Competition at the Summer Olympics in Paris kicked off on Wednesday, though the opening ceremony doesn’t take place until 11 a.m. PT on Friday.
The Bay Area will be well represented at this year’s games.
Here are some local storylines to watch:
1. Steph Curry is making his Olympic debut
The 36-year-old Curry will make his Olympic debut while playing for Warriors coach Steve Kerr in what will be the final Olympics for LeBron James, 39.
Curry is coming off a season in which he averaged more than 26 points per game while earning the NBA’s Clutch Player of the Year honors.
Easily the most successful nation in Olympic men’s basketball history, the United States will be seeking a fifth consecutive gold medal when they begin play on Sunday against Serbia.
On the women’s side, where the U.S. has been even more dominant, Miramonte High’s Sabrina Ionescu will make her Olympic debut in Paris, while fellow NorCal native Chelsea Gray (St. Mary’s-Stockton) will play in her second Games.
2. Locals soccer stars chase gold with Team USA while Bay FC’s strikers will lead the African nations
When Bay FC needed to make a splash before its inaugural season in the National Women’s Soccer League, two of the world’s best goal-scorers became the targets. Asisat Oshoala, a record-setter at Barcelona, and Racheal Kundananji, who was second in the Spanish league with 25 goals at Madrid CFF last season, were signed.
Now, the two Bay FC stars will see how far they can push their respective Olympic teams, with Oshoala looking to help Nigeria in the country’s first Olympic appearance since 2008, and Kundananji playing for a Zambian team that is coming off its first-ever World Cup appearance in 2023.
On the American side, the United States Women’s National Team will feature Sophia Smith, the Portland Thorns star and the College Cup Most Outstanding Offensive Player when Stanford won a national title in 2019, and Menlo Park’s Tierna Davidson, a NJ/NY Gotham FC star and the College Cup Most Outstanding Defensive Player during Stanford’s title run in 2017.
San Jose’s Naomi Girma will join Davidson on the back line. Girma was the captain of Stanford’s 2019 national championship team and has made a quick rise in the national ranks, earning U.S. Soccer Female Player of the Year honors in 2023. The 24-year-old just signed a three-year contract with the San Diego Wave of the NWSL.
3. The Bay Area has badminton fever
Americans have never medaled in badminton, an Olympic sport since 1992, but this year could be their chance.
Five of the seven athletes competing for Team USA are from the Bay Area: Vinson Chiu of Milpitas (men’s doubles, mixed doubles), Jennie Gai of Fremont (mixed doubles), Annie and Kerry Xu, twin sisters from San José (women’s doubles), and Joshua Yuan of San Mateo (men’s doubles).
Chiu competed for Team USA in Tokyo, while the others will be making their Olympic debuts.
4. Final go for a table tennis icon
Palo Alto’s Lily Zhang is the most accomplished American table tennis player ever, but this could be the 28-year-old’s last chance at earning the country’s first-ever Olympic medal in the sport.
Zhang made her Olympic debut as a 16-year-old in London in 2012 and she has competed in every Olympics since. She’s unsure if she’ll retire after this Olympic cycle.
Also on the women’s team is Rachel Sung, a 20-year-old from Mountain View who is making her Olympic debut alongside her idol.
Both players train at 888 Table Tennis, the national team training site in Burlingame.
5. Kara Kohler’s chance at redemption
It’s been a long journey for Kohler, who first made her Olympic debut as a 20-year-old in London in 2012, just two years after she took up the sport. She grew up in Clayton as a competitive swimmer, but took up rowing when she went to Cal and found quick success.
But she missed the cut for the 2016 Olympics, quit the sport, then returned to represent the United States in the women’s single sculls in Tokyo. Fighting through an injury, she came a half-second short of advancing to the finals.
Now 33, Kohler could be making her final Olympic appearance in Paris as she looks to become the first American woman ever to win gold in the single sculls.
6. SF native a favorite in Olympic kitesurfing debut
Kitesurfing will make its Olympic debut and, with any luck for the United States, the conditions in Marseille will be terrible.
That’s just how Daniela Moroz likes them after she learned to sail in the treacherous waters beneath the Golden Gate Bridge. The 23-year-old Lafayette native and Campolindo High graduate won her first world title as a 15-year-old and now has six world titles to her name. She’s hoping for a lot of wind when the competition kicks off on Aug. 4.
7. The pressure is on the East Bay’s CJ Nickolas
From Brentwood to Paris, Nickolas enters the Summer Olympics ranked No. 2 in the world in his 80-kg weight class and is coming off a gold medal at the Pan American Games last year.
Nickolas grew up with a single mother who participated in the sport with him as they earned their black belts together. Now he’ll have a chance to represent the United States after the country failed to qualify any male taekwondo athletes in Tokyo.
Terrence Jennings is the last American male athlete to win a medal in taekwondo when he won a bronze in London in 2012.
8. Bay Area legend looking for record-setting gold medal in water polo
In Paris, nearly half the Americans competing in water polo have Bay Area ties.
Former Monte Vista High and Stanford star Maggie Steffens, the most accomplished women’s water polo player in American history, will be looking for her fourth gold medal while leading a team that features five current or former Stanford players: Martinez’s Jewel Roemer, San Jose’s Jenna Flynn, Manhattan Beach’s Jordan Raney and Goleta’s Ryann Neushul.
If the women’s side wins gold again, the U.S. will be the first country ever to win four straight Olympic titles in the sport.
On the men’s side, seven of the 13 players rostered have local ties. The U.S. will have to overtake reigning gold medalists from Serbia, this year’s world champion, Croatia, and the country with the most Olympic medals in men’s water polo history, Hungary.
9. Katie Ledecky is chasing history
Former Stanford swimmer Katie Ledecky is one of the stars to watch this Olympic cycle as the 27-year-old will look to tie former Stanford star Jenny Thompson with her eighth gold medal in the pool.
If she wins a ninth, she will tie former Soviet Union gymnast Larisa Latynina as the most decorated female Olympian in world history.
It’s possible for Ledecky to break Latynina’s record.
She’s the favorite to win in the 800- and 1,500-meter freestyle events and will also have a chance to nab a medal in either the 4×200-meter freestyle relay or the 400-meter freestyle.
She’s not the only local athlete expected to medal in the pool.
Stanford will also be represented by Simone Manuel, a five-time Olympic medalist, junior Torri Huske, Andi Murez (Israel) and Taylor Ruck (Canada).
Cal legends Ryan Murphy and Abbey Weitzeil are each looking for their fifth gold medals. Cal freshmen Keaton Jones and Jack Alexy are participating in their first Olympics.
Overall, there are 16 current or former Cal swimmers representing 10 countries in Paris.
10. Stanford gymnasts leading the American men
Stanford will send Asher Hong and Brody Malone to lead the American men’s gymnastic team.
Hong finished first on rings and fifth in the all-around during Olympic trials, while Malone recently recovered from a knee injury to win his third national all-around title in June.
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