 24, will represent Venezuela in women’s 100-meter hurdles. Mota, a transfer from Arkansas, competed for KU in 2023-24. She placed 14th in the 2024 NCAA Outdoor meet. She ran a season-best 12.66 in the event during the NCAA West’s first round, good for second place.
- Hussain Al-Hizam will compete in the pole vault for Saudi Arabia. A 2021 graduate, Al-Hizam, 26, won gold at the 2017 Islamic Solidarity Games. He has qualified for the World Championships twice.
The all-time medals count ...
KU has had 78 Olympians all-time, accounting for 45 medals.
According to KU, the first Jayhawk Olympian was Ray Moultan in 1904. Moultan competed in track and field in the 60, 100 and 200 meters. He won a bronze medal in the bygone 60-meter event.
In 1952, the Jayhawks sent nine individuals to the Games in Helsinki, Finland including Phog Allen, Bill Lienhard, Bill Hougland, Charlie Hoag, Clyde Lovellette, Dean Kelly, John Keller, Bob Kenney and Wes Santee. Team USA went on to win gold in men’s basketball, with seven Jayhawks bringing home gold.
More recently, Kyle Clemons won gold in the men’s 4X400 relay at the 2016 Summer Games in Rio De Janiero, Brazil.
Most Popular
Comments / 0