After the COVID-19 restrictions for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, mothers of athletes on Team USA are excited to show their support for their kids at the 2024 Paris Olympics. News4’s Jummy Olabanji spoke with the mothers of sprinter Noah Lyles and basketball player Kevin Durant.
Team USA is competing in Paris in hopes of breaking records and taking home medals, and DMV athletes are well-represented. Dozens of Olympians have hometowns in D.C., Maryland and Virginia or attended college in the region.
Some of those local athletes are already well-known, and some are newcomers on the rise. And plenty of the members of Team DMV are so formidable that you simply must watch them compete.
Here are seven D.C.-area athletes that you should be on the lookout for, when to watch them and what's at stake during the Summer Games.
Kevin Durant
- Age: 35
- From: Prince George’s County, Maryland
- Sport: Basketball
- Fun fact: Kevin Durant was the third NBA player to ever agree to a lifetime contract with Nike.
The Phoenix Suns’ Kevin Durant is one big name on Team USA’s star-studded roster. The two-time NBA champion made his Olympic debut in 2012, winning gold medals in 2012, 2016 and 2020. The U.S. men’s basketball team looks to claim a fifth gold medal in a row, with the team holding 19 medals in total.
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Durant has a chance to become the first men's basketball player to win four Olympic gold medals. He also needs to score 54 points at the Paris Olympics to beat out Lisa Leslie as the USA’s basketball’s leading scorer in the Olympics.
Events to watch for:
In Olympic men's basketball, there are three group-stage games scheduled, followed by the knockout round in which eight teams will advance to a single-elimination bracket.
The group stage games are:
- Saturday, July 28, Team USA vs. Serbia: Kevin Durant explodes onto the Olympic court to lead Team USA win over Serbia
- Wednesday, July 31 at 2:45 p.m. ET: Team USA vs. South Sudan
- Saturday, Aug. 3 at 11:15 a.m. ET: Team USA vs. Puerto Rico
Here's more on how to watch Team USA men's basketball.
Noah Lyles
- Age: 27
- From: Alexandria, Virginia
- Sport: Track & Field
- Fun fact: Noah Lyles is a big fan of Yu-Gi-Oh and is known for pulling out trading cards at his meets.
Six-time world champion and Tokyo bronze medalist Noah Lyles was the face of American track and field leading up to the Paris Olympics. Since his Tokyo Olympics debut, he’s won world titles in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay at the 2023 World Championships.
The Alexandria City High School grad has become the first man since Usain Bolt to win gold in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay. After his times in 100m and 200m at 21 were faster than Bolt’s at the same age, Lyles' goal of beating Bolt’s 2009 world record of 19.19 seconds might be within reach.
Lyles intends to win “all of the medals” in his second Olympic games – specifically, he wants to be the first man to win gold in the 100m/200m double at the same Olympics since Usain Bolt in 2016. He told News4's Jummy Olabanji about how he's preparing.
Events to look out for:
- Sunday, Aug. 4 at 3:50 p.m. ET: Men’s 100m Final
- Thursday, Aug. 8 at 2:30 p.m. ET: Men’s 200m
Katie Ledecky
- Age: 27
- From: Bethesda, Maryland
- Sport: Swimming
- Fun fact: Katie Ledecky won five Olympic gold medals before starting college.
Katie Ledecky is no stranger to the Olympics. Since making her Olympic debut at 15 years old, she has broken many records. After the Tokyo Olympics, she became the most decorated female individual swimmer in history. She’s dominated the Women’s 800m freestyle for over a decade, posting the 16 fastest times in history.
In Paris, the Bethesda native will chase after the title of becoming the first woman in history to win the same individual event at four straight Olympics in the Women’s 800m freestyle. As she’s the second-most decorated athlete behind legend Michael Phelps, Ledecky is challenging herself to be consistent in her fourth Olympics.
Ledecky took bronze in the Women’s 400m freestyle and thanked the D.C. metro area for supporting her but, there are still more opportunities to add more hardware to her collection.
Events to look out for:
- Wednesday, July 31 at 3:04 p.m.: Women’s 1500m freestyle
- Thursday, Aug. 1 at 3:48 p.m. ET: Women’s 4x200m freestyle relay
- Saturday, Aug. 3 at 3:09 p.m. ET: Women’s 800m freestyle
Jahmal Harvey
- Age: 21
- From: Oxon Hill, Maryland
- Sport: Boxing
- Fun fact: He enjoys watching the Washington Wizards and listening to NBA Young Boy.
Team USA’s boxing team will try to keep the momentum rolling after getting three silver medals in the Tokyo Olympics. Jahmal Harvey joins Team USA for the first time in Paris.
The Oxon Hill native will be one to look out for in the Olympics. He won a world title in 2021 and a Pan American Games gold medal in 2023. He's the third seed in France, making him one of Team USA's best medal contenders. Harvey, a graduate of Potomac High School, grew up playing football before he was introduced to boxing through his football coach.
Harvey will make his Olympic debut as he takes on Brazil's Luiz Gabriel Oliveira in the Round of 16 matches at the North Paris Arena on July 31.
Events to look out for:
- Wednesday, July 31 at 10:02 a.m.: Men's Featherweight (57kg/125lbs)
- Saturday, Aug. 10 at 3:47 p.m.: Men’s Featherweight (57 kg/125 lbs.)
Quincy Wilson
- Age: 16
- From: Bowie, MD
- Sport: Track & Field
- Fun fact: Snoop Dog is a big fan of Wilson.
All eyes were on Quincy Wilson, the 16-year-old sprinter who set a new junior world record for the indoor 400m as a freshman in high school. Since breaking the record, the teen has had his eyes on the Olympics, but last year, he wasn’t even old enough to qualify. This year, he is joining Team USA in Paris.
This summer, Wilson made history as the youngest male athlete to race with the U.S. Olympic track and field team. At the Olympic trials, he set the world record for under-18 runners in the 400m at 44.59 seconds. After not qualifying for individual races, he nabbed a spot on the 4x400m relay team.
The Bullis High School rising junior’s star power continues to rise as his dreams of going to the Olympics are happening in real time.
Events to look out for:
- Saturday, Aug. 10 at 3:12 p.m. E.T.: Men’s 4x400 Meter Relay
Taylor Knibb
- Age: 26
- From: Washington, D.C.
- Sport: Triathlon and road cycling
- Fun fact: She nearly gave up on competing a few years ago while feeling burned out.
Most athletes will tell you it's their dream to make the Olympics in just one event. But D.C. native Taylor Knibb is in a league of her own and was the only American athlete to qualify to compete in two different sports in Paris — oh, and one of those combines three sports (swimming, cycling and running).
Knibb, who attended Sidwell Friends School in Northwest D.C., already has a silver in the mixed-relay triathlon from the Tokyo Olympics.
In Paris, she competed last weekend in the women's cycling time trial but placed 19th out of 35 after crashing three times on the rainy course.
Next up, she'll compete in the women's triathlon, a single race that combines three elements: a 1.5km swim, a 40km bike ride and a 10km run, in that order. Renowned as an elite cyclist, Knibb finished fifth at the Paris Test Event and represents Team USA's best chance for a triathlon medal.
Events to look out for:
- Wednesday, July 31, 2 a.m. ET live (7 p.m. ET in prime time): Women's triathlon
Torri Huske
- Age: 21
- Hometown: Arlington, VA
- Sport: Swimming
- Fun fact: Huske began swimming at the age of 5.
Torri Huske enters her second Olympics with her eyes on nabbing more medals after becoming a household name in the 2020 Olympics. The swimmer is one of four American women to win six medals at a world championship.
In the Tokyo Olympics, the Stanford University student won a silver medal alongside Regan Smith, Lydia Jacoby and Abbey Weitzeil in the Women’s 4x100m Medley Relay. In Tokyo, Huske narrowly missed the opportunity to get a bronze in the 100m butterfly.
After winning gold in the 100m butterfly and silver in the 4x100m freestyle relay in Paris this year, she has at least one more chance to earn more medals. The finals for the 100m freestyle is on Wednesday and her coaches could choose her for the Mixed Medley Relay or the Women’s Medley Relay.
Events to look out for:
- Tuesday, July 30, 3:25 p.m. ET live: Women's 100m Freestyle Semifinals
