Michigan Olympians competing in the Paris Games
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Grant Fisher crosses the finish line to win the men's 5,000-meter final at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Track & Field Trials in Oregon. Photo: Christian Petersen/Getty Images
The Paris Olympics start next Friday, and there are plenty of Michiganders going for gold.
The big picture: The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee announced the 592-member 2024 team last week, which includes more than a dozen athletes from our state.
- They'll be competing in wrestling, rugby, track and field and other sports.
Zoom in: NBA superstar and Grand Rapids native Devin Booker is among the most well-known in-state Olympians.
- Others hailing from southeast Michigan include Zach Hammer, an 18-year-old climber from Ann Arbor, and Sorin Koszyk, a rower from Grosse Pointe Park.
What they're saying: "Climbing was honestly just for fun until a few years ago," Hammer recently told MLive. "An Olympic dream seemed disconnected for me."
- "This experience is hopefully not once in a lifetime," he said.
Meet our Olympians
🏃 Heath Baldwin of Kalamazoo is a Michigan State graduate student who won the decathlon at the U.S. Track and Field trials to secure his spot.
🏀 Booker, who plays for the Phoenix Suns, returns to the Olympics after winning gold with the men's basketball team in Tokyo.
🤼♂️ Adam Coon of Fowlerville will wrestle in Paris after briefly giving up the sport to pursue a professional football career.
🏉 Aaron Cummings of Muskegon is on the rugby team. He won two national championships at Davenport University.
🥏 Andrew Evans of Portage returns to the discus throw after competing in the 2016 games in Rio de Janeiro.
🏃 Grant Fisher of Grand Blanc, the American record holder in both the 5,000 and 10,000 meters, is eyeing the gold medal in both events after finishing fifth in the 10,000 at the Tokyo Olympics.
🧗♂️ Hammer graduated from Skyline High School and began climbing at 3.
🏃 Hobbs Kessler of Ann Arbor will run in the 800- and 1,500-meter races.
🚣 Koszyk and his teammate Ben Davison, of Florida, qualified after finishing first in the men's double sculls at this year's qualification regatta in Switzerland, the Grosse Pointe Times reports.
🏉 Alena Olsen of Caledonia played on the women's rugby club at U of M from 2014-18.
🚲 Hannah Roberts of Buchanan is a BMX freestyler who won a silver medal at the Tokyo Games.
🏃🏾♀️ Grace Stark of White Lake will run the 100-meter hurdles.
🏑 Abby Tamer of Dexter took an Olympic redshirt year off from U of M's field hockey team to compete in Paris.
What's next: Opening ceremonies are July 26.