The last time the Olympics were hosted in Paris, Oxnard’s Bud Houser won gold medals in the shot put and discus throw in 1924.
A century later, which athletes with Ventura County ties will join Houser as Olympic champions in the City of Light?
Here’s a look at the eight local Olympians who will compete in Paris 2024 Olympics.
Tara Davis-Woodhall
Women’s long jump
After finishing sixth in her Olympic debut in Tokyo, the former Agoura High star is back for her second Olympics.
The two-time defending national women’s long jump champion qualified by winning the event at the U.S. Track and Field trials last month with a leap of 22 feet, 11.6 inches.
The Star’s 2017 All-County Girls Track and Field Athlete of the Year is the reigning world indoor champion in the long jump. She won the World Athletics Indoor title in March at Glasgow Arena with a leap of 23-2.4.
She is the consensus second favorite in the event, behind reigning Olympic and world champion Malaika Mihambo.
Davis-Woodhall return to her alma mater in February for the inaugural Tara Davis Invitational, signing autographs as the named host.
Always the entertainer, even going back to her high school days, Davis-Woodhall runs a YouTube channel with her husband, Paralympian Hunter Woodhall, that has nearly 800,000 subscribers.
Davis-Woodhall told TMZ that she hopes to meet Lebron James in the Olympic Village.
“I’ve never met him,” she said. “I think he’d be really cool.”
The women’s long jump competition is Aug. 6 (qualifiers) and Aug. 8 (finals) at the Stade de France.
Marcos Giron
Men’s tennis
The 30-year-old tennis pro from Thousand Oaks High and UCLA will take a break from a solid ATP campaign to experience his second straight Olympics.
The Star’s 2009 All-County Boys Tennis Player of the Year is currently the No. 46 men’s singles player in the world. He reached the second ATP final of career in February, when he beat top-seeded Frances Tiafoe at the Dallas Open before falling to fellow U.S. Olympian Tommy Paul in the final.
Giron will head to the Olympics after capturing his first ATP title on Sunday. He defeated Alex Michelsen 7-6, 3-6, 7-5 in the final of the Infosys Hall of Fame Open in Newport, Rhode Island.
Three years ago, Giron made the second round at the Tokyo Olympics, beating Norbert Gombos before falling to Kei Nishikori.
The Olympic tennis competition will be held on the clay of Roland Garros. Giron is 6-6 all-time in French Open play, reaching the Round of 32 in 2021 and 2023.
Men’s singles competition in Paris begins this Saturday. Giron will find out who he faces in the first round when the draw is released Thursday.
Ben Hallock
Men’s Water polo
The 26-year-old from Westlake Village enters his third Olympics as one of the top men’s water polo players in the world.
Hallock is one of 10 returning U.S. players from Tokyo, when the 6-foot-6, 245-pound hole set scored 12 goals as the Americans went 3-5 and finished sixth.
He will captain the team in Paris.
Hallock, who starred at Harvard-Westlake and Stanford, plays for Italian champion Pro Recco, perhaps the top club team in the world. He helped Pro Recco win the European championship three straight years from 2021 to 2023.
He is recently engaged to pro volleyball player Kara Bajema.
The U.S men’s water polo team opens Olympic play next Sunday against Italy. It will also face Romania, Greece, Montenegro and Croatia before the medal round begins Aug. 7.
Amanda Longan
Women’s water polo
Ventura County’s lone gold medalist in Tokyo, Longan is ready to help the women’s water polo team earn a fourth straight Olympic title.
The 27-year-old Moorpark native, who starred at Oaks Christian School and USC, combines with starter Ashleigh Johnson to give the U.S. perhaps the top goalkeeping tandem in the world.
Since Tokyo, Longan has helped the U.S. to gold at the 2022 and 2024 FINA World Championships, the 2023 FINA World Cup — in which she was named Goalkeeper of the Tournament — and the 2023 Pan-American Games.
Since the last Olympiad, Longan has coached at both her alma mater USC, where she won the Cutino Award in 2019 as collegiate water polo’s top player, and UCLA.
She is currently working towards her master’s degree in clinical psychology at Pepperdine University.
The U.S women’s water polo team, which is 17-1 in 2024, opens Olympic competition this Saturday against Greece. It will also face Spain, Italy and host France before the medal round begins Aug. 6.
Kareem Maddox
Men’s 3×3 basketball
Kareem Maddox’s Olympic dream was deferred three years ago, when the inaugural U.S. men’s 3×3 basketball team failed to qualify for Tokyo.
But the 34-year-old former Oak Park High star stuck with it, hustling to 11 FIBA events to qualify for the Olympics as the second-ranked team in the world.
The Star’s 2007 All-County Boys Basketball Player of the Year is part of a four-man squad with Jimmer Fredette, Dylan Travis and Canyon Barry, the son of Hall of Famer Rick Barry.
The 6-foot-8 forward transitioned into journalism after taking Princeton to the NCAA Tournament in 2011 and playing abroad.
Maddox, the former local host of NPR’s “All Things Considered” in Colorado, transitioned into a career in the NBA after the pandemic. He is now part of the Minnesota Timberwolves player personnel department.
The U.S men’s 3×3 basketball team opens Olympic competition July 30 against Serbia. It will also face Poland, Lithuania, France, China and the Netherlands before the medal round begins Aug. 6.
Adrian Weinberg
Men’s water polo
The 22-year-old former Oak Park resident is vying with Drew Holland to be the starting goalkeeper for the U.S. men’s water polo team in Paris.
The 6-foot-5 Oaks Christian graduate had 24 saves at the 2024 World Aquatics World Championships in Doha and 14 saves at the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile.
Weinberg and Holland recently split time evenly in the cage during a 10-9 win over Greece last week. It was the Americans’ first Olympic warm-up since arriving in Europe ahead of the games.
The Star’s 2018 All-County Boys Water Polo Player of the Year was a three-time national champion and three-time All-American at UC Berkeley.
He has been part of U.S. water polo since 2015.
Sami Whitcomb
Women’s basketball (Australia)
Anyone familiar with local basketball knows Sami Whitcomb as one of the great players in this history of Buena High’s storied girls basketball program.
The 35-year-old was inducted into the Ventura County Sports Hall of Fame last month.
But the shooting guard, who became a dual citizen after going down under to begin her professional career, will play for Australian national team — known as the Opals — in Paris.
“It’s something I’ve been working for for a long time,” Whitcomb told The Next Hoops.
The Star’s 2006 Girls Basketball Player of the Year has played for Australia since the 2018 FIBA World Cup.
Whitcomb is averaging 5.6 points and 1.6 assists in 15.8 minutes for the Seattle Storm this WNBA season.
The Opals open Olympic competition July 29 against Nigeria. They also face Canada and host France before the medal round begins Aug. 7.
Nico Young
Men’s Track and Field
Newbury Park’s 21-year-old running phenom wasn’t sure if he was going to be ready in time for these Olympics.
But a strong final season at Northern Arizona University put Young in position to make his Olympic debut four years before the Games come to Los Angeles.
“I could have either just missed this cycle or just made it in, and I just made it in,” Young told reporters last month.
Young qualified by finishing third in the men’s 10,000 meters last month at the U.S. Track and Field trials in Eugene, Oregon.
The Star’s 2018 All-County Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year is Ventura County’s first runner to qualify in the event, as well as the collegiate record-holder.
As a Northern Arizona University junior, Young won national titles in the 3k and 5k at the NCAA Division I Indoor Championships.
He has already turned professional, signing a contract with Adidas.
Young will run the men’s 10,000 meters on Aug. 2 at the Stade de France.
Joe Curley is a staff writer for The Star. He can be reached at joe.curley@vcstar.com. For more coverage, follow @vcsjoecurley on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Meet the Olympians with Ventura County ties who will compete in Paris
