Yahoo Sports How many Olympians does Mississippi have? Meet the athletes competing in Paris 2024 games
This story and visualization are part of our new “Data In Your Life” series, in which we mine public databases to tell quick stories about the world around us.
More than 10,000 athletes from across the world are competing for gold at the Summer Olympics, including nearly 600 on the U.S. Olympic team.
The games started Friday in Paris and will continue until Sunday, Aug. 11. This will be the third time that the French capital has hosted the Summer Games.
Historically, the U.S. has done the best at track and field, swimming, and shooting, with more gold medals in these categories than any other. These are the top 15 sports for the U.S. at the summer Olympics since the first modern Olympic games in 1896.
Olympians come from almost every state in the U.S. this year. However, Colorado, Vermont, and Hawaii have the most Olympians per capita.
Athletes from Mississippi
Of those who are wearing red, white and blue, two athletes were born in Mississippi.
Click on a dot to see which Olympian is from your area.
Sam Kendricks (USA): Men’s Pole Vault. Kendricks is from Oxford and attended Ole Miss. He will be competing in his second Olympics, after winning a bronze medal in 2016.
Shelby McEwen (USA): Men’s High Jump. McEwen is from Abbeville and also attended Ole Miss. McEwen competed in the 2020 games, but will seek his first medal in Paris.
Athletes with Mississippi connections
Their birth certificates may not say Mississippi, but we’ve claimed them, anyway. Here are Olympic athletes who have connections to the Magnolia State.
Devin Booker (USA): Moss Point’s pride and joy will compete on the Team USA basketball team. Booker moved from Michigan to the MS Coast to live with his dad during high school. He earned a gold medal playing basketball in the 2020 games.
Navasky Anderson (Jamaica): 800 meters. Anderson attended Mississippi State and holds the Jamaican national record for the 800m.
Marco Arop (Canada): 800 meters. Arop also attended Mississippi State. He holds the Canadian record in the 800m.
Curtis Thompson (USA): Men’s Javelin Throw. Thompson attended Mississippi State.
Anderson Peters (Grenada): Men’s Javelin Throw. The two-time world champion attended Mississippi State.
Mario Garcia Romo (Spain): 1500 meters. Romo attended Ole Miss.
McKenzie Long (USA): 200 meters. Long is a redshirt senior at Ole Miss.
Raven Saunders (USA): Shot Put. Saunders attended Ole Miss and earned a silver medal from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Ahlana Smith (Puerto Rico): Women’s basketball. Smith attended Mississippi State.
Ilana Izquierdo (Colombia): Women’s soccer. Izquierdo is a current midfielder for Mississippi State.
Catalina Perez (Colombia): Women’s soccer. Perez used to be a goalkeeper at Mississippi State.
Shu Ohba (Japan): Women’s soccer (alternate). Ohba is a current goalkeeper at Ole Miss.
Rafaella Souza (Brazil): Women’s soccer. Souza used to play with Ole Miss.
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