BATON ROUGE — Competing in the Olympics is every athlete's dream but only some get the opportunity. This year 24 current and former LSU athletes have punched their tickets to Paris for the 2024 Summer Olympics.

LSU is sending more than just athletes to Paris. LSU is giving 25 journalism, public relations and political communication students the once-in-a-lifetime experience to cover the Olympics, and a Baton Rouge native designed Team USA’s beach volleyball uniforms.

LSU has athletes from six different sports representing countries all over the world.

Swimming and Diving:

LSU's swimming and diving team is sending a record number of athletes to the Olympics this year. They are more than doubling the record of five athletes that the team sent in 1996, including four current athletes and seven past athletes.
- Adrian Abadia Garcia in his first Olympic games will be competing for Spain in the three-meter synchronized swim.
- Pavel Alvoatki for Moldova has qualified for his first Olympics and is competing in the 400-meter freestyle.
- Juan Celaya-Hernandez is returning to the diving board for his second Olympic games as he is competing in the three-meter synchronized dive for Mexico.
- Brooks Curry will be competing for another Olympic gold medal in his second Olympic games. He is swimming in the 4x200 freestyle relay for Team USA.
- Jere Hibrar, freshman, will be competing in the 50-meter freestyle for Croatia in his first Olympic games.
- Jovan Lekic, freshman, will be swimming the 400-meter freestyle for Bosnia and Herzegovina.
- Sabrina Lyn, a freshman, has secured her spot for the Jamaican team in the 50-meter freestyle.
- Maggie MacNeil will be fighting to add a fourth Olympic medal to her collection as she competes in both the 100-meter fly and 4x100-meter medley for the Canadian team.
- Chiara Pellacani qualified for more than one event in her first Olympics. She will be competing in the three-meter individual and the three-meter synchronized events for Italy.
- Lizzie (Cui) Roussel has qualified for her second Olympic games and is competing in the three-meter springboard for New Zealand.
- Helle Tuxen, senior, will be on the diving team for Norway competing in the three-meter springboard in her first Olympic games.

Beach Volleyball: 

Two former LSU beach volleyball players will both be competing for Team USA. Kristen Nuss and Taryn Kloth who have been playing together since 2021 will be playing together in their first Olympics.

Track and Field: 

LSU track and Field is sending many current and former athletes to Paris.
- Armand "Mondo" Duplantis will be competing to add a second Olympic gold medal to his record for Sweden as he aims to break another world record for pole vaulting.
- Tima Godbless, a sophomore, will be competing in her second Olympic games for the Nigerian team. She got an automatic qualification after running 22.56 seconds in the 200-meter race at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championship.
- JuVaugh Harrison is headed to the Olympics for a second time to represent Team USA. He had the fourth-highest jump at the trials clearing 2.24 meters.
- Shakeem McKay, a sophomore, will be representing Trinidad and Tobago as he competes in the 400-meter race at his first Olympics.
- Favour Ofili qualified for Paris during the first day of the trials after winning the 200-meter race. Ofili will represent Nigeria in her second Olympic games.
- Ella Onojuvwewvwo, a sophomore, will be competing in her first Olympic games for the Nigerian team. She qualified after she broke the 23-year-old record of the fastest Nigerian in the 400-meter race during the Olympic trials.
- Sha’Carri Richardson has finally earned her spot in the Olympic games. She will be running the 100-meter for Team USA.

Gymnastics: 

Aleah Finnegan, junior, who was on the 2024 LSU National Championship team is competing as the first female gymnast from the Philippines.

Basketball:

Two former LSU basketball players will be on the court for Team USA and Australia.
- Hailey Van Lith, who played for the LSU women's basketball team during the 2023-24 season, is playing for Team USA.
- Duop Reath, who played for LSU from 2016 to 2018, will be on Australia's Olympic basketball team for the second time.

Tennis:

One former LSU tennis player is headed to the Olympics for a second swing. Neal Skupski, who played at LSU from 2008 to 2012, is going back to the Olympics with Great Britain.