The 2024 Paris Olympics are rapidly approaching, with the opening ceremony just over a month away on July 26. As athletes begin to qualify for the Summer Games, there are already a few local athletes slated to compete across the pond later this summer:
Nina Castagna, women’s rowing
Castagna is a Walnut Hills and University of Washington graduate. She’ll be the coxswain for the women’s coxed eight, a boat that earned gold for the U.S. in every Olympics from 2004 to 2016.
Ramez Diaa, men’s swimming and diving
Diaa, an incoming University of Cincinnati freshman, has qualified for the 10-meter dive in Paris this summer, according to the Bearcats’ swimming and diving account on X, formerly Twitter, and will compete for his native Egypt.
Carson Foster, men’s swimming and diving
Foster, a graduate of Sycamore High School and the Mason Manta Rays swim club, won the 400-meter individual medley on Sunday at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in Indianapolis. Foster’s older brother Jake, also a graduate of Sycamore and the Manta Rays, placed sixth in the 100-meter breaststroke final at the same trial.
Max Holt, men’s volleyball
Holt starred in volleyball for Purcell Marian and his club team, the Cincinnati Attack, before heading to Penn State for college. The 6-foot-10 middle blocker was an alternate in the 2012 London Olympics and was on the active roster for 2016 in Rio de Janeiro and 2021 in Tokyo. In Rio, Holt and the U.S. secured a bronze medal, with Holt finishing second in the tournament with 20 blocks.
Piper Kelly, women’s sport climbing
Kelly is originally from Indianapolis, but she graduated from Xavier in 2023.
Jordan Thompson, women’s volleyball
Thompson is originally from Edina, Minn., but she chose to play her college volleyball at the University of Cincinnati. The outside hitter was a member of the U.S. national team since 2019, and this will be her second Olympics. She won gold in the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
Other Ohio natives set to participate in the games so far include:
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Lebron James, originally from Akron, who is looking for his third gold medal with the U.S. men’s basketball team.
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Molly Bruggeman, a graduate of Chaminade Julienne High School in Dayton, has made her first Olympic rowing team at 31 years old.
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Morelle McCane from Cleveland will compete in women’s boxing.
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Lee Kiefer from Cleveland will compete in women’s fencing.
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Columbus natives Nick Boykin and Kollin Moore will join Perrysburg native Marcus Blaze on the men’s wrestling team.
Seven Indiana natives have been named to U.S. Olympic rosters so far, according to the Team USA roster, including Mason Parris from Lawrenceburg.
Two Kentucky natives have made the games, including Mariah Denigan, a swimmer from nearby Walton.
Four Ohio State athletes have qualified for the red, white and blue, though none of them hails from Ohio. Katelyn Abeln, Ada Korkhin and Henry Leverett will participate in shooting, and Kyle Snyder will wrestle. Eight Kentucky alums have qualified, including basketball superstars Bam Adebayo, Devin Booker and Anthony Davis.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Multiple Cincinnati athletes to compete at 2024 Paris Summer Olympics
