Allen, of Allyn, is a WSU alum competing in the 400m hurdles. He’s a double Pac-12 champion, leads Bible studies for his team, possesses a chiropractic degree, and is developing a YouTube channel. A veritable multitasker, Allen clinched his spot on the team last month at the Olympic Team Trials in Eugene, and finished 10th at the World Championships last year.

You may recognize Chiles from her stellar performance at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, where she won a silver medal in the women's artistic team all-around event (alongside her friend Simone Biles). Chiles has intentionally centered and celebrated Black culture in her routines—she was the only Black member of her gymnastics program growing up in Vancouver, WA—but, shamefully, was told to change her ’90s hip-hop-heavy floor routine because it’s not “USA-like.” Named after Michael Jordan, Chiles counts the basketball legend among her fans, as well as superstar Beyoncé.

Who says Green Lake is quiet and boring? Take a walk around the lake in the morning and you’re likely to see Jonas Ecker in the thick of an arduous kayaking practice alongside teammate and Seattle local Aaron Small. Ecker, who’s set to graduate from UW in 2025 with a degree in marine biology and chemistry, is participating in two Olympic events: kayaking solo against Small in the 1,000m event, and with Small in a two-person kayak in the 500m race.

A resident of Burien, Travis Gaertner is a seasoned Paralympic cycling veteran. He earned a gold medal in Sydney in 2000 and in Athens in 2004—for Team Canada. Now a dual US-Canadian citizen, Gaertner’s aiming for his third gold medal at age 44; he just won his Team USA qualifying race, suggesting a gold-medal hattrick may be in the cards.

You may have seen Elouan Gardon racking up wins and impressive stage times at the 2023 Tour de Bloom in Central Washington. A C5 cyclist who, until recently, had only competed against able-bodied cyclists, Gardon says he did not know about para-cycling until “a few months back,” but quickly earned tournament points to qualify for the Paralympics. He’s now the youngest member of the US Paralympics cycling team.

An alum of Roosevelt High School, the sprint canoe star is no stranger to Olympic success. She won a gold medal in the 200m sprint at the 2021 Tokyo games, and has taken home gold at other major global events, including the Canoe Sprint World Championships and Pan American Games. Harrison got her start 10 years ago at the Seattle Canoe and Kayak Club.

Hunter grew up in Issaquah but is now based in Los Angeles. She’s part of the eight-member artistic (or synchronized) swimming team hoping to bring back an Olympic medal for the first time in 20 years. A seasoned pro and former member of the Seattle Synchro club, Hunter has been part of Team USA since age 12. 

After a mountain biking accident and ensuing surgeries that caused residual paralysis, Keith first participated in US Paralympic Cycling in 2013. He won a silver medal in the men’s time trial at the 2021 games, and has earned 13 medals at global events. Outside cycling, Keith works as a chiropractor in Woodinville.

Things didn’t look great for Matt King at the Olympic swimming qualifiers: he missed joining the team by just one hundredth of a second. But thankfully, he’s secured a place on the 100m relay team; King’s performance at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, suggests he may help carry the team to clutch victories. He won gold in the men’s 400m medley relay, silver in the mixed 400m free relay, and bronze in the men’s 400m free relay. “Let’s go eat snails,” he joked after cementing his spot on the Olympic team. 

Kwon is performing alongside Keana Hunter in artistic swimming. She counts Seattle and Seoul, South Korea, as her hometowns, but lives in LA to train 10 hours a day with her teammates—with eight of those hours spent in the water. Kwon has performed at an international level since age 12.

A former Husky, Milne is the coxswain for US men’s eight boat. He took a three-year break between Olympic qualifying seasons to play equestrian polo, but is no stranger to boat-borne success: he helped secure podium finishes at the U23 World Rowing Championships in 2017 and 2018. A stickler for quality performance, Milne also used to conduct seemingly rigorous gaming tech reviews for his YouTube channel.

Olson first began rowing in 2014 after reading local nonfiction book The Boys in the Boat. Alongside Milne, Olson will go for gold in the men’s eight boat. Standing at 6’ 6”, Olson may have the wingspan to rake in a winning result.

Chronologically speaking, Plihal may be the first Washingtonian to grace your TV screen during Olympic athletic events. Racing on the first non-ceremonial day of the Olympics (July 27), Plihal is hoping to win a medal in the men’s single sculls—he'd be the first American to do so since 1956. A graduate of Northeastern in architecture, Plihal can enjoy Paris’s Haussmannian digs once the demands of high-performance rowing take up less of his time. 

The other half of the Green Lake kayaking duo, Aaron Small is a UW graduate with a BS in oceanography. He also completed “lots of studies” in American Sign Language while at UW: Small is hard of hearing, and is proudly the first-ever sprint kayaker with hearing loss to participate in the Olympics. Small and Ecker have spent 10 years as competitors and teammates—as well as three years as roommates.

A prominent NCAA star and the all-time leading women’s basketball scorer in Washington high school history, Van Lith will take to the court on the US 3x3 Women's National Team. She has two gold medals from youth international tournaments under her belt, in addition to MVP and All-American accolades. She’s cited Diana Taurasi, Sue Bird, and Breanna Stewart as inspirations for her playing style.

A veteran of the Seattle Storm with two WNBA championships under her belt, Sami Whitcomb will play for Australia’s national team. A UW alum who gained Australian citizenship in 2018, Whitcomb will probably make it rain threes in Paris.

A litany of UW Rowing alumni will take to the water at the Olympics: Chris Carlson, Nina Castagna, Teal Cohen, Ben Davidson, Jacob Dawson, Gert-Jan van Doorn, Simon van Dorp, Holly Dunford, Pieter Quinton, Aisha Rocek, Jessica Thoennes, and Logan Ullrich.

UW alums Cheng-Tsung Pan, Nick Taylor, and Carl Yuan will golf. Izzi Batt-Doyle, Brian Fay, Kieran Lumb, Sophie O’Sullivan, Sam Tanner, and Gianna Woodruff will form a Husky posse during track & field events. 

WSU Cougars emeriti Ieva Adomavičiūtė and Josh Hawkinson will row for Lithuania and play basketball for Team Japan, respectively.

Finally, several former Gonzaga men’s basketball players will be in Paris: Rui Hachimura playing for Japan, Filip Petrušev for Serbia, and Kelly Olynyk and Andrew Nembhard for Canada.