Source: Paris City Hall decorated with colorful boards featuring the Paris 2024 Olympics theme, on June 22, 2024, in Paris, France. (Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images) / Getty
Houston — Team USA’s 2024 Paris Olympics roster boasts a wealth of talented athletes from across the country; that’s obvious. What’s not so obvious is how many of them are from the Houston area!
Here’s a look at the several Houston-area athletes that will be representing the Stars and Stripes abroad in the 2024 Olympics:
1. Kelsey Bing – Field Hockey – Houston
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Bing is the goalkeeper for the U.S. Women’s National Team. She earned “Goalkeeper of the Tournament” for her efforts in her team’s second-place finish at the 2023 FIH Olympic Qualifiers in Ranchi, India.
2. Chase Budinger – Beach Volleyball – Houston Rockets
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While not from the Houston area, Budinger has ties to the city as a former small forward for the Houston Rockets from 2009 to 2012. Representing the Men’s National Team in beach volleyball, he’s the first athlete to play in the NBA and for the Olympic beach volleyball team.
3. Kassidy Cook – Diving – The Woodlands
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Cook is no stranger to Olympic competition, having competed during the 2016 Rio Olympics on the 3 meter springboard. This time around she’ll be diving with Sarah Bacon on the 3 meter synchro for the Women’s National Team.
4. Joshua Edwards – Boxing – Houston
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Edwards qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics by earning gold at the Pan America Games Santiago 2023. He touts his defense as his advantage over opponents in the ring.
5. Brittney Griner – Basketball – Houston
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A decorated Olympian already after as a member of Team USA’s 2016 and 2020 gold medal-winning teams, Griner looks to make it eight golds in a row for the Women’s National Team. She currently plays for the Phoenix Mercury of the WNBA.
6. Jonathan Healy – Taekwondo – Spring
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A gold medalist in the 2019 Pan American Games, Healy will represent the Men’s National Team in the +87kg class for Taekwondo.
7. Roscoe Hill – Boxing – Spring
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Hill will be representing the Men’s National Team in the 51kg class for boxing. He won bronze in the Pan America Games Santiago 2023.
8. Jeffrey “Jeffro” Louis – Breaking – Houston
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Known as “Jeffro,” the breakdancer out of Houston earned a silver medal at the Pan America Games Santiago 2023 in the B-Boys event.
9. Simone Manuel – Swimming – Sugar Land
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Manuel is a five-time Olympic medalist in swimming. She won gold twice in 2016 for 100m freestyle and 4 x 100m medley relay. She also earned two silvers in Rio for the 4 x 100m freestyle relay and 50m freestyle. In at the 2020 games she earned bronze for the 4 x 100m freestyle relay.
10. Avery Skinner – Volleyball – Katy
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The daughter of former NBA player Brian Skinner, the 2020 NCAA champion is competing in her first Olympics. In the 2022 Pan Am Cup, Skinner earned titles of “Best Outside Hitter” and “Best Scorer.”
11. Jacob Wooten – Track & Field – Tomball
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Wooten is competing in the pole vault for the Men’s National Team. The former Aggie earned silver at the 2023 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships.