Some of the biggest sensations at the 2024 Summer Olympics hailed from the DC area. The DMV sent upwards of 30 athletes to Paris, and they collectively made a splash. Here’s a final list of locals who medaled at the Games:
Basketball
Alyssa Thomas
Thomas is a four-time WNBA All-Star and won gold with the US women’s basketball team. The forward attended the University of Maryland, majoring in family science and setting the school’s all-time basketball scoring record.
Kevin Durant
Durant took home his fourth straight Olympic gold with the US men’s basketball team. The star is from Seat Pleasant in Prince George’s County and attended the Montrose Christian School.
Soccer
Emily Fox
Fox played right back on the US women’s soccer team that clinched gold. The 26-year-old is from Ashburn and played for FC Virginia and the Stone Bridge soccer team in high school.
Swimming
Katie Ledecky
The Bethesda native made history on Thursday when she won silver in the 4×200 meter freestyle relay and became the most decorated US female Olympian of all time. Growing up, she swam with Nation’s Capital Swim Club and attended Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart, sometimes visiting when she’s back in town. She has 14 Olympic medals over the course her career, this year adding a 1500m freestyle gold, 800m freestyle gold, and 400m freestyle bronze in addition to the freestyle relay silver.
Torri Huske
The 21-year-old from Arlington was a surprise standout in Paris. She won silver in a medley relay in the last Olympics, but she became a star this time around, bringing home five medals. She scored a 100m butterfly gold, 100m freestyle silver, a 4x100m medley relay gold, a 4x100m freestyle relay silver, and she anchored the golden 4x100m mixed medley relay that set a world record. Huske swam with Arlington Aquatic Club and attended Yorktown High School.
Erin Gemmell
Gemmell swam with Ledecky in the 4×200 meter freestyle relay that earned silver. From Potomac, the 19-year-old is the daughter of Bruce Gemmell, who used to coach Ledecky. Both swimmers attended Stone Ridge and Gemmell also swam with the Nation’s Capital Swim Club in high school. She once dressed up as Ledecky for Halloween.
Track and Field
Noah Lyles
Dubbed the “fastest man in the world,” the Alexandria native secured gold in a blazing 100m dash and took bronze in the 200m. Lyles attended Alexandria City High School.
Thea LaFond
Thea LaFond from Silver Spring won gold on Saturday in the triple jump for her birth country of Dominica. The 30-year-old is the only woman competing in Paris for the Caribbean island in track, and her victory marks the first Olympic medal for the country. LaFond began running in high school at John F. Kennedy School in Silver Spring then went on to compete for the University of Maryland, becoming the first UMD alum to win gold since 1988.
Masai Russell
Russell won a gold medal in the 100-meter hurdles in her first-ever Olympics. The 24-year-old is from Potomac and attended Bullis.
Quincy Wilson
The 16-year-old sprinting phenom became the youngest runner in history to run and win with the US men’s track team. He competed in the semifinal round of the 4 x 400-meter relay, qualifying the US for the finals where they ultimately won gold. Wilson is a rising junior at Bullis in Potomac.
Rowing
Christian Tabash
From Alexandria, the 25-year-old was the third seat on the men’s rowing eight team that took home bronze. The US hasn’t won a medal in the event since 2008. Tabash attended Gonzaga College High School, where he rowed for all four years after getting cut from the basketball team his freshman year.
Triathlon
Taylor Knibb
Knibb won a silver medal in the 2020 mixed relay triathlon, and did the very same this year. The 26-year-old from DC anchored the team, biking the last leg of the race. She ran on the Sidwell Friends cross-country team in high school and swam with Nation’s Capital Swim Club. Knibb also qualified for the cycling team, becoming the only athlete to qualify for two sports in Paris, but withdrew to focus on the triathlon.
Wrestling
Aaron Brooks
In his first Olympics, the 24-year-old wrestler secured a bronze medal in the men’s freestyle 86 kg weight class. Brooks was born in Hagerstown and attended North Hagerstown High School.
Helen Maroulis
Maroulis won bronze in the women’s freestyle 57 kg weight class. The 32-year-old also won bronze in 2020 and in 2016 was the first US woman to win gold in Olympic wrestling. Originally from Rockville, she attended Magruder High School and, while there, became the first girl to place in a Maryland wrestling championship.
