14 current, former South Carolina student-athletes set to compete in 2024 Summer Olympics
The Olympic Games is one of the most highly-anticipated events on the sports calendar every year, regardless of whether it’s a summer or winter edition of the Games. According to the International Olympic Committee, roughly 10,500 athletes from 206 nations (including a team composed of international refugees), will compete in this year’s Olympics in Paris, France, which will take place from July 26 to August 11.
Of those athletes, 14 of them, representing 10 different countries, played their respective sports at the University of South Carolina at one point in their athletic careers. Here are the current and former Gamecock student-athletes who are participating in the 2024 Summer Olympics.
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A’ja Wilson
Sport: Women’s basketball | Country: United States | Years at South Carolina: 2014-18
In some circles, A’ja Wilson is the best women’s basketball player in the world — and she will have the opportunity to help Team USA earn its 10th gold medal in 12 tries. Wilson was a member of the gold medal-winning squad in the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, which took place in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. That year, she tied for the team lead in points per game (16.5) and added 7.3 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game.
Laeticia Amihere
Sport: Women’s basketball | Country: Canada | Years at South Carolina: 2019-23
Laeticia Amihere is also an Olympic veteran, having represented Canada’s national women’s basketball team at the 2020 Summer Olympics. Amihere played in all three of Canada’s games in group play, averaging 13.6 minutes, 4.7 points and four rebounds per game. She has also represented the Canadian national team at the 2021 FIBA Women’s AmeriCup and the 2022 FIBA Women’s World Cup.
Francisco Cerundolo
Sport: Men’s tennis | Country: Argentina | Years at South Carolina: 2017-18
Francisco Cerundolo, who spent just one season at South Carolina before electing to play professionally, heads into the Olympics ranked the No. 37 player in the world, according to the ATP Rankings. Cerundolo competed in the men’s singles competition at the 2020 Summer Olympics, but he fell in the opening round to the the United Kingdom’s Liam Broady.
Anass Essayi
Sport: Men’s track and field | Country: Morocco | Years at South Carolina: 2022-24
Anass Essayi, a distance runner from Morocco, recently graduated from South Carolina after three years. This past season, Essayi earned Second-Team All-American honors after finishing 10th in the 3,000-meter at the NCAA Indoor Championships. He also garnered First-Team All-American honors after finishing eighth in the 1,500-meter at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
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Quincy Hall
Sport: Men’s track and field | Country: United States | Years at South Carolina: 2018-20
Quincy Hall was one of the standout starts of the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials. There, he won the 400-meter with a time of 44.17 seconds, the world’s fifth-best time in the event this calendar year. He has since surpassed that mark with a world-best time of 43.80 at a Diamond League event ahead of the Olympics.
Sabrina D’Angelo
Sport: Women’s soccer | Country: Canada | Years at South Carolina: 2011-14
On July 1, Sabrina D’Angelo was called up to Canada’s Olympic roster for the second time in her professional career. She appeared in one game at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where Canada won a bronze medal. As of Feb. 22, she has earned 16 caps with the national team, starting in 11 of those contests.
Rachel Glenn
Sport: Women’s track and field | Country: United States | Years at South Carolina: 2020-23
Four months ago, Rachel Glenn won a gold medal in the high jump at the NCAA Indoor Championships our months ago. Now, the former Gamecock and current Arkansas Razorback is representing the United States at the 2024 Summer Olympics. Glenn also competed in the high jump at the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon, where she finished 25th.
Julia Vincent
Sport: Women’s diving | Country: South Africa | Years at South Carolina: 2014-18
Julia Vincent is one of three South Carolina alumni to be making her third Olympic appearance this summer. Vincent has competed in the women’s 3-meter springboard event in the previous two Games but has yet to earn a top-20 finish. She placed 29th in the 2016 Olympic Games and improved to 25th in 2020.
Aliyah Abrams
Sport: Women’s track and field | Country: Guyana | Years at South Carolina: 2015-21
Aliyah Abrams, like Vincent, will be competing in her third Olympic Games in 2024. Abrams is a veteran when it comes to participating in major international competitions, having run in two World Athletics Championships along with her two Olympic appearances. The crowning achievement of her professional career was finishing fifth in the women’s 400-meter at the 2022 World Indoor Championships.
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Tatiana Salcutan
Sport: Women’s swimming | Country: Moldova | Years at South Carolina: 2022-24
This summer will mark the second time Tatiana Salcutan, who is 23 years old, will participate in an Olympic Games. Salcutan competed in both the 100- and 200-meter backstroke events at the 2020 Summer Olympics. Before becoming a fully-fledged professional, she shined at the amateur level, winning a gold medal at the 2018 Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Tomas Peribonio
Sport: Men’s swimming | Country: Ecuador | Years at South Carolina: 2014-18
Tomas Peribonio heads into his second Olympic Games as one of the best swimmers in his nation’s history. Peribonio owns nearly one dozen Ecuadorian swimming records, spanning events such as backstroke, breaststroke, freestyle and individual medley. Outside of the Olympics, he has competed in five international tournaments and made his debut at the 2015 Pan American Games.
Eric Favors
Sport: Men’s track and field | Country: Ireland | Years at South Carolina: 2015-21
Eric Favors will be one of 133 Irish athletes competing in the 2024 Summer Olympics, the nation’s largest-ever contingent. He has appeared at two World Athletics Championships, with his highest finish in the shot put (21st) coming in 2022. Favors also holds the Irish shot put record (20.93 meters), which he set at World Athletics’ Throw U 2024 Series #1.
Nanna Koertsz Madsen
Sport: Women’s golf | Country: Denmark | Years at South Carolina: 2014
According to the LPGA Tour’s Rolex Rankings, Nanna Koertsz Madsen is the No. 111 women’s golf player in the world. Koertsz Madsen, a three-time Olympic veteran, has pulled well above her weight during her two previous appearances in the event’s women’s golf competition. She finished tied for 13th at the 2016 Olympic Games and tied for ninth in 2020.
Shay Colley
Sport: Women’s basketball | Country: Canada | Years at South Carolina: 2015-16
Shay Colley and Amihere have two things in common — both spent at least one year at South Carolina and were named to Canada’s Olympic roster for the second time in their careers. During the 2020 Summer Olympics, Colley recorded seven points and 2.7 rebounds per game. She has also earned one gold medal in her career — at the 2017 FIBA Women’s AmeriCup.
