Aurora Native Is Member Of Volleyball Team At Paris 2024 Olympics

AURORA, IL — Aurora will be represented in the Paris Summer Olympic Games, which opened Friday.

This will be the Olympics debut for Lauren Carlini, 29, who graduated from West Aurora High School.

Carlini is one of 36 athletes from Illinois competing in the Summer Olympics. The Games of the XXXIII Olympiad continue through Aug. 11.

"It's an honor to be able to represent Aurora and all the amazing people there," Carlini said in an interview with Mayor Richard Irvin, per a city news release. "Being able to represent a city that was a huge, integral part of my development and growing up means so much to me."

Carlini began her volleyball career at the age of 5, playing on the club circuit at Sports Performance Volleyball in Aurora. In high school, she was named to the U.S. Girls' Youth National Team roster, and after a standout collegiate career, she won gold at the 2019 Volleyball Nations League and two Pan American Cup gold medals.

So far, the Aurora native has played eight professional seasons of volleyball in Turkey and hopes to start her own professional volleyball team in Madison, Wisconsin, after the Olympics, city officials said.

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