Ridaught: Gators well represented on U.S. Olympic Team

Former UF athlete Anna Hall won the U.S. heptathlon championship and qualified for the Olympics.
Former UF athlete Anna Hall won the U.S. heptathlon championship and qualified for the Olympics.
Photo by Tim Casey-UAA Communications

Some of the best athletes in the country have been competing for a spot on an Olympic roster for this month’s 2024 Summer Olympics, which begins with the opening ceremony on Friday, July 26, in Paris.

A total of 26 Gators (11 current and 15 former Gators) competed in their respective track and field events throughout the U.S. Olympic Trials competition, hoping for a spot on the U.S. Olympic Team.

The University of Florida led the way among colleges with seven Olympians on the 2024 Olympic track and field team, including five of the seven on the Team USA women’s squad.

Jasmine Moore, who finished 12th in the triple jump at the Tokyo Olympics (2020), made history on the seventh day of the U.S. Track & Field Olympic Trials by becoming the first woman in American history to qualify for the Olympics in both the long jump and triple jump.

Although Moore does not have the Olympic Standard at this time, her world ranking is strong enough for her to qualify for the team.

She is joined by Grace Stark, who finished third in the 100m hurdles, by posting a new personal best for the seventh time this season.

After recording a new best time of 12.45 seconds in the semifinals on Saturday, Stark made her Olympic debut by shaving 0.14 seconds off her time, running a 12.31 to improve her own University of Florida school record.

The reigning NCAA champion achieved the Olympic standard in the event earlier this season during a competition at the Pepsi Florida Relays.

Therefore, her third-place finish earned her an automatic berth to Paris.

Anna Hall, the two-time World Championships medalist, will also make her Olympic debut in August after winning the U.S. heptathlon championship for the third consecutive year.

She accomplished this feat just six months after having surgery on her knee.

After a fourth-place finish in the 5000m, Parker Valby rebounded with a runner-up finish in the 10,000m, falling short by just 0.49 seconds.

Valby is still on the bubble but there is a strong likelihood that she will make the U.S. team after winning silver even though she has not met the Olympic standard in the event.

The announcement will be made on July 7.

On the men’s side, Grant Holloway booked his ticket for Paris by winning the 110m hurdles in 12.86 seconds, which was 0.06 seconds off of the world record.

The three-time world champion is seeking his first gold medal after winning Silver in 2020.

Malcolm Clemons earned a spot
 on the 2024 Olympic roster with a runner-up finish in the men’s long jump.

Despite not having the Olympic standard in the event, his world ranking is strong enough for him to make his Olympic debut later this summer.

As many as 35 Gator swimmers competed for a roster spot at the U.S. Olympic Swim Trials in Indianapolis, with a total of five former and current Gators making the roster.

Former Gator Caeleb Dressel made his third-straight Olympic Games.

The seven-time Olympic gold medalist secured a spot on the 4x100m freestyle relay team in front of a new swim-meet attendance record of 22,209.

He is now set for three events after winning the 50m freestyle and the 100m butterfly. Dressel holds four American records in the 50-meter free (21.04), 100-meter free (46.96), 50-meter fly (22.35) and 100-meter fly (49.45).

Distance swimmer Bobby Finke swept the distance events, finishing first in the men’s 800-meter freestyle and the 1,500m to clinch his spot in both events.

The two-time Olympic gold medalist, who won two gold medals in the 800 freestyle and 1500 freestyle events in Tokyo, holds the American Records in both the 800 free (7 minutes, 38.67 seconds) and 1500 free (14:31.59), which he set at the 2023 World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan.

Kieran Smith, a 28-time All-American, became the first Gator to punch his ticket to Paris inside Lucas Oil Stadium where he made his second-consecutive Olympic Team after taking fourth in the 400m free following his 1:45.61.

His top-four finish gives him a spot on the U.S. 4×200 freestyle relay team.

Current Gator Emma Weyant made the team after her second-place finish in the 400m IM. It marks her second Olympic Games and the first female Gator to make the 2024 Olympic Team.

Weyant earned her first Olympic medal in Tokyo, swimming a 4:32.76 in Japan to earn a silver medal.

Incoming Gator Luke Whitlock punched his ticket in the men’s 800m freestyle.

While there were five Gators who made the USA team, a total of eight other Gators earned roster spots for their country including Maha Amer (Egypt), Julie Brousseau (Canada), Josh Liendo (Canada), Nicole Maier (Germany), Jonny Marshall (Great Britain), Alfonso Mestre & Alberto Mestre (Venezuela), and Aleksas Savickas (Lithuania).

Florida’s Leanne Wong fell short of competing for Team USA in the 2024 Paris Olympics. However, she will still go to Paris as a traveling alternate should a spot need to be filled.

It marks her second consecutive Olympic berth as a replacement athlete, as she was a 2020 replacement athlete for the U.S.’s Tokyo team.

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