Alabama athletes going for the gold at Paris Olympics

Between winning the women’s artistic gymnastics all-around gold medal at the Toyko Olympics and returning to Olympic competition with the United States team next week in Paris, Suni Lee faced NCAA competition at Auburn.

But Lee isn’t the only gold medalist going to Paris among the more than 40 athletes with Alabama ties.

Troy graduate Vincent Hancock won the gold medal in men’s skeet in 2008 in Beijing, 2012 in London and 2021 in Toyko (after the Summer Games had been delayed one year because of the coronavirus pandemic). If the five-time Olympian wins men’s skeet again, he would become the sixth athlete and the fourth American to win the same Olympic event four times. The Americans who have achieved that feat are Olympic legends Al Oerter, Carl Lewis and Michael Phelps.

The Olympians with Alabama ties are spread across 28 national teams, including former Alabama sprinter Kirani James, who’s running for Greneda. James already has a complete set of medals as he prepares to compete in the men’s 400 meters at the Olympics for the fourth time. James won gold in London, silver in Rio de Janeiro and bronze in Tokyo.

French swimmer Leon Marchand, one of the expected stars of the Paris Olympics, has an Alabama connection, too. His father, Xavier Marchand, is a former member of the Auburn swim team. Leon Marchand is considered a potential four-gold winner in the Paris pool in the 200-meter breaststroke, 200-meter butterfly, 200-meter individual medley and 400-meter individual medley.

The opening ceremony for the Paris Olympics will feature the parade of athletes in boats on the Seine River and will start at 12:30 p.m. CDT Friday. NBC will televise the opening ceremony.

But the competition already will be underway by then. The Paris Olympics open on Wednesday with matches in men’s soccer and men’s rugby.

The U.S. men’s soccer team opens its schedule with a Group A match against France at 2 p.m. CDT Wednesday, making Birmingham’s Tanner Tessman, a U.S. midfielder, the first of the Alabama athletes to see action.

Athletes with Alabama ties competing at the Paris Olympics include:

BAHAMAS

Track and field

· Donald Thomas (Auburn), men’s high jump

BRAZIL

Swimming

· Marcelo Chierighini (Auburn), men’s 100-meter freestyle

CANADA

Gymnastics

· Shallen Olsen (Alabama), women’s artistic

COLOMBIA

Gymnastics

· Luisa Blanco (Alabama), women’s artistic

CYPRUS

Swimming

· Kalia Antoniou (Alabama), women’s 100-meter freestyle

Track and field

· Olivia Fotopoulou (Alabama), women’s 100 meters, women’s 200 meters

EGYPT

Diving

· Mohamed Farouk (Alabama), 3-meter springboard

FRANCE

Diving

· Emily Hallifax (Auburn), women’s 10-meter synchronized platform

GERMANY

Tennis

· Tim Puetz (Auburn), men’s doubles

GREECE

Swimming

· Kristian Gkolomeev (Alabama), men’s 50-meter freestyle

GRENADA

Track and field

· Kirani James (Alabama), 400 meters

ICELAND

Swimming

· Anton McKee (Alabama), men’s 200-meter breaststroke

IRELAND

Golf

· Stephanie Meadow (Alabama), women’s tournament

LIBERIA

Track and field

· Ebony Morris (Auburn), women’s 100-meter hurdles

MALAYSIA

Track and field

· Azeem Fahmi (Auburn), men’s 100 meters

MALTA

Swimming

· Kyle Micallef (Alabama), men’s 50-meter freestyle

NEW ZEALAND

Tennis

· Erin Routliffe (Alabama), women’s doubles

NIGERIA

Soccer

· Nicole Payne (Oak Mountain High School in Birmingham), women’s defender

· Toni Payne (Oak Mountain High School in Birmingham), women’s midfielder

Track and field

· Kanyinsola Ajayi (Auburn), men’s 100 meters, men’s 4x100-meter relay

· Favour Ashe (Auburn), men’s 100 meters, men’s 4x100-meter relay

· Samuel Ogazi (Alabama), men’s 400 meters, men’s 4x400-meter relay

PALESTINE

Swimming

· Valerie Tarazi (Auburn), women’s 200-meter individual medley

PERU

Swimming

· McKenna DeBever (Auburn), women’s 200-meter individual medley

SINGAPORE

Swimming

· Letitia Sim (Spanish Fort High School, TNT Swimming in Daphne), women’s 100-meter breaststroke, women’s 200-meter breaststroke, 4x100-meter medley relay

· Levenia Sim (Baldwin County Virtual School, TNT Swimming in Daphne), 4x100-meter medley relay

SOUTH AFRICA

Track and field

· Francois Prinsloo (South Alabama), men’s discus

SOUTH SUDAN

Basketball

· JT Thor (Auburn), men’s forward/center

SWEDEN

Swimming

· Victor Johansson (Alabama), men’s 400-meter freestyle, men’s 800-meter freestyle, men’s 1,500-meter freestyle, men’s 10-kilometer open water

TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO

Track and field

· Jareem Richards (Alabama), men’s 200 meters, men’s 400 meters, men’s 4x400-meter relay

· Portious Warren (Alabama), women’s shot put

UGANDA

Track and field

· Tarsis Orogot (Alabama), men’s 200 meters

UNITED STATES

Gymnastics

· Suni Lee (Auburn), women’s artistic

Shooting

· Vincent Hancock (Troy), men’s skeet, skeet team

Soccer

· Tanner Tessmann (Birmingham United Soccer Association), men’s midfielder

Swimming

· Matt King (Alabama), 4x100-meter freestyle relay

· Paige Madden (UMS-Wright Preparatory School in Mobile, City of Mobile Swim Association), women’s 400-meter freestyle, women’s 800-meter freestyle, women’s 4x200-meter freestyle relay

Track and field

· JuVaughan Harrison (Columbia High School in Huntsville), men’s high jump

· Daniel Haugh (Alabama), men’s hammer throw

· Shelby McEwen (Alabama), men’s high jump

ZIMBABWE

Track and field

· Maka Charamba (Auburn), 200 meters

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at@AMarkG1.