Source: Mike Coppola / Getty
Oui love to see it!
We’re here to celebrate the 2024 Paris Olympics but have to point out that being Black in the United States can be an emotional rollercoaster. On one hand, you get to witness and celebrate milestones like the first Black president getting elected, or the first Black woman Vice President now running to become the first woman president. On the other hand, you turn on the news and get word that yet another unarmed Black person, most recently, Sonya Massey, was gunned down by a cop who should have been in that line of work in the first place. It’s a lot.
But then comes the Olympics and you can’t help but root for everybody Black.
Source: Tim Clayton – Corbis / Getty
Everyone knows athletes work really hard at their respective sports, but when it comes to the Olympics, you can times that hard work by a trillion. They don’t mess around in the pursuit of all-gold-everything, and we love to see it.
It’s game time for the 2024 Paris Olympics. While we know the superstar names such as LeBron James, Brittney Griner, A’ja Wilson, Steph Curry, Simone Biles, Sha’Carri Richardson, Noah Lyles, Jordan Chiles, and Coco Gauff, there are so many more Black athletes that we should celebrate.
Flip through the slides for 12 Black athletes to watch at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Jeffrey “B-Boy Jeffro” Louis – Break Dancer
Yes, yes, y’all! From the gritty 1970’s streets of the Bronx to the world! For the first time in Olympic history, we have breakdancing as a sports category and Jeffrey “B-Boy Jeffro” Louis is a contender. The Houston native is part of the Rock All Day Crew in regular life, but in the Olympics, he’s repping for the USA.
Sydney Mclaughlin-Levrone – Track and Field
Mclaughlin-Levrone is a sprinter and hurdler who competes in the 400-meter hurdles. The 2024 Paris Olympics is not her first rodeo. In 2016, she made the Rio Games at 16, and then she competed in the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. She already has some gold and silver medals under her belt, but she’s competing in Paris this year to show the world she’s still one of the best.
Ashleigh Johnson – Water Polo
In 2016, Johnson made history at the Rio Games as the first Black woman to represent America in water polo at the Olympics. She won gold with her team that year, and then again in Tokyo. The team is going for its fourth consecutive gold Olympic medal but it’s not going to be easy.
Gabby Thomas – Track and Field
Thomas is a sprinter who won a bronze medal in the 200 m and a silver in the women’s 4×100 m relay at the Tokyo Olympics.
Frederick Richard – Gymnastics
The 20-year-old just helped his team win an all-around bronze. It’s the first time since 2008 that the men’s team won any medal in this category.
Simone Manuel – Swimming
Manuel just won a silver in the 4×100 freestyle relay for the 2024 games!
Morelle McCane – Boxing
Known as “Million Dollar Mo”, Morelle McCane makes history as the first woman boxer from Cleveland to qualify for the Olympics.
Lauren Scruggs – Fencing
Scruggs just made history in the 2024 Paris Games as the first Black woman from the United States to win an individual medal in a women’s fencing event. The Harvard student got the silver repping for all the New Yorker Americans out there. Queens, to be exact. She better!
Naya Tapper – Rugby
She is co-captain of the USA Women’s rugby team and competed in her second Olympics. She snagged a Bronze medal and shared that she’s retiring from the sport with her head held high.
Dearica Hamby
The LA Sparks Forward is on Team USA to hopefully sweep Women’s Basketball and get to the gold. Y
It’s going well so far as Team USA had a blowout win over Japan Tuesday.
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Sophia Smith – Soccer
She just helped Team USA beat Germany in a 4-1 victory. It’s safe to say she came to go hard, and not go home until the W is achieved.
Chris Eubanks – Tennis
Sometimes, even good athletes have bad days. Ebanks unfortunately lost his first-round match at the 2024 Games, handing Lebanon its first Olympic victory. Fans weren’t happy, but you win some, you lose some.
