Get to know Rai Benjamin, McLain Ward, 6 other Hudson Valley athletes headed to Olympics

Three years ago, multiple Lower Hudson Valley athletes competed in the COVID-delayed Tokyo Olympics.

The same will be true at this year's Paris Olympics.

Headlined by Mount Vernon's Rai Benjamin, a gold and silver medalist in track in Tokyo, and by Brewster's McLain Ward, who has medaled in show jumping in all four Olympics he's competed in, eight athletes with strong ties to Westchester, Putnam and Rockland counties will compete in the upcoming Olympic Games in France.

Two of the eight will represent other countries. Learn more about each athlete here.

Rai Benjamin

United States track and field

The 2015 Mount Vernon High School graduate and multiple-time All-American at UCLA and then the University of Southern California, anchored the American men's 4x400 relay team to gold in Tokyo.

But Benjamin is perhaps even better known for his silver-medal performance in the men's 400 hurdles in Tokyo. In that race, both he and winner Karsten Warholm of Norway broke the world record, which Warholm had recently established. Their race was later called one of the best ever in Olympic history.

Benjamin remains No. 2 all-time in the world in the event and No. 1 all-time in the U.S. In a 400 hurdles race in Monaco last week, he edged Warholm and also defeated 2022 world champion Alison dos Santos of Brazil, the Tokyo bronze medalist. If all three men reach the final, Warholm's world record of 45.94 seconds could be in jeopardy.

SCHEDULE

First round: Aug. 5

Repechage (second chance) round: Aug. 6

Semifinals: Aug. 7

Championship: Aug. 9

Charlotte Buck

United States rowing

The Nyack native, who started rowing with the Rockland Rowing Association after graduating from Nyack High in 2014 , gained All-American status at Columbia University but was overlooked for inclusion on the U.S. rowing team until COVID hit and her performance on an erg rowing machine, monitored virtually, could not be overlooked.

Invited to training camp, she defied odds by winning a place on the U.S. women's eight boat for the Tokyo Olympics. Her boat made the Olympic final but finished just off the medal stand in fourth place. Now Buck, 29, is looking to add to her medal collection after winning silver with her team at last year's World Championships.

SCHEDULE

Opening heats: July 29

Repechage: Aug. 1

Championship: Aug. 3

Sam Coffey

United States women's soccer

Coffey, who grew up in Sleepy Hollow and starred in soccer at The Masters School in Dobbs Ferry and then at Boston College and Penn State, will play midfield on the U.S. women's team.

The 25-year-old, who registered a 42 goals and 54 assists in five collegiate seasons, is a defensive midfielder for the Portland Storm and helped that team win the National Women's Soccer League championship as a rookie in 2022. That year, she was named first team all-NWSL.

Coffey first appeared with the U.S.. national team in 2022.

SCHEDULE

Group stage B opener, U.S. vs. Zambia: July 25

Group stage B second games, U.S. vs. Germany: July 29

Group stage B third games, U.S. vs. Australia, July 31

Quarterfinals: Aug. 3

Semifinals: Aug. 6

Bronze medal game: Aug 9

Championship: Aug. 10

Kate Douglass

United States swimming

Douglass, who graduated in 2019 from Pelham High and in 2023 from the University of Virginia, where she gained All-American honors multiple times each of her four years swimming for the Cavaliers, won bronze during the Tokyo Olympics in the 200-meter individual medley.

Douglass, who competed locally for the Westchester Aquatic Club and then Chelsea Piers Aquatic Club in Stamford, Connecticut, captured gold in the recent U.S. Olympic Trials in the 100-meter freestyle and 200-meter breaststroke , as well as the 200 IM.

The 22-year-old, who began setting national age-group records in her early teens, has won 21 medals at world championships. Including five golds in individual events. Douglass, who concluded her final NCAA season in 2023 with seven gold medals − three in individual events − won 200 IM world titles both last year and this year, making her the favorite in that event.

SCHEDULE

100-meter freestyle initial heats and semifinals: July 30

100-meter free championship: July 31

200-meter breaststroke initial heats and semifinals: July 31

200-meter breastroke championship: Aug. 1

200-meter individual medley initial heats and semifinals: Aug. 2

200-meter individual medley championship: Aug. 3

Sabrina Fang

Canada fencing

A 2023 Rye Country Day School graduate, Fang will represent her native Canada in fencing as a member of the women's foil team.

She gained second-team All-Ivy League honors during her recently concluded freshman year at Princeton University.

A native of British Columbia, Fang was a member of the Canadian foil team that won gold at the 2022 Pan-American Games. While at RCDS, Fang trained at the Tim Morehouse Fencing Club in Port Chester.

Eric Favors

Ireland track and field

The 2015 North Rockland High graduate starred in both football and track at North Rockland, where he was indoor and outdoor state champion in the shot put as a senior.

Competing on a track scholarship for the University of South Carolina, Favors finished second in the SEC in 2021 in outdoor shot.

American-born, Favors has competed for Ireland since 2017, after successfully applying for dual citizenship made possible by the fact his maternal grandmother was born there. In qualifying for Paris based on his world ranking, Favors, who primarily trains in Pennsylvania, became Ireland's first Olympic shot put thrower in 30 years.

SCHEDULE

Shot put qualification flights: Aug. 2

Shot put championship: Aug 3

McLain Ward

United States equestrian

Over the past two decades, the 48-year-old Brewster resident has enjoyed marked success on the Olympic stage. In France, he'll compete in Olympic show jumping for a fifth time.

Ward, who first rode to a team gold medal at the 2004 Games in Athens, Greece, will team with his 11-year-old gelding, Ilex.

Ward also won team gold at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China and won team silver at both the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and at the COVID-delayed Tokyo Games in 2021.

SCHEDULE

Jumping team qualifier: Aug. 1

Jumping team championship: Aug. 2

Jumping individual qualifier Aug. 5

Jumping indvidual championship: Aug. 6

Odds-defying story continues: Rockland native Charlotte Buck ready for second Olympics with Team USA rowing

Claire Weinstein

United States swimming

At 17, the youngest local athlete to qualify to compete in this year's Olympics is Weinstein, who formerly swam for the Lake Isle swim club of Eastchester, the Westchester Aquatic Club and for White Plains High Schoo. She finished second at the Olympic Trials in the 200-meter freestyle .

In Paris, Weinstein, who now lives in Nevada and competes for the Las Vegas-based club team Sandpipers of Nevada, is expected to compete in both the 200 free and 4x200 free relay.

At just 15, she swam as part of the gold medal-winning U.S. 4x200 team at the 2022 World Championships.

SCHEDULE

200-meter freestyle opening heats and semifinals, July 28

200-meter free championship, July 29

4-x-200 heats and championship: Aug. 1

Nancy Haggerty covers cross-country, track & field, field hockey, skiing, basketball, girls lacrosse and other sporting events for The Journal News/lohud. Follow her on Twitter at @HaggertyNancy.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Get to know Rai Benjamin, McLain Ward, 6 other Hudson Valley athletes headed to Olympics