Illustration by Sakura Siegel / SOC Images.
The Olympic Games are back!
The Olympics, which is one of the world’s biggest sporting events will officially start on Friday, July 26 with an opening ceremony where approximately 100 boats will cruise 10,500 athletes down the Seine River.
The opening ceremony, which will start at 1:30 p.m. ET, signifies the official start of the games and hip-hop rapper Snoop Dogg will carry the Olympic flame during the ceremony. He will carry the flame through the suburb of Saint-Denis, which is home to the State de France Olympic stadium and the Olympic Village. The Paris Games will conclude on Sunday, Aug. 11.
The Paralympics will also take place in Paris, France but will begin on Wednesday, Aug. 28 and end on Sunday, Sept. 8.
More than 590 athletes will be representing the U.S. at the games and among them are over 20 athletes from New Jersey.
Paxten Aaronson – Soccer
Hometown: Medford, NJ
Aaronson signed with the Philadelphia Union in 2020 and made his debut for the USMNT in January 2023. He is the younger brother of USMNT midfielder Brendan Aaronson.
Bam Adebayo – Basketball
Hometown: Newark, NJ
Adebayo is a returning gold medal Olympian having won with the U.S Men Basketball team at the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2021.
Jack Alexy – Swimming
Hometown: Morristown, NJ
Sports are in Alexy’s DNA. He is the grandson of Bill Ebben, who played with the NBA’s Detroit Pistons, and is the son of Lynn Alexy, who played women’s basketball at Notre Dame.
But he’s been making his own wave in the swimming world with breaking his personal best at the U.S. Olympics Trials and coming in second in the 100-meter freestyle final beating Caeleb Dressel for the spot.
Alexy has won gold for 4x100m Medley Relay and at the 2023 Phillips 66 National Championships, silver in the 50m and 100m freestyle and in the mixed 4×100 free relay and bronze in the 100m freestyle.
Jackie Dubrovich – Fencing
Hometown: Riverdale, NJ
Jackie Dubrovich is currently the world’s 10th ranked female foil fencer and won a bronze medal earlier this year at the International Fencing Federation World Cup in Cairo.
Dubrovich is looking to win an Olympic medal as she may be planning to retire soon and potentially jumpstart her coaching career alongside her partner.
Matt Fallon – Swimming
Matt Fallon is heading to the Olympics after placing first on the 200-meter breaststroke at the U.S. Olympic Trials where he set a new American record.
According to Penn Athletics, he is the first American swimmer in the university’s program to qualify for the U.S. national team, and the fifth male student-athlete in program history to qualify for the Olympics.
Nic Fink – Swimming
Hometown: Morristown, NJ
Nic Fink is proving that you can get better with age.
The 31-year-old is a six-time World Champion and holds 20 medals most recently winning gold in the 4×100 Medley Relay, silver in the 100m breaststroke and 50m breaststroke and bronze in the 4x100m Medley relay-mixed.
When not training or competing, Fink is working a 9-5 job at Quanta Utility Engineering Services in Dallas. He holds a master’s in electrical and computer engineering from Georgia Tech.
Amanda Golini – Field Hockey
Hometown: Randolph, NJ
It’s a big Olympics for the U.S. field hockey team as they head to the games after not qualifying at the last Olympics. Golini, is the current national team co-captain and has received many accomplishments such as being names Player of the Match against China in the 2022-23 FIH Pro League (worldwide).
Jesse Grupper – Sport Climbing
Hometown: Upper Montclair, NJ
Jesse Grupper started climbing at the age of six and is now entering this year’s Olympics as the current top-ranked U.S. men’s lead climber and third-place in boulder and lead.
Catarina Guimaraes – Para Track & Field
Hometown: Cranford, NJ
Catarina Guimaraes haș a long line of accomplishments from being a Para Indoor Rock Climbing Medalist, a CP Soccer MVP and World Cup Winner, a two-time published author and now a Paralympian.
She is off to Paris as part of the U.S. Paralympic Track and Field team.
Salif Mane – Track & Field
Hometown: Bronx, NY | Graduated from Fairleigh Dickinson University
Salif Mane did more than get a civil engineering degree from Fairleigh Dickinson University, he became the first NCAA individual outdoor champion at FDU since 1981.
The recent graduate is the most decorated athlete in FDU’s sporting history as a seven-time All-American at the Northeast Conference school.
He is a first time Olympian.
Jaden Marchan – Track & Field
Hometown: Leonia, NJ
It is a big week for Jaden Marchan as he is turning 18 in Paris and getting ready to compete in his first Olympic Games representing Trinidad and Tobago across three sports (athletics, cycling and swimming).
Marchan set a personal best of 46.30 seconds and finished 2nd at the Trinidad and Tobago National Championships to qualify. He is also the 2024 New Jersey Indoor State Champion in the 400m dash and the 2023 New Jersey Outdoor State Championship runner-up in the 400m.
Sam Mattis– Track & Field
Hometown: East Brunswick, NJ
Sam Mattis is heading to his second Olympics after finishing second at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials.
In Tokyo, Mattis made history by becoming the first American to reach the finals in the discus throw, but ended in eighth place. This year, he is looking to go beyond is previous accomplishments.
He is one of three University of Pennsylvania graduates heading to the Olympics.
Sydney McLaughlin – Track & Field
Hometown: Dunellen, NJ
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone is no stranger to the Olympic stage.
She is heading towards her third Olympic Games as she shattered her own world record in the 400m hurdles at the Olympic trials.
In 2016, she made history as the youngest American track and field runner to qualify for the Olympic Games since 1980.
Casey Murphy – Soccer
Hometown: Bridgewater, NJ
Casey Murphy grew up tailgating at Rutger football games with her grandfather. She attended Rutgers from 2014 -2017 when she was named NCAA First-Team All-American.
She heads to Paris as one of two goalkeepers on the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team.
Keturah Orji – Track & Field
Hometown: Mount Olive, NJ
Keturah Orji, who was born in Hoboken, is a third-time Olympian trying to become the first American woman to win an Olympic triple jump medal. The NJ native is a 10-time U.S. track and field champion and earlier this year was inducted into the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) Hall of Fame.
Morgan Pearson – Triathlon
Hometown: New Vernon, NJ
Morgan Pearson grew up as a competitive swimmer, lifeguard and runner. He was a seven-time All-American cross country and track & field runner in college.
Pearson became the first American man to earn a medal at the Triathlon world championships in 31 years.
Christie Raleigh Crossley – Para Swimming
Hometown: Toms River, NJ
Crossley has always had the dream of making it to the Olympic Games.
While at Florida State University, Crossley was names the Atlantic Coast Conference Freshmen of the Year and an NCAA- All-American and ACC Conference Meet MVP.
In 2007, she suffered a neck and back injury after being hit by a drunk diver and a brain injury in 2008. Taking time off, Crossley then returned to the college pools at Rowan University in 2012 where she won an NCAA title.
In 2022, she began training as a Para swimmer.
Molly Reckford – Rowing
Hometown: Short Hills, NJ
Molly Reckford and her partner Michelle Sechser placed fifth at the Tokyo Games after falling one second shy of gold. They are back at the Paris Games looking to bring that gold medal home.
Hezly Rivera – Gymnastics
Hometown: Oradell, NJ
Hezly Rivera, of Dominican background, is the youngest member of the 2024 U.S. Olympic team. She is the 2023 Junior National Champion and a two-time Junior World Silver Medalist.
Mitchell Saron – Fencing
Hometown: Ridgewood, NJ
A fun fact about Bergen County native Mitchell Saron is that he became interested in fencing because of Star Wars quoting he loves the fact that he is living out his dream of being a “real life Jedi.”
Saron, of Filipino descent, is a Harvard graduate where he was a member of the university’s men’s fencing team for four years.
Scottie Scheffler – Golf
Hometown: Ridgewood, NJ
As of July 2024, Ridgewood native, Scottie Scheffler has held the title of No. 1 world golf ranking since accomplishing that achievement in May 2022.
He has 12 total PGA Tour wins, has won the 2022 and 2024 Masters Tournament and is a member of the 2021 and 2023 Ryder Cup teams as well as a member of the 2022 President’s Cup U.S. team.
Elizabeth Tartakovsky – Fencing
Elizabeth Tartakovsky is one of eight Harvard related fencers heading to the Olympics this year.
Tartakovsky earned three times a first team All-American honor while in college. She also won the 2022 NCAA Women’s Saber National Championship and took silver home at the 2023 NCAA Fencing Championships.
Curtis Thompson – Track & Field
Hometown: Florence, NJ
Thompson is a two time Olympian with a decorated collegiate career having become a four-time first team All-American javelin thrower and having won there 2016 NCAA championship title alongside the 2018 USATF title while at Mississippi State.
John Tolkin – Soccer
Hometown: Chatham, NJ
Tolkin is no stranger to the locals.
He is a New York Red Bulls defender rocking the stadium in Harrison, NJ. He is one of two soccer players selected from New Jersey for the U.S men Olympic soccer team.
Amy Wang – Table Tennis
Hometown: Sewell, NJ
Amy Wang has been a pro from a young age as she made her first U.S. National Team at 12 years old.
But Wang decided to take off time after not qualifying for the 2020 Olympic Games.
Wang returned stronger than ever winning the U.S. Open Women’s Singles Championships in 2022 and 2023, and in March of this year, she accomplished her goal of qualifying for the Olympic Games.
Jack Yonezuka – Judo
Hometown: West Long Branch, NJ
Yonezuka comes from a family of Olympian as his father competed in the Olympic Games Moscow and his grandfather is two-time Olympic coach Yoshisada Yonezuka.
Yonezuka made history when he became the first U.S. man to medal at the Junior Worlds in 30 years at the 2022 Junior World Championships.
