Paris Summer Olympics 2024: 8 IL Athletes Qualify So Far

ILLINOIS — Eight athletes from Illinois have qualified for the Paris Summer Olympic Games as Team USA continues to take shape.

More than 10,500 athletes from around the world will compete in the Paris Summer Olympic Games, officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad, between the opening ceremony on July 26 and the closing ceremony on Aug 11.

Included among the 32 sports are gymnastics, swimming, diving, track and field, archery, basketball, beach volleyball, boxing, golf, tennis and wrestling.

One new sport — breaking, described by the Olympics as a “young, acrobatic and urban sport” with American roots — will be added this year.

Back for a second time are three sports that debuted in the Tokyo Summer 2020 Olympics — sport climbing, skateboarding and surfing.

Among the athletes who have qualified from Illinois are:

• Kennedy Blades, Broadview, wrestling (first female to win a state title against boys in Illinois, according to Team USA)
• Anthony Davis, Chicago, basketball (won Olympic gold with Team USA in 2012, member of NBA championship Los Angeles Lakers in 2020)
• Evita Griskenas, Orland Park, gymnastics (finished 12th in the individual all-around at 2020 Tokyo Olympics)
• Josef Rau, Chicago, wrestling (2023 U.S. Open champion, three-time NCAA DIII champion)

Paris also hosted the Olympics in 1900 and 1924. The Summer 2024 Paralympic Games, also held in Paris, will take place from Aug. 28 to Sept. 8.

Athletes from Illinois who have qualified for the Paralympic Games are:

• Sarah Adam, Naperville, wheelchair rugby (won gold at the 2023 Parapan American Games)
• Marco Delarosa, Chicago, para shooting (finished 25th in the MP1 - 10m Air Pistol SH1 at the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro)
• Ixhelt Gonzalez, Chicago, wheelchair basketball (won bronze as member of Team USA at Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020)
• Chuck Melton, Richview, wheelchair rugby (two-time silver medalist at 2020 and 2016 games)

More qualifying events will be held in the coming weeks.

The full schedule of events and competitions is found on the Olympics website.

NBC and its affiliated channels again have exclusive U.S. broadcasting rights. The network has said it will provide at least nine hours of daytime coverage during the Paris Games, including live broadcasts of favorite event finals. The NBC streaming service Peacock will provide coverage of every sport and event. The full broadcast and streaming schedules haven’t been announced yet.