(Tempe, AZ) Au revoir, Paris!
The 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris have come and gone, and these Games were one for the books. Twenty-four Sun Devils — past, present, and future — represented their home countries on the biggest stage in sports, the most among all schools in the Big 12 Conference. Together, they won a total of nine medals in Paris, tied with Notre Dame for the eighth-most number of medals won by universities.
This recap details how each Sun Devil fared across seven sports and 15 countries represented, paced by global sensation Léon Marchand.
SUN DEVIL MEDALS WON IN PARIS
Léon Marchand, Men’s Swim (France) — 200 IM/gold, 400 IM/gold, 200m butterfly/gold, 200m breaststroke/gold, 4×100 medley relay/bronze
Ilya Kharun, Men’s Swim (Canada) — 100m butterfly/bronze, 200m butterfly/bronze
Bente Rogge, Women’s Water Polo (Netherlands) — bronze
Lieke Rogge, Women’s Water polo (Netherlands) — bronze.
LÉON MARCHAND, MEN’S SWIM (FRANCE)
Those who didn’t know Léon Marchand’s name surely do by now. In the past week, Marchand has become France’s biggest star, winning four individual gold medals and bronze in the 4×100 medley relay at his second Olympic Games.
Marchand’s five medals are the most by a Sun Devil in a single Olympics. He also became the third male swimmer in history to win four individual gold medals at a single Olympics, joining Michael Phelps and Mark Spitz.
Marchand began his week at the Games by winning the 400m IM, setting an Olympic record at 4:02.95, before pulling off a historic double gold, winning the 200m butterfly in comeback fashion in 1:51.21 and taking the 200m breaststroke at 2:05.85 just two hours later. Both times set Olympic records. In his final individual event, the Toulouse, France, native dominated the 200m IM, breaking the Olympic record in 1:54.06 for his fourth gold medal.
A global superstar overnight, Marchand is now a five-time Olympic medalist, five-time world aquatics champion, 10-time NCAA champion, 17-time Pac-12 champion and a 21-time All-American.
ILYA KHARUN, MEN’S SWIM (CANADA)
A pair of podium finishes for the Sun Devil sophomore! Ilya Kharun stormed back in the final 50 meters of the 100m fly to win his second bronze medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics, throwing down a time of 50.45 (3rd) and sharing the podium with fellow Canadian Josh Liendo.
Earlier in the week in the 200m fly, Kharun claimed a bronze medal by finishing in 1:52.80, which set a Canadian record and was the first medal for Canada in the 200m fly in Olympic history.
TIAGO BEHAR, MEN’S SWIM (SWITZERLAND)
A rising senior for the Sun Devils, Behar was a member of Switzerland’s 4x200m freestyle relay. The Swiss relay did not advance beyond the opening preliminaries.
GABI RENNIE, WOMEN’S SOCCER (NEW ZEALAND)
New Zealand dropped the trio of matches they competed in throughout the group stage, falling to Canada, Columbia and France. Now a two-time Olympian, Rennie played in 14 minutes against Columbia and four versus Canada.
TOLU YOUNG, MEN’S SWIMMING (FIJI)
An incoming freshman for the Sun Devils this fall, Tolu Young won his 50m free heat (22.71) to open his first career Games, but it wasn’t one of the top-16 times needed to reach the semis.
PROMISE AMUKAMARA, WOMEN’S BASKETBALL (NIGERIA)
Now a two-time Olympian, Promise Amukamara helped Team Nigeria advance to the quarterfinals thanks to a 2-1 record in group play. In their first game, she tallied 14 points, 9 assists and 6 rebounds across 33 minutes played in during their win against Australia. She played 29 minutes or more in each of Nigeria’s four games, and dropped double-digit points three times. She scored 19 in the team’s 88-74 loss in the quarterfinal to the United States.
LU DORT, MEN’S BASKETBALL (CANADA)
Known as a defensive specialist in the NBA scene, Dort lived up to the billing at the Summer Games. Though Canada fell in the quarterfinal to eventual runner-up France, 82-73, Dort stuffed the stat sheet in these Games, playing more than 15 mins in all four games and scoring 8 points or more in three contests. Dort helped the Canadiens go a perfect 3-0 in group play before running into the hometown French team in the quarters.
ALESSANDRA FANALI, WOMEN’S GOLF (ITALY)
Just behind fellow Sun Devil Ciganda was first-time Olympian Alessandra Fanali, who placed 53rd in individual stroke play with a final score of 304 (+16). The 25-year-old Fanali went 75, 76, 77, 76 at her first Games.
ALEXANDRA FÖRSTERLING, WOMEN’S GOLF (GERMANY)
Another first-time Olympian, Försterling placed 35th in individual stroke play, rounding out at 292 (+4). She saved her best for last, carding a two-under 70 on her final day of play that helped her jump five spots on the leaderboard.
LINN GRANT, WOMEN’S GOLF (SWEDEN)
The second-highest Sun Devil finisher after four days in Paris, trailing just Azahara Munoz, Grant tallied 289 (+1) across four days of work. She had two rounds that were under par and was one of the most consistent performers all week, stacking rounds of 74, 71, 73, 71. The first-time Olympian tied for 27th overall.
DESIRAE KRAWCZYK, WOMEN’S TENNIS (UNITED STATES)
Desirae Krawczyk and her playing partner Danielle Collins fell in the second round of Women’s double’s play at Roland Garros, falling to the Ukrainian pair of Nadiia and Lyudmyla Kichenock in a third-set tiebreaker, 6-4, 4-6, (7-10). Krawczyk/Collins won their opening round match 6-1, 6-3 defeating Despoina Papamichail and Maria Sakkari. It was Krawczyk’s first Olympics representing Team USA after winning three grand slams in her career in mixed doubles and being ranked 12th in the world in double’s play.
BEATRICE LLANO, WOMEN’S TRACK & FIELD (NORWAY)
Llano went 66.92m in the opening round of the hammer throw qualifiers, but it wasn’t enough to advance to the final.
MAX McCUSKER, MEN’S SWIMMING (IRELAND)
The third leg of Ireland’s 4x100m medley relay, McCusker split 52.04 for the Irish, but they were unable to advance out of the opening preliminaries.
BLAIRE MCDOWELL, WOMEN’S WATER POLO (CANADA)
Playing in six of seven games with Team Canada, McDowell advanced to the quarterfinal round but fell to Spain, and later dropped both of their classification matches. McDowell’s only goal of the Games came in the 5th-8th classification match against Italy.
AZAHARA MUNOZ, WOMEN’S GOLF (SPAIN)
Competing in her third Olympic Games, Munoz finished t-13th in Women’s individual stroke play (285/-3). After an opening round of 78, Munoz responded with three consecutive rounds shooting 69, helping her surge eight spots up the leaderboard on the final day of play. She was the highest Sun Devil finisher among the five participants.
DUBEM NWACHUKWU, MEN’S TRACK & FIELD (NIGERIA)
The four-year Sun Devil Nwachukwu was not a member of Nigeria’s 4×400 or mixed 4×400 that raced in Paris.
DAVID PUIG, MEN’S GOLF (SPAIN)
In his first Olympic Games, Puig shot a 283 (-1) over four days of individual stroke play, carding consecutive 69s to open the week. His one-under finish placed him at t-40th.
JON RAHM, MEN’S GOLF (SPAIN)
Representing Spain alongside fellow Sun Devil David Puig, Rahm had a fantastic showing at the Paris Games, finishing tied for fifth place in individual stroke play with Ireland’s Rory McIlroy. Rahm went 67 or better in the first three days (67, 66, 66) before a 70 on the final day to finish -15 (269), just four strokes behind champion Scottie Scheffler.
BENTE ROGGE, WOMEN’S WATER POLO (NETHERLANDS)
A large part of the Netherlands’ 11-10 comeback against Team USA in the Bronze Medal Match, Rogge’s power-play goal tied the game at 10 with just over one minute remaining during the Netherlands’ five-goal run in the fourth quarter. In seven Olympic Games, Rogge tallied nine goals, including a goal in every game after the preliminary round.
LIEKE ROGGE, WOMEN’S WATER POLO (NETHERLANDS)
Rogge totaled 11 goals in seven Olympic Games, with a large part coming on the back end. Her five-goal game against Canada fueled the Netherlands into the quarterfinals. She tallied two goals in both the quarterfinal and semifinal games which led her team to the Bronze Medal Match against Team USA. Though she did not score in the game, she went home a bronze medalist after the Netherlands downed Team USA 11-10, with a goal in the final second of the match.
MIA RYCRAW, WOMEN’S WATER POLO (FRANCE)
started all four games in the net for France, and totaled 40 saves in four games for her squad. Though France did not advance out of the preliminary round, their historic win over Italy was the country’s first Olympic victory in women’s water polo.
JORINDE VAN KLINKEN, WOMEN’S TRACK & FIELD (NETHERLANDS)
Van Klinken went 63.35m in the discus final to place seventh overall. She posted the second-best mark in the qualifying round at 64.81m. In the shot put qualifier, her 16.35m attempt wasn’t enough to advance to her second final at the Games.
KEVIN YU, MEN’S GOLF (CHINESE TAIPEI)
Making his Olympic debut for Chinese Taipei, Yu posted a 288 across four days in the individual stroke play, placing 52nd overall. He had rounds of 73, 69, 72 and 74 to finish four-over.
Press Release courtesy of Sun Devil Athletics – Griffin Fabits
Click on Logo
