Past and Present Hawkeyes Set Their Sights on Paris Olympics

CASSIE LEE | incoming freshman | Canada

The future Hawkeye from Toronto represents Canada in the 2024 Summer Olympics. Lee, who previously 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.

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, is a traveling reserve athlete for the Canadian Olympian team. She 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.

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.

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.”

SPENCER LEE (21BS) | 2017-23 | USA

The three-time NCAA champion will compete in the Paris Summer Olympics Aug. 8-9 in the 57-kilogram weight class. Lee, whose mother is from the host country of France, said to USA Wrestling following the event, “It’s great and all, but being an Olympian doesn’t mean a whole lot unless you come back with that prized gold medal.”

KENNEDY BLADES | incoming sophomore | USA

The newly signed Hawkeye will represent the USA at the 2024 Olympics. Originally from Chicago, Blades is a U20 World champion, four-time World medalist, and the first girl to win an Illinois state championship. She defeated 2020 Olympic silver medalist Adeline Gray this April to win her spot in Paris.

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.

Soccer

CLOÉ LACASSE (14BA) | 2011-14 | Canada

Lacasse will not only represent Canada in Paris, but also be the first Hawkeye women’s soccer alumna to compete in the Olympics. A forward on the Team Canada roster, the Iowa record holder currently plays for Women’s Super League club Arsenal in the United Kingdom. “Words cannot fully express the emotions I felt when I received the news that I would represent Canada at the Olympics,” Lacasse posted on Instagram. “Growing up in Sudbury, Ontario, the first time I ever saw women’s soccer was on TV during the Olympics. That moment ignited my passion and love for the game and planted the seed of my dream to become a soccer player.”