Guide to Georgia's 2024 Team USA Olympic qualifiers and hopefuls | Path to Paris
Here's a list of athletes who have made Team USA and Olympic hopefuls with Georgia connections.
We're officially 100 days out from the Summer Olympic Games, and several athletes with ties to Georgia are ready to make their journey from the Peach State to Paris.
From track and field to shooting, weightlifting and more, Georgia is ready to show out in a variety of sports and take home the gold in July. Here's a list of Georgia athletes who have made Team USA and other Olympic hopefuls with Georgia connections.
Team USA confirmed:
(These athletes have been confirmed for Team USA in their respective sports and have profiles on the official Olympics website for 2024.)
Basketball
Anthony Edwards - Online Bio
Georgia Connection: From Atlanta and played basketball at UGA
More about this athlete:
Edwards was the nation’s top-scoring freshman while playing for UGA in 2019-20. In addition to being named SEC Freshman of the Year by both league coaches and SEC Newcomer of the Year by the Associated Press, Edwards was selected as the Georgia College Player of the Year by the Atlanta Tipoff Club and was one of five finalists for the Jerry West National Shooting Guard of the Year Award.
He was also the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft and has emerged as one of the league's rising stars over the past four seasons with the Minnesota Timberwolves. He was named an NBA All-Star in both 2023 and 2024 and has led the Timberwolves to three consecutive Playoff appearances.
This will be his second time representing the U.S., as he was the leading scorer in last summer's FIBA World Cup in Manila.
In/Outdoor Track and Field
Team USA confirmed:
(These athletes have been confirmed for Team USA in their respective sports and have profiles on the official Olympics website for 2024.)
- Olympic trials are not yet completed for this sport
Hopeful:
(These athletes are likely to be on Team USA but have not yet qualified.)
Daniel Haugh - Online Bio
Georgia Connection: From Marietta, trains at Kennesaw State
More about this athlete:
Daniel Haugh is an Olympian and NCAA champion who recently set a new world record at the USA Track and Field Indoor Championships. He's decorated and trains at Kennesaw State University with Isaiah Rogers, another NCAA champion.
Growing up in Marietta, about 10 miles from his current practice field, football was his first love. However, a severe concussion sidelined him, leading Haugh to pick up track and field. It was a second chance at sports and life that he embraced wholeheartedly.
That pivot could now win him gold; the evidence of his dedication still adorns his childhood home.
Next on the list of 2024 competitions is the Olympic Trials. With less than three months to go, Haugh and his coach, Mike Judge, are leaving no stone unturned in his preparation.
Watch the full interview below:
Christian Coleman - Online Bio
Georgia Connection: From Atlanta
More about this athlete:
Coleman, 28, was born in Atlanta and, in recent years, has cemented himself as one of the world's top sprint stars.
His accolades are numerous, including three gold medals between the 100m and the 4x100m relay since 2019 at the World Championships.
Coleman has yet to compete as an individual at the Olympics, however -- he was suspended by world track officials in 2020 for two years, ruling him out for the Tokyo Olympics, for missing three drug tests in 2019. His suspension was later reduced by the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland, which noted he had never failed a drug test, but the remaining time on his ban still covered Tokyo.
The alum of Our Lady of Mercy Catholic High School in Fayetteville has gotten back on track since the suspension episode -- he won silver in the 100m at the USA Track and Field Championships last year, and later finished fifth in the 100m at the World Championships, and then finished first -- ahead of 2023 world champion Noah Lyles -- at the elite Diamond League Final in Eugene, Oregon last September.
Watch the full interview below:
Keturah Orji - Online Bio
Georgia Connection: University of Georgia graduate
More about this athlete:
Keturah Orji is an American Olympic triple jumper. She was born in Mount Olive, New Jersey and attended the University of Georgia, where she was a 4-time NCAA outdoor champion in the triple jump and a one-time long jump national champion.
Orji made her Olympic debut at the 2016 Rio Games, where she finished 4th in the triple jump. She qualified for the Tokyo Olympics as well, placing seventh in 2021.
At 5'10" and 174 lbs, Orji is considered one of the top triple jumpers in the U.S. She has represented Team USA at the World Championships, finishing inside the top 10 in 2023, 2022 and 2019, and won a silver medal at the 2022 North American, Central American and Caribbean Championships.
Off the track, Orji is known for her community service work and advocacy for mental health awareness. She has spoken openly about her struggles with anxiety and depression and hopes to inspire others to prioritize their well-being.
Watch the full interview below:
Jordan Gray - Online Bio
Georgia Connection: From Ball Ground
More about this athlete:
Jordan Gray is a multi-talented track and field athlete from Georgia. She grew up in Ball Ground, Georgia and competed for Kennesaw State. Gray initially focused on basketball in her youth but was convinced by her mother to try out for a local track and field club called "The Heat" in her senior year of high school.
Despite a severe ankle injury from a basketball mishap, Gray went on to become a heptathlete, which requires specialization in seven events - shotput, javelin, long jump, high jump, 100-meter hurdles, and 200-meter and 800-meter sprints. She has set the American record in the heptathlon and is now pushing for the inclusion of a women's decathlon (10 events) in the Olympics.
A Pan American Games bronze medalist in 2023, Gray is considered one of the top multi-event athletes in the United States. She is hoping to inspire other women to pursue their athletic dreams and not underestimate their own capabilities.
Watch the full interview below:
Gabby Thomas - Online Bio
Georgia Connection: From Atlanta
More about this athlete:
Gabrielle "Gabby" Thomas was born in Atlanta, Georgia and is a distinguished American track and field athlete who specializes in the 100- and 200-meter sprints.
The 27-year-old medaled twice at the Tokyo Olympics, with a bronze individually in the 200 meters and a silver as part of the 4x100m relay team.
In 2023, she secured silver in the 200m at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, alongside gold in the U.S. women's 4x100m relay team.
Raised in the Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts, she honed her skills at the Williston Northampton School before pursuing higher education. Thomas graduated from Harvard University in 2019 with a focus on neurobiology and global health, later obtaining a master's degree in epidemiology from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.
Watch the full interview below:
Christian Taylor - Online Bio
Georgia Connection: From Fayetteville
More about this athlete:
Christian Taylor is a track and field athlete who specializes in the triple jump from Fayetteville. He is considered one of the greatest triple jumpers of his era, having dominated the event for over a decade.
The 33-year-old won gold in the event both at the 2012 London Olympics and 2016 Rio Olympics, before Achilles injury sidelined him for Tokyo in 2021. He has since been working his way back -- finishing 18th and failing to qualify for the final at the 2022 World Championships and finishing eighth last year at the 2023 USA Track and Field Championships.
At meets in Monaco and China last July and September, as part of the elite Diamond League series, he also posted competitive marks in finishing eighth and ninth as he continued to try to get back to full strength.
Taylor attended Sandy Creek High School in Georgia, where he set state high school records in the long jump, triple jump, and 400m. He went on to compete for the University of Florida, winning back-to-back NCAA Indoor and Outdoor titles in the triple jump in 2010 and 2011. Taylor made the 2012 U.S. Olympic team and won the gold medal in the triple jump at the 2012 London Olympics with a jump of 17.81m.
Since then, he has won multiple world championship titles in the triple jump, including in 2011, 2015, 2017, and 2019. Taylor holds the American record in the triple jump with a personal best of 18.21m, which ranks him second on the all-time list. In addition to the triple jump, Taylor has also competed at a high level in the long jump and 400m dash.
Watch the full interview below:
Shooting
Team USA confirmed:
(These athletes have been confirmed for Team USA in their respective sports and have profiles on the official Olympics website for 2024.)
Katelyn Abeln - Online Bio
Georgia Connection: From Douglasville
More about this athlete:
Katelyn Abeln is a member of the Ohio State University pistol team and is now a part of Team USA's shooting team for the 2024 Paris Games. She was was an alternate for Tokyo 2020 and before that a silver medal winner at the 2018 ISSF World Shooting Championships.
She started sport shooting when she was 12 and qualified for Team USA in January for the women's 10m air pistol event.
Hopeful:
(These athletes are likely to be on Team USA but have not yet qualified.)
Sports Climbing
Team USA confirmed:
(These athletes have been confirmed for Team USA in their respective sports and have profiles on the official Olympics website for 2024.)
Emma Hunt - Online Bio
Georgia Connection: From Atlanta
More about this athlete:
Emma Hunt is a 20-year-old speed climber from Woodstock. She is the first American woman to qualify for the Olympic sport of speed climbing, which will debut at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Hunt qualified for the 2024 Olympics after earning a silver medal at the 2023 IFSC World Championships in Switzerland with a time of 6.67 seconds.
After qualifying for Team USA with her worlds silver, she also took a silver at the 2023 Pan American Games, losing the final with a false start.
She is currently a student at Kennesaw State University, where she studies exercise science and trains at the nearby Stone Summit Climbing facility. Hunt has been speed climbing since 2015 and was the 2019 youth world champion in the event.
In 2022, she broke the U.S. record in speed climbing with a time of 6.83 seconds.
Watch the full interview below:
Hopeful:
(These athletes are likely to be on Team USA but have not yet qualified.)
Tennis
Team USA confirmed:
(These athletes have been confirmed for Team USA in their respective sports and have profiles on the official Olympics website for 2024.)
Coco Gauff - Online Bio
Georgia Connection: Partly raised in Atlanta
More about this athlete:
Cori "Coco" Gauff was born on March 13, 2004, in Florida but spent her early years in Atlanta, where her dad had once played basketball for Georgia State.
The 20-year-old is the reigning US Open champion after she claimed her first Grand Slam title last year while still just a teenager.
Gauff began playing tennis at age 7. She gained widespread recognition in 2019 when, at age 15, she received a wildcard entry to Wimbledon and defeated her childhood idol Venus Williams in the first round. She went on to reach the fourth round of Wimbledon that year, becoming the youngest player to do so since 1991. She also reached the third round of the US Open in 2019.
In 2020, Gauff reached the fourth round of the Australian Open and then reached a new high the next year in advancing to the quarterfinals of the French Open in 2021, making her the youngest player to reach that stage since 2006.
Gauff has won 7 singles titles on the WTA Tour, including her US Open victory last year, where she defeated Aryna Sabalenka in the final.
She was selected for the 2020 U.S. Olympic team but had to withdraw after testing positive for COVID-19.
Hopeful:
(These athletes are likely to be on Team USA but have not yet qualified.)
Weightlifting
Team USA confirmed:
(These athletes have been confirmed for Team USA in their respective sports and have profiles on the official Olympics website for 2024.)
Hampton Morris - Online Bio
Georgia Connection: From Marietta
More about this athlete:
Hampton Morris is a 19-year-old Olympic weightlifting sensation from Marietta, Georgia. In 2024, Morris set several new American records in weightlifting competitions, including 8 new records in a competition in Bulgaria.
He took home a silver medal in the 61kg (135 pounds) weight class at the recent International Weightlifting Federation World Cup in Thailand, earning his trip to Paris.
Morris is also a Junior World Champion gold medalist.
Watch as Hampton Morris Sets A New World Record in the video below:
Watch the full interview below:
Hopeful:
(These athletes are likely to be on Team USA but have not yet qualified.)
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