Four athletes with ties to Seacoast New Hampshire — all women — are set to compete in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. All of them are veterans of at least one Olympics.
Dover native Jessica Parratto, who is in her third Olympics, will be looking to claim a second medal in synchronized diving with partner Delaney Schnell.
Elle Purrier St. Pierre, a 2018 University of New Hampshire graduate and former NCAA champion, will be competing in her second Olympics in the 1,500-meter run. She holds American indoor track and field records in the mile, two mile and 3,000.
Rowers Molly Reckford, a 2011 Philllips Exeter Academy graduate, and Michelle Sechser, who lived and trained in Portsmouth prior to the Tokyo Olympics, are again partners in the lightweight women’s double sculls.
Here is a detailed look at the local Olympians and how to watch their events:
Jessica Parratto, Dover, women’s synchronized platform diving
This will be the third Olympics for Jessica Parratto, a Dover native, who combined with diving partner Delaney Schnell to earn the silver medal in the women’s 10–meter synchronized platform diving at the Tokyo Summer Games in 2021. The same duo will compete together in Paris.
When she returned to New Hampshire in August 2021, the city of Dover honored Parratto with a ceremony in Henry Law Park. She was also honored by the Boston Red Sox, throwing a first pitch at Fenway Park.
After her freshman year at Dover High School, Parratto, now 30, moved with her family to Indiana where she has spent much of her life pursuing her Olympic dreams.
In 2021 in Tokyo, Parratto and Schnell earned the first medal for Team USA in this event. The China tandem of Chen Yuxi and Zhang Jiaqi won gold. In the 2016 games in Rio, Parratto was seventh in the individual platform, and Schnell won bronze. The two teamed together for the 2020 games when Schnell’s partner got hurt at the U.S. trials.
“It is a little bit of a relieving thing,” said Parratto after winning silver, “but I think it’s just a feeling of being very content and at peace with everything.”
Parratto and Schnell qualified for this year’s Olympics when they won the women’s 10-meter platform synchronized diving competition at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Knoxville, Tennessee in late June.
“Jess and I just ended up making it work,” Schnell said after the medal win in Tokyo. “Took a lot of faith in each other, a lot of trust in each other that paid off.” Now they’re ready to compete for another medal in Paris.
More: ‘Absolutely worth it’: Olympian Jessica Parratto feels the love from her hometown of Dover
How to watch Jessica Parratto in Olympics: women’s 10m synchro diving with Delaney Schnell
WEDNESDAY, JULY 31: FINAL
Time: 5 a.m. (EST)
Site: Olympic Aquatics Centre
Stream: Peacock, NBCOlympics.com
Elle Purrier St. Pierre, University of New Hampshire, runner
Runner Elle Purrier St. Pierre, a 2018 University of New Hampshire graduate and Class of 2024 UNH Hall of Fame inductee, qualified to compete in the Paris Olympics in two events — the 1,500-meter run, and 5,000 meters.
First, Purrier St. Pierre, 29, out-leaned Elise Cranny at the finish line to claim victory in the 5,000-meter run at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials. She then qualified for the 1,500, running a personal-best time of 3 minutes, 55.99 seconds in the qualifying final.
She has said she will only compete in the 1,500 in Paris. In 2021 in Tokyo, Purrier St. Pierre advanced to the finals of the 1,500 and placed 10th with a time of 4:01.75.
More: Twice as nice: UNH standout Purrier St. Pierre qualifies for Paris Olympics in 2nd event
Purrier St. Pierre, who competed in the 1,500 at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, is arguably the most accomplished student-athlete in UNH history.
She is an 11-time All-American – including an NCAA national champion – and 17-time America East champion. Her national title came in the mile at the 2018 NCAA indoor track and field championships. She was voted UNH’s Jim Urquhart Student-Athlete of the Year in 2018.
Purrier St. Pierre’s personal story is now well known: She grew up on a farm in Vermont, married her husband who grew up on a nearby farm, which they still operate, and gave birth to the couple’s son in March 2023. And she’s running faster than ever. She broke her own national record in the indoor mile in February. Three weeks later, she set another American record, winning gold in the 3,000 at the world championships in Scotland.
How to watch Elle Purrier St. Pierre in Olympics: women’s 1,500-meter run
TUESDAY, AUG. 6: FIRST ROUND
Time: 4:05 p.m. (EST)
Site: Stade de France
Stream: Peacock, NBCOlympics.com.
WEDNESDAY, AUG. 7: REPECHAGE ROUND (if necessary)
Time: 6:45 p.m. (EST)
Site: Stade de France
Stream: Peacock, NBCOlympics.com.
Thursday, Aug. 8: SEMIFINALS
Time: 1:35 p.m. (EST)
Site: Stade de France
Stream: Peacock, NBCOlympics.com.
SATURDAY, AUG. 10: FINAL
Time: 2:25 p.m. (EST)
Site: Stade de France
TV: NBC
Stream: Peacock, NBCOlympics.com.
Michelle Sechser and Molly Reckford, rowing
Olympic rowers Molly Reckford and Michelle Sechser both have local ties. Reckford is a 2011 Phillips Exeter Academy graduate from New Jersey who also graduated from Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. Sechser, a California native, lived and trained in Portsmouth prior to the Summer Olympics in Tokyo in 2021. That year, Reckford and Sechser placed fifth in the finals of the lightweight women’s double sculls.
In Paris, Sechser and Reckford team up again and represent Team USA in the lightweight women’s double sculls.
This is the final Olympic Games in which lightweight rowing will compete. Sechser has earned three World Championship medals, all in the lightweight double sculls. She won back-to-back silver medals in 2022 and 2023, and won bronze in 2017.
How to watch Molly Reckford and Michelle Sechser in Olympics: lightweight women’s double sculls
SUNDAY, JULY 28: HEATS
Time: 5:30 a.m. (EST)
Site: Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical St. – Flatwater
Stream: Peacock, NBCOlympics.com
MONDAY, JULY 29: REPECHAGES ROUND
Time: 5 a.m. (EST)
Site: Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical St. – Flatwater
Stream: Peacock, NBCOlympics.com
FRIDAY, AUG. 2: FINAL
Time: 3:30 a.m. (EST)
Site: Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical St. – Flatwater
Stream: Peacock, NBCOlympics.com
Reporting by Alex Abrami of the Burlington Free Press is included in this report.
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Paris 2024 Olympics: Meet 4 athletes with Seacoast NH ties
