Bay Area athletes to watch at the Paris Olympics
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Katie Ledecky competes for Stanford University during the 2017 Division I Women's Swimming & Diving Championships in Indianapolis, Indiana. Photo: A.J. Mast/NCAA Photos via Getty Images
Over 30 athletes will represent the Bay Area at the Summer Olympics in Paris, which start July 24 with the opening ceremony on July 26.
The big picture: Dozens of Olympians were either born, lived or went to school here.
- They'll make their appearances throughout the 16-day Summer Games — competing in everything from basketball and swimming to table tennis and skiff sailing. Make sure to keep an eye on the official schedule so you don't miss your favorite athletes and competitions.
Zoom in: Warriors star Steph Curry will make his Olympic debut on the Team USA men's basketball team, with Golden State head coach Steve Kerr leading the squad.
Chelsea Gray (Hayward) and Sabrina Ionescu (Walnut Creek) are aiming to bring home another gold with the women's basketball team, which has won it the last seven Olympic Games.
Stanford alum Katie Ledecky, a seven-time Olympic gold medalist, is back on the court. She'll be joined by UC Berkeley graduates Abbey Weitzel and Ryan Murphy, who both have previously medaled.
Women's water polo captain Maggie Steffens, a Danville native and also a Stanford graduate, is seeking to net a fourth gold with Team USA. If successful, she'd be the first water polo player to win four consecutive Olympic gold medals.
Palo Alto's Lily Zhang, who at 12 became the youngest person to join the U.S. women's table tennis team, will become the first American in her sport to compete in four Olympics.
Newcomers to watch: San Francisco's Hans Henken and his teammate Ian Barrows are ranked second in the world in men's skiff sailing, which involves smaller boats with flat hulls.
- Skateboarder Minna Stess, hailing from Petaluma, is the first American woman to ever reach the podium in an Olympic qualifier or world championships.
- CJ Nickolas of Oakland is ranked No. 2 in his weight class for taekwondo, while Amit Elor of Walnut Creek has eight world titles in freestyle wrestling under her belt.
- Marathon runner Fiona O'Keeffe, who graduated from Stanford, qualified for the Paris Olympics with a record time this year. That trial was the first time she participated in a professionally run marathon.
- Stanford gymnast Asher Hong will make his debut after placing first on rings in the Olympic trials.
Other Olympians with Bay Area ties:
Artistic swimming
- Jacklyn Luu (Milpitas/Stanford)
Badminton
- Kerry and Annie Xu (San José/UC Berkeley)
- Jennie Gai (Fremont)
- Joshua Yuan (San Mateo)
Decathlon
- Harrison Williams (Stanford)
Fencing
- Alexander Massialas (San Francisco/Stanford)
- Gerek Meinhardt (San Francisco)
Kiteboarding
- Daniela Moroz (Lafayette)
Long jump
- Malcolm Clemons (Oakland)
Rowing
- Ben Davison (Oakland)
- Sorin Koszyk (Oakland)
Soccer
- Tierna Davidson (Menlo Park/Stanford)
- Naomi Girma (San José/Stanford)
Table tennis
- Rachel Sung (San José)
- Kanak Jha (Milpitas)
Water polo
- Jewel Roemer (Martinez)
- Jenna Flynn (San José/Stanford)
- Jordan Raney (Stanford)
- Ryann Neushul (Stanford)
- Dylan Woodhead (San Anselmo/Stanford)
How to watch: Paris is nine hours ahead of us, which means its opening parade will start at 10:30am for the Bay Area. Coverage of the ceremony will air on NBC and Peacock.