Here are the local athletes competing at the 2024 Olympics and Paralympics – Houston Public Media

AP Photo/Gregory Bull

Dozens of athletes from the Houston area, or with ties to the city, will compete on the world stage this summer in Paris.

Gymnast Simone Biles and women’s basketball star Brittney Griner are among 19 Houston-area athletes who will represent the United States at the Paris Olympics, scheduled for Friday through Aug. 11. Natalie Dostert, Houston’s Team USA fencing coach, will also be in attendance, while nine athletes who recently competed for the University of Houston professional soccer team or the Houston Dash will represent other countries at the Olympics.

Four other Houston-area athletes will compete in the Paralympic Games Aug. 28-Sept. 8 in Paris.

Below is a list of Houston-area athletes who will be competing in Paris, along with their ties to the area and brief biographical information:

OLYMPIC GAMES

Basketball

Brittney Griner (Houston): An Aldine Nimitz High School graduate and arguably the most famous women’s basketball player in the world, Griner is making her third Olympic appearance and first since spending nearly 300 days in a Russian prison in 2022. The 6-foot-8 star of the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury helped Team USA win gold medals in Brazil in 2016 and Japan in 2021.

Breakup

Jeffrey Louis (Houston): A graduate of Westside High School and the University of Houston, the 29-year-old is helping make breakdancing an Olympic sport. Louis, who won a world championship in 2022, is known as “Bboy Jeffro” within the breakdancing community.

Boxing

Joshua Edwards (Houston): The first Houstonian since George Foreman to qualify for the Olympics as a super heavyweight boxer, Edwards, 24, is also looking to make a name for himself. He qualified for Paris after winning gold at the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile.

Roscoe Hill (Spring): After winning the 2023 Pan American Games in the flyweight division, Hill, 29, is hoping to land more blows in Paris as he makes his Olympic debut.

Bike

Grant Koontz (Houston): Now based in Colorado, Koontz, 30, grew up in the Houston area and attended Texas A&M University.

Diving

Kassidy Cook (The Forest): Cook, 29, is competing in her second Olympics and first since 2016 in Brazil, where she placed 13th.^th in the 3-meter springboard event. The Stanford University graduate competes in synchronized diving with Sarah Bacon.

(AP Photo/David Goldman)

Fencing

Natalie Dostert (Houston): Dostert, who coaches at Alliance Fencing Academy in Houston, is the national coach of the U.S. women’s epee team.

Field hockey

Kelsey Bing (Houston): A graduate of St. John’s School in River Oaks, Bing played goalie for Team USA and made her Olympic debut in Paris.

Gymnastic

Simone Biles (Spring): Already considered one of the greatest gymnasts in the history of the sport, Biles is tied with Shannon Miller for the most Olympic medals won by an American gymnast. The 27-year-old began her Olympic career by winning four gold medals and a bronze in Brazil in 2016 before adding another bronze and a silver in Japan in 2021.

Jordan Chiles (Spring): Originally from the Pacific Northwest, Chiles moved to the Houston area in 2019 to train with fellow Olympian Biles. Chiles, 23, hopes to add to her medal count in Paris after helping Team USA win silver in Tokyo.

Asher Hong (Tomball): A former NCAA vault champion for Stanford University, Hong, 20, is making his Olympic debut. He helped Team USA win a bronze medal at the 2023 World Championships.

Rugby

Orrin Bizer (The Forest): Local rugby fans should be familiar with Bizer, a forward who plays professionally for the Houston SaberCats.

Kevon Williams (Houston): A Westbury High School graduate, Williams, 33, is competing in his second Olympics and seeking his first medal. He and the U.S. team placed sixth in Tokyo.

Soccer

Michelle Alozie (Houston): The 27-year-old Houston Dash forward is representing Nigeria at the Olympics.

Jane Campbell (Houston): The Houston Dash goalkeeper is an alternate for Team USA. Campbell, 30, received a bronze medal at the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo, although she did not play.

Tarciane (Houston): The 21-year-old Houston Dash defender, who joined the local professional team earlier this year, is representing Brazil in Paris.

Swimming

Simone Manuel (Land of Sugar): The 27-year-old from Houston has already won five Olympic medals heading into her Paris debut. Manuel won a bronze with the women’s freestyle relay team in Tokyo after winning two golds and two silvers in Rio de Janeiro.

AP Photo/Darron Cummings

Alondra Ortiz (University of Houston): The UH sophomore, who competes varsity in butterfly and individual medley, is swimming in the Olympics for her native Costa Rica.

Elizabeth Jimenez (University of Houston): Jimenez, a freshman backstroker for the Cougars, will represent her native Dominican Republic in Paris.

Taekwondo

Jonathan Healy (Spring): Healy, who is 1.98m tall, has been winning medals in taekwondo since 2012 and is now making his first appearance at the Olympics.

Athletics

Bryce Deadmon (Missouri City): The former Texas A&M All-American hopes to add to his Olympic medal count in Paris. Deadmon, 27, won two medals in Tokyo 2021, taking gold as part of the U.S. men’s 1,600-meter relay team and bronze in the mixed 1,600-meter relay.

(AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

Tristan Evelyn (University of Houston): The 25-year-old sprinter, who previously competed for the Cougars, will represent her native Barbados at the Olympics.

Louie Hinchliffe (University of Houston): An NCAA outdoor champion this year in the 100 metres, Hinchliffe earned a place on Great Britain’s Olympic team in June when he won the event at the UK Athletics Championships.

Alaysha Johnson (Spring): A former collegiate athlete at Oregon and Texas Tech, the 28-year-old hurdler qualified for Paris by placing second in the 100-meter hurdles at the U.S. Olympic trials. Johnson was the Texas state champion in the 300-meter hurdles in 2012 while competing for Spring High School.

Brynn King (The Forest): The 23-year-old pole vaulter, who plays collegiately at Roberts Wesleyan University, earned a trip to Paris by placing third at the U.S. Olympic trials.

Shaun Maswanganyi (University of Houston): The Cougars senior sprinter will run for his native South Africa at the Paris Games.

Cecilia Tamayo-Garza (University of Houston): The 27-year-old sprinter, who will be making her Olympic debut for her native Mexico, previously ran at the college level for the Cougars.

(AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)

Jacob Wooten (Tomball): The 27-year-old pole vaulter, who attended Tomball Memorial High School and Texas A&M University, is making his Olympic debut. Wooten placed second at the 2023 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships.

Volleyball

Avery Skinner (Katy): A member of the Baylor and Kentucky All-American teams, Skinner, 25, is taking her game to the international level in her first Olympics. She stands 6’1″ and plays forward.

PARALYMPIC GAMES

Para-shooting

Jazmin Almlie-Ryan (Katy): After representing the United States in Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo, Almlie-Ryan is heading to Paris with her sights set on her first Paralympic medal. The 42-year-old, a graduate of the University of Houston, began shooting after winning an air rifle competition at an adaptive sports tournament in Houston, where she played wheelchair basketball.

Para-swimming

Ahalya Lettenberger (Rice University): A graduate student at Rice University, Lettenberger, 23, is competing in her second Paralympic Games and hoping to add to her medal total. She won silver in Tokyo in the 200-meter individual medley.

Wheelchair basketball

Kaitlyn Eaton (Houston): A product of the TIRR Memorial Hermann Junior Houston Hotwheels program, Eaton, 29, helped Team USA win bronze in Japan and is aiming for gold in Paris.

Fabian Romo (Houston): A professional wheelchair basketball player in Spain, Romo helped Team USA win a gold medal at the 2023 World Championships. He is making his Paralympic debut.