More than 11,000 athletes are expected to compete in the Tokyo Olympics, which start July 23. Of those who have qualified for Team USA, 62 across 25 sports have ties to Florida.
The following Olympians hail from the Sunshine State, went to college here or play on one of its professional sports teams (and in some cases, two out of three):
Baseball
Eddy Alvarez, Miami Marlins minor-leaguer
The Marlins’ minor-league infielder has been to the Olympics before, but not for baseball. In the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, Alvarez was one-fourth of a speedskating squad that won silver in the 5,000-meter relay. He helped USA Baseball secure a bid to Tokyo by beating Venezuela 4-2 in the World Baseball Softball Confederation Baseball Americas Qualifier. Alvarez will be the 11th American to participate in both the Summer and Winter Olympics.
Triston Casas, from Pembroke Pines
Mark Kolozsvary, from Eustis
Joe Ryan, Tampa Bay Rays prospect
Shane Baz, Tampa Bay Rays prospect
Softball
Michelle Moultrie, went to UF
The left-handed hitter and outfielder joined Team USA in 2011. Softball was left out of both the London and Rio Olympics in 2012 and 2016. But now, 10 years later, the Jacksonville native and UF alumna’s Olympic debut is finally here.
Aubree Munro, went to UF
Kelsey Stewart, went to UF
Men’s Basketball
Bradley Beal, went to UF
The former Gator guard will be Florida’s first men’s basketball Olympian when he takes the court in Tokyo this summer. Beal’s selection to Team USA came off the heels of his ninth NBA season with the Washington Wizards, in which he averaged 31.3 points per game.
Bam Adebayo, plays for the Miami Heat
Women’s Basketball
Sylvia Fowles, from Miami
The Minnesota Lynx center will travel to Tokyo for her fourth Olympic Games (2008-2020) in hopes of keeping her gold-medal streak alive. The two-time WNBA Finals MVP from Miami is averaging 7.5 defensive rebounds and 2.2 steals per game this season.
Beach Volleyball
Phil Dalhausser, from Ormond Beach
Dalhausser, born in Switzerland and raised in Ormond Beach, will play in his fourth Olympics this summer. The UCF business graduate won gold in 2008 but has yet to secure a spot on the podium in his last two showings (ninth in 2012, fifth in 2016).
Nick Lucena, from Ft. Lauderdale and went to FSU
Cycling
Lily Williams, from Tallahassee
Williams started cycling professionally in 2018 after running cross country at Vanderbilt. She became a world champion in 2020 and qualified for Team USA in June.
Diving
Katrina Young, went to FSU
Young will compete in her second Olympic games this summer after representing the U.S. in Rio five years ago. She graduated from FSU in 2015 and still trains there.
Jordan Windle, raised in Ft. Lauderdale
Fencing
Race Imboden, born in Tampa
Tokyo will be Imboden’s third straight Olympics. The two-time Grand Prix gold medalist, who grew up in New York and currently lives in Los Angeles, has also served as a runway model for fashion labels such as Louis Vuitton and Marc Jacobs.
Golf
Jessica and Nelly Korda, from Bradenton
Olympic rings run in the Korda family. Siblings Jessica and Nelly will both represent the U.S. in Tokyo this summer, 33 years after their mom, Regina Rajchrtova, represented Czechoslovakia on the tennis court at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
Lexi Thompson, from Coral Springs
Judo
Angelica Delgado, from Miami and went to FIU
Delgado has competed in eight World Championships and will participate in her second Olympic Games this summer. Her father was on the national judo team for Cuba and started teaching her the sport when she was 9 years old.
Karate
Ariel Torres, went to Miami-Dade College
Torres started karate at 6 years old. He was born in Cuba and raised in Hialeah. Tokyo will be his first Olympic Games.
Rowing
Ben Davison, from Inverness
Davison, from Inverness, will compete in the men’s eight event in Tokyo. He was named Pac-12 Men’s Rowing Athlete of the Year as a senior in 2019 and competed in the men’s eight that finished fifth at the World Championships that year.
Clark Dean, from Sarasota
Katelin Guregian, from Orlando
Rugby
Perry Baker, from Daytona Beach
Baker started playing rugby in 2013 after a knee injury ended his NFL career, during which he played for the Philadelphia Eagles. He made his first Olympic team three years later but will seek his first medal this year after the U.S. finished ninth in Rio.
Sailing
Paige Railey, from Clearwater
Tokyo will be Railey’s third Olympic games (2012, 2016, 2021). The USF business management graduate will compete in the one-person dinghy.
Anna Weis, from Ft. Lauderdale
Lara Dallman-Weiss, went to Eckerd College
Luke Muller, from Ft. Pierce
Shooting
Mary Tucker, from Sarasota
The rifle shooter will compete in her first Olympics this summer. A rising junior at the University of Kentucky, Tucker’s previous national and international experience includes two 2021 NCAA titles (10-meter air rifle, three position) and a 2021 New Delhi World Cup win (10-meter air rifle).
Skateboarding
Jake Ilardi, from Osprey
The 24-year-old will be among the first skateboarding Olympians when he competes in the sports’ debut this summer. He is currently ranked second in the U.S. and seventh in the world.
Zion Wright, from Jupiter
Soccer
Alex Morgan, Plays for Orlando Pride
This is Morgan’s third Olympic team. She rejoined Orlando for the 2021 season after a five-game stint in London for Tottenham.
Surfing
Caroline Marks, from Melbourne Beach
Marks became a professional surfer at 13. At 19, she’ll be one of the first women to represent the U.S. in the sport at the Olympics.
Swimming
Bobby Finke, from Clearwater and goes to UF
The rising UF senior from Clearwater won both the 800-meter freestyle — a new men’s Olympic event — and the 1,500-meter freestyle (beating the rest of the field by nearly 15 seconds) at the Olympic Trials last week to secure his spot on the Tokyo roster.
Caeleb Dressel, from Green Cove Springs and went to UF
Ryan Murphy, from Jacksonville
Kieran Smith, goes to UF
Natalie Hinds, went to UF
Emma Weyant, from Sarasota
Taekwondo
Paige McPherson, went to Miami-Dade College
McPherson became a three-time Olympian when she qualified for the Tokyo games. She also competed in London, where she won a bronze medal in the welterweight category, and Rio.
Anastasija Zolotic, from Largo
Tennis
Nicole Melichar, lives in Stuart
Melichar, from the Czech Republic, moved to Florida shortly after her birth. She is currently the ninth-ranked doubles player in the world.
Austin Krajicek, from Brandon
Track & field
Trayvon Bromell, from St. Petersburg
Bromell won the 100 meters in 9.80 at the Olympic Trials last week. Bromell overcame a series of injuries to make it to Tokyo, including two Achilles surgeries. He made this Olympic team after having to leave the 2016 Rio Olympics in a wheelchair.
Erriyon Knighton, from Tampa
Will Claye, went to UF
Garrett Scantling, from Jacksonville
Donald Scott, from Apopka
Teahna Daniels, from Orlando
Kendall Ellis, from Pembroke Pines
Taylor Manson, goes to UF
Cory McGee, went to UF
Kaylin Whitney, from Clermont
Jessica Ramsey, from Boynton Beach
Marquis Dendy, went to UF
Grant Holloway, went to UF
Volleyball
Foluke Akinradewo Gunderson, from Fort Lauderdale
This will be Gunderson’s third Olympic Games. She has a silver medal from 2012 and a bronze from 2016. While she plays for Team USA, she also has citizenship with Canada and Nigeria.
Water Polo
Ashleigh Johnson, from Miami
Johnson will compete in her second Olympics as the goalkeeper for Team USA Water Polo. In 2016, she became the first African-American woman to make the team. She ran a swim school in her hometown with her sister for two years.
Weightlifting
Mattie Rogers, from Orlando and went to UCF
Rogers can now add Olympian to her resume, which already has seven world medals (including silvers from 2017 and 2019) and eight U.S. records.
Wrestling
Alejandro Sancho, from Miami
Sancho defeated former Olympian Ellis Coleman at trials to secure his bid to Tokyo. He also enrolled in the U.S. Army in 2018 and is an army specialist and member of the Army’s World Class Athlete Program.