At Paris Olympics, can former UK athletes match their impressive Tokyo medal haul?
In 2021, when current and former Kentucky Wildcats sports stars combined to win 10 medals — seven gold and three silver — at the Tokyo Olympics, it stood as one of the proudest moments in UK’s sports history.
With the Paris Olympics underway, can another strong contingent of ex-Cats — spread among basketball, track and field and indoor volleyball — replicate that stellar performance?
Bear with me, and I will break down by sport the medal chances of each former UK athlete competing in Paris.
From Tokyo to Paris
Three years ago in the Tokyo Olympics — which were delayed a year due to the coronavirus pandemic — nine Wildcats athletes won medals.
Taking gold were ex-Kentucky track stars Jasmine Camacho-Quinn (women’s 100-meter hurdles) and Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone (women’s 400-meter hurdles and 4x400-meter relay); rifle star Will Shaner (men’s air rifle); and ex-men’s basketball stars Bam Adebayo, Devin Booker and Keldon Johnson.
Silver medals were claimed by former Wildcats track stars Kendra Harrison (women’s 100-meter hurdles) and Javianne Oliver (women’s 4x100-meter relay) and rifle star Mary Tucker (10-meter air rifle mixed team).
Of the nine former Wildcats who medaled in 2021, five — Camacho-Quinn (who competes for Puerto Rico), McLaughlin-Levrone, Adebayo, Booker and Tucker — will be in Paris.
Subsequent to her silver medal effort in Tokyo, Tucker transferred to West Virginia. So the Mountaineers, not the Wildcats, have claim on any 2024 Olympics success she records.
In addition to the other four returnees from Tokyo, other ex-Kentucky athletes competing in Paris include an impressive array of ex-Cats basketball stars: Anthony Davis for the Team USA men; Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jamal Murray and Trey Lyles for the Canadian men; Wenyen Gabriel for the South Sudan men; Adebola Adeyeye for the Nigerian women; and Rhyne Howard for the Team USA women’s 3x3 squad.
The UK track and field program will also have alumni Alexis Holmes (women’s 400 meters, possibly the 4x400 relay), Masai Russell (women’s 100-meter hurdles), Andrew Evans (men’s discus) and Daniel Roberts (men’s 110-meter hurdles) in Paris.
They will be joined in France by women’s volleyball’s Avery Skinner, one of the stars of Kentucky’s 2020 NCAA title team.
Now, let’s evaluate the Olympics medal chances for each ex-Cat.
Basketball
Men’s hoops: According to DraftKings, Team USA with Adebayo, Booker and Davis is the favorite to win the gold medal.
Team Canada, with Gilgeous-Alexander, Murray and Lyles, is the second choice.
South Sudan, featuring Gabriel, is the 10th choice out of the 12 teams in the Olympics.
Comment: If the U.S. and Canada both finish in the top three, ex-Kentucky Wildcats would claim six medals from men’s basketball alone.
Women’s hoops: Adeyeye and the Nigerian team have the longest odds in the Olympics field, according to DraftKings.
Women’s 3x3: According to Bovada, Howard and Team USA are the gold medal favorites.
Comment: With Howard joined by Cierra Burdick, Dearica Hamby and Hailey Van Lith, Team USA has a totally new 3x3 roster than the quartet of Stefanie Dolson, Allisha Gray, Kelsey Plum and Jackie Young, who won the gold in Tokyo.
Track and field
Women’s 400 meters: Though Holmes finished third at the U.S. Olympic Trials, she ran a personal-best (49.78) time. However, in its Olympics projections, SI.com has no American medaling in this event.
Women’s 400-meter hurdles: After again setting the world record (50.65) in winning the U.S. Olympic Trials, McLaughlin-Levrone is the favorite to repeat her gold medal effort from Tokyo. However, Dutch star Femke Bol, who set the European record at 50.95 on July 14, is a viable challenger.
Women’s 4x400 relay: If healthy, one would expect McLaughlin-Levrone to run in the relay finals for the U.S., as she did in Tokyo. If Holmes runs the 4x400, too, that could potentially lead to two medals in the event for ex-Cats.
SI.com projects Team USA winning the gold medal in the 4x400, as the Americans have done in eight of the past 13 Olympics.
Women’s 100-meter hurdles: Can ex-UK stars again run 1-2 in this event as Camacho-Quinn and Harrison did in Tokyo?
Russell ran a world’s best time this year of 12.25 in winning the U.S. Olympic Trials. Camacho-Quinn will defend her Olympics crown.
Nevertheless, French star Cyrena Samba-Mayela is the favorite in Paris, according to FanDuel.
Men’s 110-meter hurdles: Roberts is the bronze medal choice, according to FanDuel, behind Team USA’s Grant Holloway and Jamaica’s Hansle Parchment, the reigning Olympics champion.
Men’s discus: Evans returns to the Olympics for the first time after finishing 16th in the 2016 Games.
The medal favorites in the event are world record-holder Mykolas Alekna of Lithuania; defending Olympic champion Daniel Stahl of Sweden; and 2022 world champion Kristjan Ceh of Slovenia.
Comment: According to the NCAA, only Florida (seven) and Southern California and Stanford (six each) have more track and field alumni on the U.S. Olympic team than Kentucky’s five — and that doesn’t count Camacho-Quinn competing for Puerto Rico.
Indoor volleyball
Women’s team: Eight players return to Team USA from the roster that won the gold medal in Tokyo. Skinner, who after graduating from UK played a super-senior season for Baylor, is one of four American newcomers.
Italy, Turkey and Brazil are considered strong threats to Team USA’s gold medal defense.
Bottom line: SI.com, which predicted the outcome of every event in the Paris Olympics, has ex-Cats matching their overall medal total from Tokyo with 10.
Actually, should things break right in men’s basketball and the women’s 4x400 relay, there’s a realistic chance that ex-Cats will go over 10 total medals in France.
This story was originally published July 27, 2024 at 6:00 AM.
