Nine Gophers to Participate in Paris Olympics - University of Minnesota Athletics (2024)

MINNEAPOLIS – The University of Minnesota will see nine different representatives at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, which are set to be ceremoniously started on Friday, July 26, at 12:30 p.m. CT.

GOPHERS WITH TEAM USA
Three of Minnesota's eight student-athletes that will participate will do so for Team USA. Matt Wilkinson (Men's Track) and Sarah Bacon (Women's Diving) will represent the Red, White and Blue for the first time while Summer Schmit (Paralympic Swimming) will compete in her second Olympics for Team USA. Of the 45 NCAA conferences with athletes representing Team USA, the Big Ten leads the way with 116 U.S. Olympians. The Big Ten is also one of only three conferences that has all its schools represented on the U.S. Olympic Team.

Gopher Olympic Schedule (Only first round/event for each individual):

Minnesota's men's track program is sending two to the Paris Olympic games in Matt Wilkinson (USA) and Devin Augustine (Trinidad & Tobago). Wilkinson is the first Gopher to represent Team USA in track and field since Ben Blankenship (1500m, 8th place) and Hassan Mead (5000m, 11th place) in 2016 in Rio. For Augustine, he is the second Gopher to represent Trinidad & Tobago at the Olympics after Kion Benjamin (4x100m relay, 12th place) did in 2020/2021 in Tokyo.

After a successful Division III career at Carleton College in Northfield, Minn., Wilkinson transferred to the University of Minnesota where he went on to become a two-time Big Ten champion. Wilkinson was the Big Ten's Track Athlete of the Championships in 2023 after winning the 3000m steeplechase and the 5000m for the Maroon and Gold. He left the 'U' with the No. 2 time in program history in the steeplechase (8:23.69) and the No. 2 time in the 5000m (13:35.45). After finishing second at the 2024 US Olympic Trials in Eugene, Ore., Wilkinson claimed his Olympicsspot via his IAAF World Rankings.

Augustine, the Big Ten and Trinidad & Tobago 100m national champion in 2024, will represent his home country at the world stage for the second consecutive year. The Point Fortin, native will run in the 100m in Paris after he ran on the team's 4x100m relay team at the 2023 World Championships in Budapest, Hungary.Augustine's bid in the 100m marks the first time since 2000 that a Gopher has qualified for the Olympics in an individual sprint event (Keita Cline, British Virgin Islands - 200m).

Women's Volleyball (Airi Miyabe)
Former Gopher Airi Miyabe (2019-21) was named to Japan's Olympic volleyball team, it was announced on July 1. Miyabe, an outside hitter for the Gophers, plays middle blocker for Japan. Miyabe is the first Gopher volleyball player to qualify for the Olympics since Daly Santana (Puerto Rico – 2016) and is the fifth different Gopher to participate. Minnesota's best finish in volleyball at the Olympics was Lindsey Berg, who won two silver medals for Team USA, once in 2008 and another in 2012.

As a Gopher, Miyabe was a three-time Academic All-Big Ten selection from 2019-21. During her time in Minneapolis, the Gophers made a Final Four, an Elite Eight and a Sweet 16. Her best season came in 2021, when she played in 27 matches, averaging 2.97 kills, 0.93 digs and 0.27 blocks per set. She hit .240 on the year and emerged into a starting role late in the season. In the 2021 Sweet 16 match against Baylor, Miyabe stepped up for a career-high 18-kill performance on .324 hitting. She was named to the NCAA Madison Regional All-Tournament Team in addition to being AVCA All-North Region Honorable Mention in 2021.

Swimming (Bar Soloveychik/Summer Schmit)
Minnesota's swimming program will see two athletes competing in Paris: Bar Soloveychik (Israel) and Summer Schmit (USA). Soloveychik will be the second Gopher male ever to swim for Team Israel when he makes his Olympic debut, joining Yoav Meiri in 2000. Schmit will represent Team USA in the Paralympics for the second time in her career after competing in Tokyo in 2020.

Soloveychik, a rising senior and Kiryat, Israel native, was chosen to compete as part of the 4x200 freestyle relay. He is coming off a junior campaign that saw him become an All-American by finishing seventh in the 1650 free and an honorable mention All-American after placing ninth in the 500 free. He was also named Second Team All-Big Ten, Third Team CSC Academic All-American and Academic All-Big Ten. He holds school records in the 200 Free (1:33.41), 500 Free (4:11.33), 1000 free (8:52.95), 1650 free (14:41.40) and 800 free relay (6:16.25), as well as the 200M free, 400M free and 800M free.

Schmit, a rising junior and Stillwater, Minn. native, earned a spot on the 2024 U.S. Paralympic Team after an impressive performance in her home pool. As a member of the U.S Paralympic team that competed in the 2020 Tokyo games, she placed fifth in the 200 IM, sixth in the 100m fly, and seventh in the 400m free. This past collegiate season, Schmit broke the S9 Para American record in the 100 meter breaststroke with a time of 1:14.48. As a freshman, Schmit was named the team's hardest worker and earned an Outstanding Student-Athlete Award. Schmit was also recently recognized as a 2024 Academic All-Big Ten honoree.

Diving (Sarah Bacon/Wenbo Chen)
Former Gopher diver Sarah Bacon (2016-2022) and Head Diving Coach Wenbo Chen will represent Gopher Diving and the United States at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. Chen will be joining the U.S. Olympic coaching staff for a third time, while former Gopher Sarah Bacon is making her Olympic debut.

Bacon will compete in both the 3 meter synchronized dive as well as 3 meter individual. During her time as a Gopher she was a 5x NCAA Champion and 4x Big Ten Champion, along with numerous other awards and honors. She is the only woman in Minnesota Gopher history to have won three or more NCAA titles in any sport, making her the most decorated female champion in Minnesota history. Bacon is looking to add "Olympic Medalist" to her already booming resume.

Chen brings a wealth of experience to this year's U.S. Olympic squad. From success on the Big Ten, national, and international stage, Chen has made a name for himself in the diving world. As for Olympic experience, he served as an assistant for the U.S. Diving team at the 2008 games in Beijing and the 2012 games in London. In his 15 seasons with the Gophers, 65 divers have received All-American honors. The program has also consistently sent divers to NCAA Championships.

The only other Gopher Diver to compete for Team USA at the Olympics was Kelci Bryant in both 2008 and 2012. In 2012, she won a silver medal in 3m synchro being coached by Chen.

Men's Golf (Erik Van Rooyen)
Former University of Minnesota men's golfer Erik van Rooyen (2010-13) will represent his home country of South Africa in the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. Van Rooyen is the first Gopher golfer to ever participate in the Olympics, will be competing with fellow South African Christiaan Bezuidenhout for the right to claim a gold medal in this year's games.

A 2013 Gopher graduate, Van Rooyen recently picked up his second win on the PGA Tour at the 2023 World Wide Technologies Championship in Los Cabos, Mexico. A native of Oudtshoorn, South Africa, Van Rooyen was a three-time NCAA regional qualifier during his time as a Gopher and thrice finished among the top-10 at the Big Ten Championships. Van Rooyen played in three NCAA Regionals and was a three-time All-Region honoree with the Maroon and Gold.

Women's Artistic Gymnastics (Ava Stewart)
Incoming freshman Ava Stewart will make history for the Gophers, becoming the first women's gymnast at Minnesota to compete at the Olympics.

Stewart is competing in her second Olympics after competing in Tokyo in 2021 as just a 15-year-old. Since 2021 Stewart has competed at the 2022 City of Jesolo Stewart Trophy, where she helped Canada finish third in the team competition. She also qualified individually and finished fifth in the uneven bars final. In July of 2022, Stewart competed at the Pan American Championships where she helped Canada finish third as a team. At the 2024 Canadian National Championships, she was the Bars National Champion while also finishing second in the all-around.

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