The 2024 Olympic Games in Paris begin July 26 and conclude on Aug. 11, and Iowa will be well represented on the biggest stage in sports.
Whether they were born in Iowa or attended the University of Iowa, Iowa State University, the University of Northern Iowa or another school in the state, here are the athletes with Iowa connections competing in this summer’s Olympics and Paralympics:
NOTE: Who are we missing? Please send additional Olympians to gmartin@gannett.com.
Who from Iowa is competing in the 2024 Olympics in Paris?
Tyrese Haliburton (Basketball, USA, Iowa State Cyclones)
Haliburton, a former Cyclones star and current NBA All-Star point guard for the Indiana Pacers, was named to the USA men’s basketball roster on April 17.
The Oshkosh, Wis., native played at Iowa State during the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons. He is one of 12 players on USA Basketball’s squad and is the first Cyclone to make the team since Jeff Grayer helped the U.S. to a bronze medal in the 1988 Olympics in Seoul.
Haliburton is coming off a stellar 2023-24 season with the Pacers in which he averaged 20.1 points and led the league with 10.9 assists per game.
More: Former Iowa State star Tyrese Haliburton named to U.S. Olympic basketball team roster
Spencer Lee (Wrestling, USA, Iowa Hawkeyes)
Lee, a former Iowa Hawkeye great, is one of 15 male wresters on Team USA. The three-time NCAA champion qualified for the Games on May 11 in Istanbul, Turkey, at the World Olympic Games qualifier.
Lee will be the 20th Olympian in Iowa Hawkeye wrestling history, and the program has had a representative in three consecutive Olympic cycles, all at 57 kilograms. Lee will compete in the freestyle division.
The wrestling portion of the Olympics will begin on Aug. 5 and conclude on Aug. 11. The men’s freestyle division will begin on Aug. 8 at 4 a.m. CT and conclude on Aug. 9 in the early afternoon.
More: Leistikow: 1-on-1 with U.S. Olympian wrestler Spencer Lee, who’s feeling healthy at last
Kenny Bednarek (Track, USA, Indian Hills Community College)
Bednarek will compete in both the 100m and 200m for Team USA. His 200m qualification came from placing second with a time of 19.59 seconds at the U.S. Track & Field Championships in Eugene, Ore., on June 29. He placed second in the 100m the previous week with a personal-best time of 9.87.
Bednarek didn’t compete in the 100m in 2021 but did win silver in the 200m in Tokyo, when he became the first Iowa junior-college athlete to qualify for the U.S. Olympic team, according to Iowa track expert Mike Jay.
More: Rice Lake’s Kenny Bednarek headed back to Olympics in 200 meters, where he won a silver medal in Tokyo
Karissa Schweizer (Track, USA, Dowling Catholic)
Schweizer, a Dowling Catholic alum, will compete for USA Track in both the women’s 5,000m and 10,000m races. It will be her second straight Olympics following a 12th-place finish in the women’s 10,000m in 2021.
On June 24, the six-time NCAA champion at Missouri ran a season-best time of 14:45.12 minutes to secure third place in the women’s 5,000m at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials in Eugene, Ore. On June 29, Schweizer qualified for the Olympics in the 10,000m by placing third. She crossed the line in 31:41.56.
More: Karissa Schweizer, a Dowling alumnus, qualifies for 2024 Olympics in women’s 5,000m, 10,000m
Brittany Brown (Track, USA, Iowa Hawkeyes)
After placing second in the women’s 200m during the U.S. Olympic Track & Field trials on June 29, Brown secured her spot in the Olympics. She ran a personal-best time of 21.90.
Brown is Iowa’s 26th Olympian and first since Kineke Alexander, Troy Doris and Diane Nukuri-Johnson qualified for the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, according to Iowa Athletics.
Bridget Carleton (Basketball, Canada, Iowa State Cyclones)
Canada Basketball and the Canadian Olympic Committee announced July 2 that former Cyclone great Carleton, a native of Chatham, Ontario, will play for Canada for the second straight Olympics.
Carleton is enjoying a career-best season for the WNBA’s Minnesota Lynx, averaging 8.0 points and 3.7 rebounds per game.
She was a four-year starter for Iowa State from 2015-19 and became the program’s first Big 12 Conference Player of the Year. She also won the Cheryl Miller Award, given annually to the nation’s top small forward.
More: Ex-Iowa State women’s basketball star Bridget Carleton to play for Canada in 2024 Olympics
Cloe Lacasse (Soccer, Canada, Iowa Hawkeyes)
Lacasse announced on social media on July 1 that she will play for Team Canada in the Olympics for the first time.
The former Iowa Hawkeye is a forward for the Women’s Super League club Arsenal and played in Iowa City from 2011-14, when she scored 43 goals in 85 career games.
Aurélie Tran, Cassie Lee and Sydney Turner (Gymnastics, Canada, Iowa Hawkeyes)
Incoming Hawkeye Aurélie Tran qualified for the the Olympics as a member of Team Canada in early June. The Repentigny, Quebec, native did so by earning silver in the all-around (108.131) at the 2024 Canadian Gymnastics Championships, guaranteeing her a spot on the Olympic team.
The 18-year-old also won silver on bars (27.366), beam (27.199) and floor (26.866), and placed fifth in the vault (26.700) at the competition, which took place from June 5-9.
Fellow incoming freshman Lee then secured her spot on June 28. At the 2024 Canadian National Championships, she placed fifth on beam and 11th in the all-around.
Turner, an Iowa commit, is not on Canada’s active roster but will go to Paris as Canada’s second traveling alternate.
More: Incoming Iowa gymnast Aurélie Tran qualifies for 2024 Paris Olympics
List of Paralympians with Iowa connections
The 2024 Paralympics in Paris take place from Aug. 28-Sept. 8, after the Olympic Games. Some Paralympic sports are still holding qualification events through the end of July.
Olivia Chambers (Swimming, USA, Northern Iowa Panthers)
Chambers is a three-time U.S. Paralympic Swimming national champion and was ranked No. 1 in the world going into the 2023 Para Swimming World Championships.
In July 2022, she broke a 10-year-old American record in the 400-meter IM S13 (5:21.68).
Matt Stutzman (Archery, USA, Fairfield)
Stutzman is an accomplished Paralympian who competed in the 2012 and 2016 games. He won a silver medal in 2012 and won gold in the 2022 Compound Men Open at the World Para Archery Championship in Dubai.
A.J. Fitzpatrick (Basketball, USA, Cedar Rapids)
Fitzpatrick was the youngest member in the men’s wheelchair basketball selection pool at just 18 years old.
As a freshman at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, he earned Intercollegiate Division All-Rookie Team honors. He also made his first men’s national team in 2023 for the Parapan American Games.
Gus Martin is a Digital Producer/Content Director for The Des Moines Register. Follow him on X at @GusMartin_DMR.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: See which Iowa athletes are competing in the 2024 Olympics in Paris
