PARIS, France — The 2024 Paris Olympics begin this week, and few states will have as large a presence in the French capital as Georgia.
We've logged 75 athletes who are either Georgia natives, adopted Georgians or otherwise have a tie of some kind to the Peach State. To keep track of them all, we're dividing them into four categories: swimming & diving, track & field, those competing in other individual sports and those competing in other team sports.
Below, find profiles and information about the individual sport athletes with Georgia ties who will be competing in Paris:
Olympic athletes with Georgia ties | Individual sports
Full list:
- Katelyn Abeln, shooting for USA (from Douglasville, South Paulding HS alum)
- Maria Lourdes Carlé, tennis for Argentina (former UGA)
- Antonio Chen, fencing for Chinese Taipei (current Savannah College of Art and Design)
- Christopher Eubanks, tennis for USA (from Atlanta, Westlake HS & Georgia Tech alum)
- Coco Gauff, tennis for USA (grew up partly in Atlanta)
- Jourdan Delacruz, weightlifting for USA (trains in Lawrenceville)
- Vincent Hancock, shooting for USA (from Eatonton, Georgia)
- Nevin Harrison, canoeing for USA (trains at Lake Lanier)
- Will Hinton, shooting for USA (from Dacula, Dacula HS alum)
- Emma Hunt, climbing for USA (from Marietta, current Kennesaw State)
- Henry Leverett, shooting for USA (from Bainbridge, Georgia)
- Hampton Morris, weightlifting for USA (from Marietta, Pope HS alum)
- Ellen Perez, tennis for Australia (former UGA)
- Sepp Straka, golf for Austria (UGA alum)
- Jan Zielinski, tennis for Poland (UGA alum)
Athletes and profiles
Katelyn Abeln (shooting, pistol) - Online bio
Georgia connection: From Douglasville, South Paulding HS alum; Country: USA
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.
Abeln was also the 2023 gold medal winner at the USA Shooting National Championship in 25m sport pistol, and won gold in the same event at the 2024 Championship of the Americas Games.
The 23-year-old also earned a bronze medal at last year's U.S. national championships in 10m air pistol.
She started sport shooting when she was 12 and qualified for Team USA in both air and sport pistol events.
Watch a full interview with Abeln below:
Maria Lourdes Carlé (tennis, singles) – Online bio
Georgia connection: Played one year at UGA before turning pro; Country: Argentina
More about this athlete: Carlé, 24, played the 2018-19 season for the Bulldogs before joining the WTA circuit full-time. She will arrive in Paris as the No. 89 ranked played in the world.
At UGA, she made second team All-SEC and the SEC All-Freshman team in her one season.
Antonio Chen (Chen Yi Tung) (fencing, foil) – Online bio
Georgia connection: Current Savannah College of Art and Design Atlanta (SCAD)’s athlete; Country: Chinese Taipei
More about this athlete: The 21-year-old will be representing Taiwan (which competes internationally under the designation of "Chinese Taipei") in Paris. Chen is the first SCAD athlete to compete in the Olympics while participating in fencing at SCAD.
According to SCAD, Chen is the first male fencer from Taiwan to qualify in the foil category for fencing in the Olympics in 36 years and only 6th to ever do so. Chen reached the quarterfinals at the 2022 Asian Games, and won a bronze medal with the Chinese Taipei team at the 2022 Asian Fencing Championships.
He won a Zonal qualifying tournament for Asia and Oceania in Dubai earlier this year to book his ticket to Paris.
Christopher Eubanks (tennis, singles) – Online bio
Georgia connection: From Atlanta, Westlake High & Georgia Tech alum ; Country: USA
More about this athlete: Eubanks, 28, has been the standard bearer for Atlanta men's tennis for several years now.
His career high water mark so far is his run last year to the Wimbledon quarterfinals, and he was ranked as high as No. 29 in the world at one point last year. The Georgia Tech alum most recently this month reached the semifinals at the ATP tournament in Newport, Rhode Island.
This will be his first Olympics.
Coco Gauff (tennis, singles) – Online bio
Georgia connection: Partly grew up in Atlanta; Country: USA
More about this athlete: Gauff is one of the brightest stars in tennis -- and she has been recognized as such, being named a Team USA flag bearer for the Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony.
The 20-year-old is the reigning U.S. Open champion and reached the semifinals this year at both the Australian Open and French Open. She heads to Paris as the No. 2 ranked player in the world.
Eubanks is a longtime friend of Gauff and her family, and he said in a statement he was "incredibly proud of Coco" after she was chosen as a flag bearer.
"I know how great she is as a tennis player, but more importantly, how great she is as a person,” Eubanks said. "I don’t think there is anyone more deserving of this honor and I’m excited to see her carry the flag as she leads our U.S. delegation in the opening ceremony."
Gauff's father is a former basketball player for Georgia State, and she spent her younger childhood growing up in Atlanta before the family moved to Florida.
Jourdan Delacruz (weightlifting, 49kg) – Online bio
Georgia connection: Trains in Lawrenceville; Country: USA
More about this athlete: The 26-year-old is a Texas native who has long trained at Power and Grace Performance in Lawrenceville. She is coached by Power and Grace's Spencer Arnold and will be a two-time Olympian after competing in Paris.
Although, Delacruz didn’t medal in the 2020 Tokyo Games, she’s looking for another shot at medaling in Paris after she earned bronze last year at the World Championships. Delacruz is also a three-time Pan American Championships gold medalist.
Vincent Hancock (shooting, skeet) – Online bio
Georgia connection: From Eatonton; Country: USA
More about this athlete: Hancock, 35, is one of USA Shooting's most decorated athletes of all-time.
The Georgia native is a three-time skeet shooting Olympic gold medalist -- having won the event in Beijing, London and Tokyo. He also has seven World Championships golds on his record and numerous other international medals.
Hancock’s father was also a competitive shooter and inspired him to begin shooting competitively at 11 years old. The former U.S. Army sergeant was the First Olympic Skeet shooter to win gold medals in the same event in consecutive Olympic Games: (Beijing 2008, London 2012).
Nevin Harrison (canoe, sprint) – Online bio
Georgia connection: Trains at Lake Lanier; Country: USA
More about this athlete: Harrison, 22, will be representing Team USA in the Women’s Canoe Sprint during the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. At just 19 years old, she made Olympic history and became the first U.S. woman to win Olympic gold in Sprint Canoe during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
For the Paris Summer Games, the Seattle native became the first American to qualify in any canoe or kayak event. Harrison, who has been a member of the Lanier Canoe and Kayak Club Racing Team, is seeking to defend her title in the C-1 200m event and win gold for a second time.
Will Hinton (shooting, trap) – Online bio
Georgia connection: From Dacula, Dacula High alum; Country: USA
More about this athlete: Hinton, 28, grew up in a family of avid bird hunters where his dad was a bird dog trainer in his spare time.
He's got a medal record that includes gold with the trap team at least year's ISSF World Championship and individual gold at the 2022 Championship of the Americas.
Hinton started shooting in 2007 recreationally and competed in his first sporting clays tournament in 2007. He’s a soldier with the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit and is one of the primary shotgun demonstration shooters. Hinton made the USA Shooting Junior World team in 2013 and then switched to shooting international style trap in 2016 after joining the Army.
Emma Hunt (climbing, speed) – Online bio
Georgia connection: From Marietta, current Kennesaw State athlete; Country: USA
More about this athlete: The 21-year-old is headed to her first Olympics to compete in the first Games where speed climbing is a medal event distinct from the combined event.
She was the 2023 World Championships silver medalist, won gold at the World Games in Birmingham in 2022 and won gold earlier this year at the Salt Lake City World Cup series event. She has four other World Cup series silvers.
Hunt attends Kennesaw State University, where she studies exercise science and trains at the nearby Stone Summit Climbing facility. She has been speed climbing since 2015 and was the 2019 youth world champion in the event. Currently, Hunt holds the U.S. record in the speed climbing event at 6.301 seconds.
Henry Leverett (shooting, pistol) – Online bio
Georgia connection: From Bainbridge, Georgia; Country: USA
More about this athlete: Henry Leverett, 23, will be representing Team USA in the rapid fire pistol shooting event at his second Olympics. Both he and his brother, Jackson Leverett, qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Games and the brothers competed together on the Ohio State University pistol team.
Although he didn’t medal in Tokyo 2020, Henry heads to Paris with a bronze medal at the Pan American Games last year and a gold medal from the 2022 Championship of the Americas under his belt since Tokyo.
Hampton Morris (weightlifting, 61kg) – Online bio
Georgia connection: From Marietta, Pope HS alum; Country: USA
More about this athlete: Morris was coached by his father Tripp Morris and primarily trains out of a home gym. He began competing at 12 years old and now ranks #2 in the world at 61kg.
The 20-year-old has set 10 World records and owns 20 American records across youth, junior and senior levels.
He'll arrive in Paris on the heels of winning silver at the IWF World Cup in Thailand this year, and he has previously won three golds at the Pan American Games. He won gold last year at the World Championships for his class in the clean & jerk but did not complete a snatch lift to place overall at the event.
Ellen Perez (tennis, doubles) – Online bio
Georgia connection: Played three seasons at UGA before turning pro; Country: Australia
More about this athlete: Perez is an accomplished doubles player currently ranked No. 10 in the world and with a quarterfinal run at the Tokyo Olympics in her rearview mirror. She also has Grand Slam runs as far as the semifinals to her record.
The 28-year-old was at UGA from 2014-17 before turning pro.
Sepp Straka (golf) – Online bio
Georgia connection: UGA alum; Country: Austria
More about this athlete: The 31-year-old finished 10th in individual stroke play in Tokyo 2020 after leading the opening round.
He has two PGA Tour wins, the Honda Classic in 2022 and John Deere Classic in 2023, and has finished as high at a major as second (2023 British Open). He also finished seventh at the 2023 PGA Championship and 16th at The Masters this year, his best career finish in Augusta.
According to an Associated Press report, Straka has a twin brother named Sam and they were raised in Austria until they moved back to the U.S. When Straka was 14, his family moved from Vienna to Valdosta, Georgia, the AP previously reported.
Jan Zielinski (tennis, doubles) – Online bio
Georgia connection: UGA alum; Country: Poland
More about this athlete: The 27-year-old is a career doubles pro who is currently ranked 32nd in the world. He has a number of achievements in mixed doubles, including Grand Slam titles at the Australian Open and Wimbledon this year, and in men's doubles he has gotten as far as a final at a Grand Slam (2023 Australian Open.)
At UGA from 2015-19, he was as three-time All-SEC selection.
