Texas A&M Represented by 21 Athletes, Coaches at Summer Olympics

News release from Texas A&M Athletics:

PARIS – Texas A&M Athletics will be represented by 21 current or former student-athletes and coaches at the 2024 Summer Olympic Games, which will be contested July 26-Aug. 11 in Paris and other cities throughout France, as well as Tahiti, French Polynesia.

Countries represented by Aggies in Paris include the United States (9), Australia (2), Jamaica (2), Algeria, Canada, France, Grenada, Israel, Lebanon, Peru and Singapore.

The Aggies will compete in a variety of sports, including Track & Field (10), swimming (6), diving (2), tennis (2) and women’s basketball.

Daily updates and a schedule of events can be found at 12thMan.com’s Official “Aggies in Paris” page.

Aggies at the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad

Athlete/Coach	Event	Country	Years at Texas A&M
Aviv Barzelay	Swimming	Israel	2021-Present
Jaxon Bowshire	Diving	Australia	Incoming Freshman
Shaine Casas	Swimming	United States	2018-21
Bryce Deadmon	Track and Field	United States	2016-21
McKenna DeBever	Swimming	Peru	2016-19
Lamara Distin	Track and Field	Jamaica	2020-24
Béryl Gastaldello	Swimming	France	2014-18
Hady Habib	Tennis	Lebanon	2016-21
Fred Kerley	Track and Field	United States	2016-17
Austin Krajicek	Tennis	United States	2007-11
Shamier Little	Track and Field	United States	2014-16
Maggie Malone-Hardin	Track and Field	United States	2015-16
Kurtis Mathews	Diving	Australia	2017-21
Brandon Miller	Track and Field	United States	2021-22
Sydney Pickrem	Swimming	Canada	2015-19
Tahar Triki	Track and Field	Algeria	2018-19
Lindon Victor	Track and Field	Grenada	2016-17
Jing Wen Quah	Swimming	Singapore	2017-21
Jacob Wooten	Track and Field	United States	2016-19
Charokee Young	Track and Field	Jamaica	2020-22
Joni Taylor (coach)	Women’s Basketball	United States	2022-Present

Aggies at the Olympic Games* (By Year)

Year	Site	Aggies
2024	Paris, France	21
2020	Toyko, Japan	26
2016	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	27
2012	London, England	26
2008	Beijing, China	17
2004	Athens, Greece	5
2000	Sydney, Australia	5

*Records incomplete before 2000

AGGIE OLYMPIC MEDAL WINNERS

GOLD

1948 London	Art Harnden	USA	Track & Field (4×400 relay)
1952 Helsinki	Walt “Buddy” Davis	USA	Track & Field (high jump)
1968 Mexico City	Randy Matson	USA	Track & Field (shot put)
1992 Barcelona	Mike Stulce	USA	Track & Field (shot put)
1996 Atlanta	Randy Barnes	USA	Track & Field (shot put)
2000 Sydney	Jennifer McFalls	USA	Softball
2012 London	Jeneba Tarmoh	USA	Track & Field (4X100 relay)
2012 London	Demetrius Pinder	USA	Track & Field (4X400 relay)
2012 London	Breeja Larson	USA	Swimming (400 medley relay)
2016 Rio	DeAndre Jordan	USA	Basketball
2020 Tokyo	Athing Mu	USA	Track & Field (800, 4×400 relay)
2020 Tokyo	Khris Middleton	USA	Basketball
2020 Tokyo	Bryce Deadmon	USA	Track & Field (4×400 relay)

SILVER

1952 Helsinki	Darrow Hooper	USA	Track & Field (shot put)
1968 Mexico City	Randy Matson	USA	Track & Field (shot put)
1988 Seoul	Randy Barnes	USA	Track & Field (shot put)
1988 Seoul	Howard Davis	Jamaica	Track & Field (4X400 relay)
2008 Beijing	Stacy Sykora	USA	Volleyball
2016 Rio	Simone Facey	Jamaica	Track & Field (4×100 relay)
2020 Tokyo	Fred Kerley	USA	Track & Field (100)

BRONZE

1952 Helsinki	Tetsuo Okamato	Brazil	Swimming (1,500 free)
2008 Beijing	Christine Marshall	USA	Swimming (800 free relay)
2012 London	Deon Lendore	Trinidad/Tobago	Track & Field (4X400 relay)
2020 Tokyo	Sydney Pickrem	Canada	Swimming & diving (4×100 medley relay)
2020 Tokyo	Bryce Deadmon	USA	Track & Field (mixed 4×400)

2024 Aggies in Paris Bio Capsules

Basketball

Texas A&M head women’s basketball coach Joni Taylor will serve as an assistant coach for USA Basketball Women’s National Team in Paris. Taylor has served USA Basketball on a variety of occasions. She started off as a court coach at the 2018 USA U18 National Team Trials and then won gold as an assistant with the 2021 U19 World Cup Team. Taylor won gold as an assistant coach for the USA Women’s National Team at the 2022 FIBA World Cup and as head coach for the 2022 USA Basketball Women’s U18 National Team in Buenos Aires, Argentina. In 2023, she added a fourth gold medal to her USA Basketball resume with a spotless 7-0 record as the head coach of the American U19 team at the 2023 FIBA World Cup.

 

Diving

Australian divers Kurtis Mathews and Jaxon Bowshire became first-time Olympians this summer. Mathews, a two-time NCAA Champion for the Aggies, claimed a national title on the 3-meter springboard at Australian National Championships to earn his spot on the Olympic team, and Bowshire posted a second-place finish on the 10-meter at the national championships to punch his ticket.

Swimming

Béryl Gastaldello and Sydney Pickrem head to their third Olympic Games. Representing the host country, Gastadello punched her ticket to Paris at French Elite Championships in June. She clocked in at 59.17 in the 100m back and 24.51 in the 50m free at the meet and added a third qualifying mark with a time of 53.60 in the 100m free from the Giant Open Final in 2023. Pickrem will compete individually in the 200m breast and 200m IM after securing a pair of top-two finishes at Bell Canadian Swimming Trials in May. Pickrem, who helped Canada’s 4x100m medley relay team bring home bronze in Tokyo, went a personal-best 2:07.68 in the 200m IM to place second and clocked a 2:23.79 in the 200m breast to finish first at Trials.

Rising senior Aviv Barzelay and pro McKenna DeBever will make their second appearance at the Olympic Games. After only competing in the 200m back in 2020, Barzelay qualified in both backstroke events in 2024, going 1:01.54 in the 100 and 2:09.63 in the 200 at Israel’s swimming trials this summer. DeBever is set to compete in the 200m IM for Peru, boasting a personal-best time of 2:14.70 from earlier this year at the GA SA Atlanta Classic.

Shaine Casas and Jing Wen Quah will make their Olympic debuts in Paris. Casas, a three-time NCAA Champion at Texas A&M, punched his ticket with second-place finish in the 200m IM at U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials, going 1:55.83. Wen Quah earned a spot to represent Singapore on its 4x100m medley relay team.

Tennis

Austin Krajicek will compete in men’s doubles for the second-straight Olympic games after coming in fourth at the 2020 Olympics. His partner is Rajeev Ram, who is ranked No. 5 in doubles this year. The Brandon, Florida, native is ranked No. 21 in doubles. The 2011 NCAA Doubles Champion finished last season as the No. 1 ranked doubles player in the world and won his first ever Grand Slam at the 2023 French Open in Paris.

Hady Habib will take part in men’s singles and doubles for the first Olympic action of his career. Habib is ranked No. 275 in singles and No. 303 in doubles. He will be playing with partner Benjamin Hassan who has a ranking of No. 391. The three-time ITA All-American was a late addition to the singles rotation for Lebanon, after replacing a teammate who is sidelined with injury.

Track & Field

Bryce Deadmon enters his second Olympics for the United States as the most decorated medalist in the group, as won a pair of medals in the 2020 Tokyo Games. He was a part of the gold-medal winning men’s 4x400m relay team and secured bronze in the mixed 4x400m relay. He placed fourth in the men’s 400m at U.S. Olympic Trials, securing him a spot in the relay pool.

Fred Kerley returns for his second Games representing the Red, White and Blue after claiming a silver medal at the 2020 Olympics in the 100m. He ensured his second-place finish at the last games, crossing the line in 9.84 seconds. He qualified third at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials with a time of 9.88.

Maggie Malone-Hardin continued to dominate the women’s U.S. javelin scene, qualifying for her third Olympics in outstanding fashion. She recorded a toss of 64.58m/211-10 on her opening throw of the event which secured the national title and her spot on the plane to Paris, as she now looks to build on her 10th-place finish at the last games.

Brandon Miller punched his first Olympic ticket following an outstanding showing at the U.S. Trials. He finished third in the final in 1:43.97 and was one of the two athletes to run sub 1:44 twice during the trials.

Jacob Wooten added another spot in the field for Team USA with a second-place finish at the qualifying event. He competed in a stacked field and after a seasons-best clearance of 5.87m/19-3 he secured his spot.

Shamier Little earned his first Olympic berth, as she travels to the Games as a part of the 400m relay pool. She finished ninth in the women’s 400m final in 50.96 to make the team.

Lamara Distin’s record-breaking final year for the Aggies culminated in her qualifying for the Jamaican team, as she soared over 1.89m/6-2.25 at trials to ensure her first Olympic berth. She concluded her collegiate career breaking the NCAA indoor high jump record, as she became the first woman to clear 2.00m/6-6.75 on her way to SEC gold.

Charokee Young qualified for her second Olympiad following a seventh-place finish in the women’s 400m final at Jamaican trials, crossing the line in 52.64. She is in the relay pools for the Black, Yellow and Green.

Lindon Victor qualified for his third Olympic Games representing Grenada in the men’s decathlon. He previously finished 16th and 7th at the Rio and Tokyo Games, respectively. Victor set his personal best and national record at the 2023 World Championships where he won the bronze medal with 8,756 points.

Tahar Triki reached his second Games representing Algeria in the triple jump. Earlier this year, Triki displayed his skills amongst the world’s best, placing second in the World Indoor Championships with a leap of 17.35m/56-11.25.