Past and Present Hawkeyes Set Their Sights on Paris Olympics

CASSIE LEE | incoming freshman | Canada

The future Hawkeye from Toronto, who represented her home country at the 2023 World Gymnastics Championships, won bronze with Team Canada at the 2023 Pan American Championships and Pan American Games. Team Canada announces the final spots on its Olympic gymnastics roster Friday, June 14.

AURÉLIE TRAN | incoming freshman | Canada

The five-star Iowa commit from Quebec will compete in this summer’s Olympics after qualifying with a silver medal in the all-around at the 2024 Canadian Gymnastics Championships. At the national qualifier, she also earned silver on bars, beam, and floor and finished fifth on vault. At the 2023 Pan American Championships, Tran previously earned bronze with Team Canada and took home individual bronze medals on balance beam and in the all-around. She also represented Canada in the 2023 World Gymnastics Championships and earned a team bronze in the 2023 Pan American Games.

SYDNEY TURNER | incoming freshman | Canada

Turner, a future engineering major from the Vancouver area, made Canadian history as part of the group that earned the nation its first team medal—a bronze—in the 2022 World Gymnastics Championships. She also earned bronze on the uneven bars and with the team in the 2022 Pan American Championships. Along with Lee and Tran, she won team bronze at the 2023 Pan American Championships and Pan American Games. Most recently, Turner earned three more international medals at the 2024 Pan American Championships, including silver in the uneven bars and with Team Canada and a bronze for the balance beam. “I want to take my gymnastics as far as I possibly can,” Turner told Inside Gymnastics, “and to me, that’s competing at the Olympics.” The final Canadian gymnastics Olympic roster is announced Friday, June 14.

MEGAN GUSTAFSON (19BBA) | 2015-19 | Spain

In February, weeks after signing with the WNBA champion Las Vegas Aces, Gustafson helped secure a spot in the 2024 Olympic Games for the Spanish national team. The 2019 U.S. national player of the year, who has played overseas the past five years during the WNBA offseason, was granted Spanish citizenship earlier this year. “It’s definitely been a dream of mine since I was a little girl to play at the highest level,” Gustafson, who won a EuroCup championship this past spring with the London Lions, told Northern News Now. “Every four years, I would watch the Olympics with my family and the people in it that I’ve always looked up to and wanted to be like, so just to see that happening and realize a dream like that is really awesome.”

PETER JOK (23BS) | 2013-17 | South Sudan

The former Hawkeye All-American was part of the roster that helped the South Sudan national team advance to the Olympics for the first time in history by clinching Africa’s qualifying spot in the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup. Jok, who holds Iowa’s single-season free throw percentage record, has played professional basketball in the NBA Summer League, NBA G League, and in Spain, France, and Canada. South Sudan’s final Olympic basketball roster will be decided by July 18 when the team plays its first pre-Olympic exhibition game against Great Britain.

TOMI TAIWO (22BA) | 2018-22 | Nigeria

The former Iowa starter punched her ticket to the Olympics this February with the Nigerian national team. Taiwo, who plays professional basketball overseas, began her journey to the Olympics in May 2023 as the top 3-point shooter on Nigeria’s FIBA AfroBasket championship team. “It has been my goal since I was a freshman in college to represent Nigeria at the Olympics,” says Taiwo, the daughter of Nigerian immigrants. “This motivated me to work hard on what I can bring to the floor, whether that’s my shooting ability, defensive skills, or providing high energy and effective communication on both ends of the court.”

Rowing

EVE STEWART (20BA, 21BA) | 2016-20 | Great Britain

Once a three-time NCAA qualifier for Iowa rowing, Stewart will become the first Hawkeye to ever compete in rowing at the Summer Games as a member of Great Britain’s 2024 Olympic team. With the Great Britain national team, Stewart competed in the eight and four for the 2024 World Rowing Cup I and won a silver in the eight at the 2024 European Rowing Championships.

JAMAL BRITT | 2020-22 | USA

Britt competes in the 60 and 100-meter hurdles on the world stage and earned a silver medal in the 100-meter hurdles at the 2022 North American, Central American, and Caribbean Championships in the Bahamas. He has automatically qualified to compete in the U.S. Olympic trials June 21-30.

NIK CURTISS | 2018-22 | USA

Curtiss previously qualified for the 2021 U.S. Olympic Trials in shot put and set a personal record while placing fifth earlier this year at the USA Track and Field Indoor Championships.

CHRIS DOUGLAS (19BS) | 2016-19 | Australia

Born in Australia, Douglas is the Oceanic record holder for the 60-meter hurdles and became a national champion this year in the 110-meter hurdles at the New South Wales Championships and Australian Athletics Championships. He previously contended to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics in the 400-meter hurdles after placing first at the 2021 Australian Track and Field Championships.

AUSTIN KRESLEY (24BS) | 2021-24 | Mexico

Kresley, a four-time All-American and the 2023 Big Ten outdoor 200-meter champion, has set school records in the outdoor 200-meters (20.26) and as part of a 4x100-meter relay (38.64). He plans to compete in Mexico’s national championships in hopes of making the Olympic team.

PAIGE MAGEE (24BS) | 2020-24 | USA

Magee recently broke the school record for the 100-meter hurdles at the 2024 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, and her time of 12.88 seconds meets the U.S. Olympic trials qualifying standard. She’s also set school records in the 60-meter hurdles and as part of a 4x100-meter relay.

RIVALDO MARSHALL | student | Jamaica

The 2024 NCAA indoor 800-meter champion placed first in the outdoor 800-meter race this past April at the Jim Click Shootout and Multis in Tucson, Arizona. His time of 1:45.86 not only beat a school record, but also met the Olympic trials standard. Jamaica’s national championships June 27-30 will help determine its Olympic team.

MIKE STEIN | student | USA

The Milford, Iowa, native recently became a 2024 Big Ten champion and set the school record in the men’s javelin with an 81.19-meter throw, a mark which qualifies him for the U.S. Olympic trials. The first-team All-American previously won the gold medal for the U.S. in the men’s javelin throw at the 2023 Pan American U20 Championships. On his decision to be a Hawkeye, Stein told The Daily Iowan, “I was thinking that there was no way that I could go to Iowa and not make the Olympics. I didn’t get that feeling anywhere else.”

LAULAUGA TAUSAGA (21BA) | 2017-21 | USA

In a stunning underdog performance last year in Budapest, Hungary, Tausaga improved her career-best throw by over 4 meters to become the first American woman to win the discus at the World Championships. The 2019 NCAA discus champion now awaits the U.S. Olympic trials for track and field June 21-30 in Eugene, Oregon.

RENO TUUFULI (19BA) | 2015-19 | USA

Tuufuli, a 2019 Drake Relays champion who ranks second all-time for discus at Iowa, recently had one of the best throws of his career at the 2023 USA Track and Field Outdoor Championships.

AUSTIN WEST (23BA, 23BS) | 2019-24 | USA

The Iowa City native placed third in the decathlon at last year’s USA Track and Field Outdoor Championships. He had to medically withdraw from the 2024 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships due to injury but hopes to be healthy in time for the U.S. Olympic trials June 21-30. “I think [the Olympics are] the pinnacle of track and field,” West told the Iowa City Press-Citizen. “It’s something that everyone dreams of, and having a chance to do that is something I don’t take lightly.”