The Tokyo Olympics start today (July 23-Aug. 8) and to get you excited about all of the athletic talent competing this year, we’ve put together a list of 11 UofSC athletes to watch this summer.

Check out the schedule + plan your Olympic events in advance. And don’t forget the Paralympic Games from Aug. 24-Sept. 5 — here’s the schedule.

A’Ja Wilson, Team USA | Image via Giphy

A’ja Wilson | Women’s Basketball
A’ja was named the 2020 WNBA MVP, the 2018 WNBA Rookie of the Year, and is a 2-time WNBA All-Star — and those are just a handful of the awards she’s received over the course of her career.

Aliyah Abrams | Track and Field
Aliyah was named SEC Outdoor Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2019 + received the 2015 All-Metro Atlanta award in the United States of America. This year she will represent Guyana.

Allisha Gray | Women’s Basketball
Allisha was Tournament MVP of the 3x3 2021 Big Twelve Conference International event in France, where the US women came in first place. She is 18-2 all-time while representing Team USA 5-on-5 and 3x3 national teams.

Dawn Staley | Women’s Basketball — Head Coach
Coach Dawn Staley needs no introduction + this definitely isn’t her first Olympics rodeo, she’s been part of the team as an athlete 3 times and twice as an assistant coach.

Itay Goldfaden | Swimming
Itay holds records for the 100 breaststroke, the 200 medley relay, and the 400 medley relay teams. During his junior year, he became the first male swimmer at UofSC to win an individual conference championship in a breaststroke. He will represent Israel.

Julia Vincent | Swimming
Julia is a 3-time All-American and 4-time CSCAA Scholar All-American for UofSC — she graduated as 1 of the most decorated divers in the program’s history. She will represent South Africa.

Laeticia Amihere | Women’s Basketball
Laeticia was Canada’s leading scorer at the 2021 AmeriCup + was part of the first team in Gamecocks history to end the season ranked no. 1 in the nation last year. She will be representing Canada.

Michael Laitarovsky | Swimming
Michael will be competing in the Men's 100m backstroke. He has placed in both the European + World championships. He will be representing Israel.

Tinky Ho Nam-wai | Swimming
Tinky Ho was the 2018 Student of the Year Sportsperson Award winner at 16 years old + won bronze medals in the Asian Games in Indonesia the same year. She will be representing Hong Kong.

Tom Peribonio | Swimming
An 11-time All-American, Tom will represent Ecuador in the Olympic games. Tom has also taken down 6 long-course national records.

Wadeline Jonathas | Track and Field
This will be Wadeline’s first Olympics, but her resume as an athlete is extensive. Wadeline is a champion runner with several gold medals in the 4x400 relay — 1 of 2 events she'll be competing in.

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