DMV athletes dominating the OLympics

The Olympics are a great way to show off your pride for the country but have you wondered which athletes are from or went to college in the DMV? While we gave you a head start on the top seven athletes that create a lot of buzz online, there are more athletes to cheer on for the remainder of the Olympics.

Want to know more about the athletes representing Team USA? Here’s a list of which DMV Olympians are dominating the 2024 Paris Olympics and some fun facts about them.

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D.C.

Three fencers joining Team U.S.A. are from the D.C area and coincidentally all attended Princeton University. News4's Jummy Olabanji talked to Kat Holmes and Hadley Husisian about their love for the sport.

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Kat Holmes

Hometown: Washington D.C.
Fencing
31 yrs old
Olympic Games: 2016, 2020, 2024

Kat Holmes is a three-time Olympian with her first Olympics being at the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Games. She started fencing when she was 9 years old because she read books about knights in shining armor. When she's not swimming, she works as a research assistant at the Princeton Neuroscience Institute where she studies concussions.

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Trinity Rodman

Trinity Rodman's dominant performance helped significantly in the USWNT's 4-1 win over Germany Sunday.

Hometown: Washington D.C.
Soccer
Age: 22
Olympic Games: 2024

This is Trinity Rodman’s first Olympics and she’s created a name for herself (she’s the daughter of five-time NBA champion Dennis Rodman) way before that. She is a player for the United States women's national soccer team and is a forward for the Washington Spirit of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL).

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 is so far the only American athlete who has qualified to compete in two different sports in Paris. News4's Jummy Olabanji reports.

Taylor Knibb

Hometown: Washington, D.C.
Triathlon
Age: 26
Olympic Games: 2024, 2020, 2024
Olympic Medal Count: 2 (Silver)

Taylor Knibb qualified for Paris 2024 in both triathlon and road cycling, being the youngest woman ever to qualify for the U.S. Olympic Triathlon Team for Tokyo. She also became the youngest to earn a spot on the podium at an ITU World Triathlon Series race in 2017, earning silver in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

Maryland

Maryland native Kevin Durant says he’s excited about pursuing a fourth consecutive gold medal with Team USA men’s basketball. News4’s Jummy Olabanji reports.

Kevin Durant

Hometown: Prince George’s County
Men’s Basketball
Age: 35
Olympic Games: 2012, 2016, 2020, 2024
Olympic Medal Count: 3 (Gold)

Kevin Durant is a four-time Olympian, making his debut at the 2012 Olympic Games. Durant is a reigning champion in basketball, with him being a 14-time All-Star, and being the highest-scoring player in men's Olympic basketball history.

News4's Jummy Olabanji caught up with a couple of Maryland Olympians and shares their progress on the track and in the pool.

Isabella and Juliette Whittaker

Hometown: Laurel, MD
Track & Field
Age: 22 (Isabella) / 20 (Juliette)
Olympic Games: 2024

Sisters Isabella and Juliette Whittaker are holding the Olympian title for the first time this year. Isabella will compete in the 4x400 relay pool and Juliette will compete in the 800m. Juliette said she expected to be an Olympic swimmer when she was younger but once the sisters switched sports, they became track and field Olympians instead.

2012 Olympic 4x400m silver medalist Manteo Mitchell calls 16-year-old track phenom Quincy Wilson the “real deal” and said he admires his swag.

Quincy Wilson

Hometown: Bowie, MD
Track & Field
Age: 16
Olympic Games: 2024

After a nail-biting Olympic Trials, Quincy Wilson is now a first-time Olympian and the youngest American male track and field Olympian in history. He is expected to run in the men’s 4x400-meter relay. In the Olympic Trials, he set the new record at 44.66 seconds in the 400m.

Bethesda native Katie Ledecky expressed pride in how many swimmers from the D.C. area found success in the swimming portion of the Paris Olympics. She spoke with News4's Jummy Olabanji.

Katie Ledecky

Hometown: Bethesda, MD
Swimming
Age: 27
Olympic Games: 2012, 2016, 2020, 2024
Olympic Medal Count: 14 (9 Gold, 4 Silver, 1 Bronze)

Katie Ledecky is a four-time Olympian with her debut in the 2012 Olympics where she won her first gold medal at 15 years old. Ledecky holds 16 world records in courses like the 800m freestyle short course and the 800m freestyle long course.

Wrestler Helen Maroulis earned a coveted spot on the USA Team for the Paris Olympics.

Helen Maroulis

Hometown: Rockville, MD
Wrestling
Age: 32
Olympic Games: 2016, 2020, 2024
Olympic Medal Count: 2 (1 Gold, 1 Bronze)

Helen Maroulis is a two-time Olympian, making her debut in the 2016 Olympics where she won a gold medal. After starting wrestling at the age of 7, she’s been winning world championships since. She’s also the first female U.S. wrestler to qualify for three Olympics.

Featherweight Jahmal "Hard Rock" Harvey prevailed in his Paris debut, edging out his Brazilian opponent by split decision and advancing to the quarterfinals.

Jahmal Harvey

Hometown: Oxon Hill, MD
Boxing
Age: 21
Olympic Games: 2024

Jahmal Harvey will be competing in his first Olympics in Paris on the men’s boxing team. He nabbed a spot on the team by winning gold at the Pan American Games Santiago 2023. He began boxing at 13 years old, was introduced to it by his football coach and his favorite boxer is Terence Crawford.

Sister duo Brooke DeBerdine and Emma DeBerdine are trading College Park, Maryland for Paris to continue their joint journey in field hockey for Team USA. News4's Jummy Olabanji talks to the DeBerdine sisters and their coach Missy Meharg about their path from UMD to the Olympics.

Emma & Brooke Deberdine

College: University of Maryland, College Park
Field Hockey
Age: 23 (Emma) / 25 (Brooke)
Olympic Games: 2024

Emma and Brooke Deberdine are trading their Terp jerseys for Team USA ones as the UMD sister-duo heads to Paris. The sisters are originally from Millersville, Pennsylvania. Brooke's hidden talent is an inflatable tube man and the way to get Emma hyped up is by playing "Woman" by Kesha.

Virginia

News4’s Jummy Olabanji caught up with Alexandria’s Noah Lyles, now the fastest man on earth after winning the 100m. She also got reaction from Laurel’s Juliette Whittaker, who finished seventh in the 800m.

Noah Lyles

Hometown: Alexandria, VA
Track and Field
Age: 27
Olympic Games: 2020, 2024
Olympic Medal Count: 2 (1 Gold, 1 Bronze)

Noah Lyles has been at the forefront of all things track and field this summer leading up to the Olympics. This is Lyles’ second Olympics, currently ranking first in the world for the 100-meter and 200-meter as of 2023. He’s also broken the 20-second mark in the 200m event 38 times – more than any athlete in history.

Arlington native Torri Huske got sweet redemption at the Paris Olympics, winning gold in the 100m butterfly three years after missing the podium by a hundredth of a second in Tokyo. News4's Jummy Olabanji caught up with Huske's proud parents.

Torri Huske

Hometown: Arlington, VA
Swimming
Age: 21
Olympic Games: 2020, 2024
Olympic Medal Count: 6 (3 Gold, 3 Silver)

This two-time Olympian and Olympic medalist began her swimming journey at 5 years old. The Stanford University alumni has competed in the World Championships since 2021.

U.S. hurdler Grant Holloway say earning a spot on the U.S. Olympic team at the U.S. Track and Field Trials was 60% of the work.

Grant Holloway

Hometown: Chesapeake, VA
Track and Field
Age: 26
Olympic Games: 2020, 2024
Olympic Medal Count: 1 (Silver)

Grant Holloway is heading into his second Olympic games after placing silver in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Before pursuing his dream as an Olympian, he was a four-star wide receiver before he made the switch to track and field.

U.S. swimmer Gretchen Walsh had a solid first Olympic games, earning two gold medals and two silver medals. Hear the swimmer sum up her experience in Paris.

Alex & Gretchen Walsh

College/University: University of Virginia
Swimming
Age: 22 (Alex) / 21 (Gretchen)
Olympic Games: 2020 (Alex), 2024 (Alex and Gretchen)
Olympic Medal Count:
Alex: 1 Silver
Gretchen: 2 Gold, 2 Silver

Both sisters are competing on Team USA for the 2024 Paris Olympics. Gretchen has already earned a silver medal as part of the 4X100 freestyle relay team and set an Olympic record for the 100 butterfly, at a time of 55.38. Alex is set to compete on Aug.4 for the women's 200-meter individual medley. She won silver in the Olympic Games in Tokyo 2020 for the same race.

Here are five things to know about soccer player Emily Fox of the USWNT and Arsenal WFC.

Emily Fox

Hometown: Ashburn, VA
Soccer
Age: 26
Olympic Games: 2024

The Arsenal FC defender is competing in her first Olympics in Paris on Team USA. She previously played in one match in the 2018 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in France and all USA’s matches at the 2016 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Papua New Guinea.

Get to know these DMV athletes dominating the Olympics

The Paris Olympics are a great way to get to know athletes from around the world, especially those from the DC area.

By Taylor Edwards and Emily Martinez • Published August 6, 2024 • Updated on August 7, 2024 at 1:12 pm