Top Iowa Athletes To Watch At 2024 Paris Summer Olympics

The 2024 Summer Olympic Games will arrive this week in Paris. There will be many storylines to follow and plenty of American athletes are favorites to win gold. You'll also be able to cheer on several athletes with ties to the state of Iowa. With help from the Des Moines Register, here are the athletes with Iowa connections competing in Paris.

Tyrese Haliburton - Basketball - Iowa State Cyclones - Halibruton is a former Iowa State star and the current point guard for the Indiana Pacers. He was named to the USA Basketball roster this April. The NBA assists leader is the first Cyclone to make the Olympic basketball team since Jeff Grayer helped the U.S. win bronze in 1988.

Spencer Lee - Wrestling - University of Iowa - Lee is an Iowa wrestling legend. The three-time NCAA champion qualified for the Olympic team on May 11th in Turkey. Lee is the 20th Olympian in Iowa wrestling history and will compete in the freestyle division in Paris.

Kenny Bednarek - Track - Indian Hills Community College - Bednarke will be competing in both the 100m and 200m for Team USA in Paris. At the U.S. Track and Field Championships in Oregon, he finished second in the 100m with a time of 9.87, a personal best. He won silver in the 200m in 2021 in Tokyo and became the first Iowa junior college athlete to qualify for the Olympics, according to the Register.

Megan Gustafson - Basketball, Spain - University of Iowa - Gustafson was finally included on the Spain women's basketball roster this spring. The Iowa great recently became a naturalized Spanish citizen. She played for the Spanish national team during the Olympic qualifying tournament in February and averaged a team-best 14.3 points per game. Gustafson comes off the bench for the WNBA champion Las Vegas Aces.

Peter Jok - Basketball, South Sudan - University of Iowa - The former Iowa sharpshooter helped South Sudan become the lone African team to qualify for the Paris Olympics. They recently gave Team USA a scare during an exhibition game losing by just one point. Jok went undrafted out of Iowa in 2017 and has spent time in numerous leagues including overseas.

Other athletes with Iowa ties competing in Paris include:

• Karissa Schweizer, track, USA, Dowling Catholic
• Brittany Brown, track, USA, University of Iowa
• Emily Delleman, rowing, USA, Davenport
• Kennedy Blades, women's wrestling, USA, University of Iowa
• Melvin Ejim, basketball, Canada, Iowa State Cyclones
• Nick Weiler-Babb, basketball, Germany, Iowa State Cyclones
• Bridget Carlton, basketball, Canada, Iowa State Cyclones
• Cloe Lacasse, soccer, Canada, University of Iowa
• George Conditt, basketball, Puerto Rico, Iowa State Cyclones
• Lauren Mansfield, 3 on 3 basketball, Australia, Iowa State Cyclones
• Aurelie Tran, Cassie Lee, Sydney Turner, gymnastics, Canada, University of Iowa

Best of luck to all the athletes competing in the 2024 Olympic Games! The opening ceremonies will happen on Friday and can be seen on NBC TV.