One year from today, the curtain will rise on the Paris Olympics with an unprecedented Opening Ceremony involving 160 boats and barges traveling along the Seine River through the heart of the iconic city. And, as always with the quadrennial showcase, New Jersey will be well represented on Team USA.
While the rosters won’t be set until next year, dozens of runners, swimmers and other athletes from the state are training in hopes of competing against the world’s best next summer. Some, like two-time gold medalists Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Athing Mu, are familiar faces. Others, including an unprecedented seven male swimmers who reached the world championship this summer, are climbing onto the international stage for the first time.
Here are some of the New Jersey athletes expected to compete for gold in France:
HEADLINERS
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone
Few athletes, if any, will have a brighter spotlight in Paris than the track superstar from Dunellen. As she prepares for her third Olympics — no, that’s not a typo — the biggest question facing the 23-year-old former Union Catholic High runner will be how many events she will try to dominate. She won a pair of gold medals in Tokyo, in her signature 400-meter hurdles and the 4x400 relay, but won the U.S. title in the 400 meters this summer. Will the schedule allow her to try both events in Paris?
Athing Mu
The Trenton native was one of the breakout America track stars in Tokyo, becoming the first U.S. woman in 53 years to win the 800 meters before adding another gold in the 4x400 relay (with Jersey pal McLaughlin-Levrone). Mu, just 21, has said that her goal is to become the first woman to complete a “double” with victories in the 400 and 800 meters — a lofty goal, to be sure, but no one should rule out a runner who wore a barrette emblazoned with the word “CONFIDENT.”
SWIMMING
Jack Alexy
The 20-year-old Mendham native and Delbarton graduate won the 100 meter freestyle at the U.S. swimming championships in 47.93 this summer and will swim in the world championships for the first time. He now swims collegiately for Cal, which has won back to back NCAA titles, after winning three N.J. state titles in high school.
Matt Fallon
The Warren native and former Pingry swimmer won the 200 meter breaststroke at the U.S. championships in 2:07.71, becoming the sixth-fastest American in history. Now at the University of Pennsylvania, Fallon narrowly missed qualifying for the Tokyo Games and is considered a strong contender to make the Team USA roster next summer.
Nic Fink
Fink, a 30-year-old swimmer from Morristown, won the 50 meter breaststroke title at the U.S. nationals this summer and finished in a three-way tie for second in the 100 meter breaststroke at the world championships. The Pingry School graduate finished fifth in the 200 meter breaststroke in Tokyo, eight tenths of a second off the medal stand. He made headlines for juggling his swimming career with a “9 to 5″ job in engineering.
Destin Lasco
The Linwood native and Mainland Regional graduate qualified for the 200 meter backstroke and the 4x100 freestyle relay at the world championships, missing out on winning a national title by just seven hundredths of a second in the 100 free. Lasco, teammates at Cal with Alexy, is gunning for his first Olympics.
Henry McFadden
Months removed from nearly breaking a national high school record in the 200 meter freestyle while competing with Haddonfield High, McFadden qualified for the world championships in the 4x200 meter freestyle relay. The Jersey Yahoos swimmer will compete for Stanford starting in the fall.
Dare Rose
Rose, a Jersey City native who competed for Scarlet Aquatics, qualified for the world championships in the 50- and 100-meter butterfly events — a huge improvement after he finished 30th at the 2021 Olympic Trials in the 100 fly. The 20-year-old, whose full name Oludare means “God Give Me Vindication” in Nigerian culture, is a swimmer at Cal.
Joey Tepper
Tepper, an Egg Harbor native who swims for Tennessee, qualified for the world championships in the 10,000 meter open swim. He finished 36th. “There were a few aspects of this race that were new to me, and I look forward to applying what I’ve learned to improve my training and racing in the future,” Tepper said.
TRACK AND FIELD
Nia Ali
The 34-year-old Pleasantville native won won the 100 meter hurdles title at the U.S. championships with a season-best time of 12.37, doing so after taking a year off to have her third child. It was the first outdoor U.S. championship in her decorated career, which includes a silver medal in the event at the 2016 Rio Games.
Josh Awotunde
The shot putter from Franklinville and Delsea Regional High finished second in the U.S. championships — behind two-time Olympic gold medalist Ryan Crouser — with the fourth-best throw of his career at 72 6 ¼. He will return to the world championships, where he won a bronze medal in 2022.
English Gardner
The two-time Olympic medalist from Voorhees failed to qualify for the finals in the 100 meters at the U.S. championships this summer, but has vowed to continue training with Paris as the goal. “A lot of people feel like I should hang up my spikes, but I still have some fight in me,” the 31-year-old said. She won silver in the 4 x 100 meters relay in Tokyo and gold in that same event in Rio.
Sam Mattis
Mattis, a 2012 graduate of East Brunswick High, won his second U.S. championship in the discus with a throw of 216-3. He placed eighth in the event at the Tokyo Olympics after working as a volunteer assistant coach at Rutgers while training during the pandemic.
Keturah Orji
The Mount Olive native is one of the nation’s premier triple jumpers. She finished seventh in the event in Tokyo, the second straight Olympics in which she has placed in the top 10 in an event in which she has twice set the U.S. record, and qualified for the worlds this summer with a silver-medal performance in the U.S. championships.
Jenna Rogers
The Rutherford native, who won a state title at Rutherford High and attends Nebraska, finished second in the U.S. championships in the high jump with a season-best jump of 1.87. That trailed only Vashti Cunningham, the daughter of former Eagles quarterback Randall Cunningham and the nation’s dominant high jumper.
Curtis Thompson
Thompson, a Florence native who won an NCAA title with Mississippi State after a decorated high school career in New Jersey, won his third national title in the javelin at the U.S. championships with a season-best 265-5 on his final throw. He competed for Team USA at the Tokyo Games, failing to qualify for the finals.
Ajee Wilson
Wilson, a 29-year-old Neptune native, is a two-time Olympian who specializes in the 800 meters. She set an American record of 1:55.61 in the event in 2017, but injuries have stalled her attempts to top that. She failed to qualify for the finals at the U.S. championships this summer but will continue training.
Jessica Woodward
The Marlton native, who attended Cherokee High in Evesham, finished in the top 10 at the U.S. championships in the shot put for the sixth consecutive year this summer. The 28-year-old qualified for the world championships.
OTHERS
Jordan Burroughs
The 2012 Olympic gold medalist and six-time world champion from Sicklerville is still one of the best wrestlers in the world at 34 — although, after failing to reach the worlds this summer for the first time in nearly a decade, he might be an underdog to make the Olympic team. “It’s gold or bust for me, literally every single year,” Burroughs said.
Alana Cook
The Far Hills native and Pingry graduate has emerged as one of the top defenders for the U.S. Women’s National Team. Barring an injury, she seems like a lock to be on the team’s roster as it tries to win its fifth Olympic gold medal failing to reach the top of the medal stand in the previous two tournaments.
Andrew Doddo
Andrew Doddo, a 24-year-old fencer from South Orange, claimed a pair of gold medals in individual and team saber events at the Pan American Games in Lima, Peru, this summer. He will compete in the world championships with an eye meeting Team USA’s Olympic qualification standards for Paris.
Jackie Dubrovich
The 29-year-old Riverdale native and Pompton Lakes High graduate narrowly missed on winning a medal in team foil fencing at the Tokyo Olympics. She qualified individually for the world championships this summer and is a strong contender to represent Team USA next July in Paris.
Casey Murphy
Murphy, the former All-American goalie for Rutgers women’s soccer, has a more pressing concern this summer — the Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. Given her steady rise on the U.S. Women’s National Team, however, it stands to reason that she will be one of the key players on the pitch as the Americans try to erase the bitter taste of a disappointing bronze medal in Tokyo.
Molly Reckford
Reckford, a Short Hills native who competed at Dartmouth, finished fifth in the women’s lightweight double sculls rowing event with teammate Michelle Sechser at the 2021 Tokyo Games. She will be in the mix for Team USA again in 2024 after she was named to the women’s quadruple sculls team for the 2023 World Rowing Championships.
Morgan Pearson
The 29-year-old former lifeguard from Spring Lake won a silver medal in the first-ever team triathlon event in Tokyo. He and his three American teammates — Kevin McDowell, Taylor Knibb and Katie Zaferes — crossed the finish line in 1 hour, 23 minutes and 55 seconds. The Delbarton graduate, who also finished 42nd in the triathlon, is training for Paris.
Jessica Springsteen
The 31-year-old daughter of Bruce Springsteen and Patti Scailfa won a silver medal in Tokyo in the team show jumping competition, narrowly missing out on a gold medal by 1.3 seconds. It isn’t a guarantee that she will be named to the U.S. Equestrian team again, but given her strong performance on the biggest stage, her parents might want to avoid scheduling any concerts in early August next year.
Jamar Talley
Jamar “No Mercy” Talley, a 23-year-old heavyweight boxer from Camden, was an American alternate for the Tokyo Games. He is training in Colorado Springs, Col., as part of the U.S. boxing feeder program after winning gold at the 2022 AMBC Elite Continental Championships in Guayaquil, Ecuador.
Are we missing any 2024 Olympic hopefuls for Team USA? Send us an email at [email protected].
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