Meet the Houstonians headed to the Olympics
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Photo illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios; Photo: Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty Images
The Paris Summer Olympics are swiftly coming up, and there are plenty of hometown stars to keep an eye on.
Why it matters: The Houston area is well repped in the 2024 Olympics, with 18 athletes competing in a dozen different sports, making up about half of the Olympians from Texas (42) and having more Olympians than over 30 states.
- Plus: A few more Houstonians have made the Paralympian team. The full 2024 U.S. Paralympic Team will be announced Aug. 19.
The big picture: The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee announced the 592-member Olympic team last week.
Zoom in: Simone Biles (Spring) famously qualified for the Olympics in gymnastics, along with Jordan Chiles (Conroe) and Asher Hong (Tomball).
- Brittney Griner is making her return to the Olympics in basketball, and Jeffrey Louis qualified for the first-ever Olympic breaking competition.
- Plus: Four Houston-area athletes are competing in track and field: Bryce Deadmon (Missouri City), Alaysha Johnson (Spring), Brynn King (The Woodlands) and Jacob Wooten (Tomball).
Here are a few more athletes to watch:
- Joshua Edwards, 24, from Houston, is the first super heavyweight boxer from the city to qualify for the Olympics since George Foreman. He's been boxing since he was 6 years old. He qualified for the Olympics after winning gold at the Pan American Games in 2023.
- Jazmin Almlie-Ryan, 42, from Katy, qualified for para shooting. She used to play wheelchair basketball, but after she won an air rifle competition, she switched sports. Almlie-Ryan is a two-time Paralympian, competing in Tokyo 2020 and Rio de Janeiro 2016.
- Simone Manuel, 27, from Sugar Land, qualified in swimming. She is also a two-time Olympian, a five-time Olympic medalist with two gold medals, and the first Black woman to win Olympic gold in an individual swimming event. Manuel launched a foundation to increase Black representation in swimming.
What's next: The Olympics start July 26.