AURORA – The 2024 Paris Olympic Games featured 15 athletes who competed in a CHSAA-sanctioned sport during their high school days and eight additional athletes who attended a CHSAA member school. Throughout this year’s games, those athletes combined to win eight Olympic medals, including four gold and four silver.
Among those highlighting this crop of local talent is track star and Silver Creek graduate Valarie Allman. With her 69.59-meter discus throw, Allman accomplished the furthest discus throw ever by any American woman at the Olympics. She also became the first American woman ever to win two gold medals in any field event and is now just the second American woman ever to win multiple medals in the discus throw.
While Allman was the only former CHSAA athlete to win a medal as an individual athlete, Colorado athletes also helped Team USA capture gold in two team sports – women’s soccer and men’s basketball – and silver in women’s volleyball.
Mountain Vista’s Mallory Swanson (formerly known as Mallory Pugh) and Fossil Ridge’s Sophia Smith helped lead the way for the United States, as the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team secured its fifth gold medal overall and its first since the 2012 London Olympics. Swanson and Smith were key figures in Team USA’s triumph, as Swanson led the team in goals scored (four) and Smith was the team’s second-leading scorer, with three goals scored (tying Trinity Rodman). On top of that, Smith and Swanson tied Golden High School alum Lindsey Horan for the team lead in assists, with two.
Swanson and Smith also shined in some of the biggest highlights for the women’s soccer team during the team’s gold medal run.
First was Smith’s stellar extra-time goal in the semifinal match with Germany. In the extra-time period, with the game still knotted at 0-0, Swanson threaded a flawless pass between a bevy of German defenders to find Sophie Smith in stride, who unleashed a blistering shot into the top left corner of the net. Without that goal, Team USA might not have medaled at all instead, of winning gold.
Then there was Swanson’s go-ahead goal in the second half of the gold medal match with Brazil, where she pulled away from the defense to corral a Korbin Albert pass and launch the deciding strike past the goalkeeper.
Later that same day, Legend graduate Derrick White helped the men’s basketball team capture its fifth-consecutive gold medal with a 98-87 victory over France. For the 2024 Paris Olympics, White averaged 3.8 points, 1.6 assists, 1.4 rebounds, and 1.4 steals per game. White’s best performance came in the group-play stage against South Sudan, as he tallied 10 points and three steals in just 17 minutes on the court.
On the final day of the Olympics, the United States women’s volleyball team – which featured Haleigh Washington, formerly of Doherty and Clear Creek, and Eaglecrest alum Jordyn Poulter – came up just short of gold, as they fell to Italy in the gold medal game. Securing the silver medal was still a remarkable feat for Team USA, as this marked just the fifth time that the team advanced all the way to the gold medal game.
Cheyenne Mountain grad Canyon Barry represented the United States on the hardwood as a member of the men’s 3×3 basketball team. Although the team ultimately didn’t make the cut for tournament play, Barry still had a solid showing, leading the team in scoring with 8.4 points per game.
CHSAA’s lone swimming representative at the 2024 Paris Olympics was one-time Regis Jesuit swimmer Emma Weber. Weber finished eighth in the heat stage of the women’s 100-meter breaststroke and also helped guide the women’s 4×100 medley relay team through the second heat stage, with a second-place finish. That finish earned the U.S. a spot in the finals, where they set a new world record for the women’s 4×100 medley relay, though Weber didn’t compete in that final race.
Wyndham Clark, a Valor Christian graduate, served as CHSAA’s representative on the United States’ golfing team. Although Team USA’s Scottie Scheffler managed to bring home the gold, Clark fell just short of the cut-line, which ended his Olympic run early.
On the track, Colorado high schools were especially well represented, with four additional former CHSAA athletes competing alongside the aforementioned Allman. Valor Christian alum Anna Hall finished fifth in the women’s heptathlon with 6,615 total points, just 92 shy of a medal. Niwot hosted a watch party for locals to cheer on Elise Cranny, who finished 11th in the women’s 5,000-meter race. Team USA also saw Valerie Constien, of Battle Mountain, finish 15th in the women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase and Columbine’s Woody Kincaid finish 16th in the men’s 10,000-meter race.
The last two CHSAA athletes at this year’s Olympics – Jessica Thoennes and Christopher Blevins – didn’t compete in the same sports they competed in under the CHSAA umbrella, but still had tremendous showings. Thoennes, a Mountain Vista alum, competed in rowing and finished fourth in the women’s coxless pair finals, finishing just 1.78 seconds shy of a medal. Meanwhile, Blevins finished 13th in the men’s cross-country cycling final.
The eight athletes from Colorado high schools who didn’t compete in a CHSAA sport or activity while in school also had impressive performances at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Riley Amos, of Animas High School, in Durango, competed alongside Blevins in the men’s cross-country cycling final, though he finished seventh.
Fairview had two former students compete in sport climbing, with Brooke Raboutou and Natalie Grossman. Raboutou earned the silver medal in both women’s boulder climbing and women’s lead climbing finals, while Grossman finished fifth in the boulder climbing semifinals and 11th in the lead climbing semifinals.
Colin Duffy, a Stargate Charter School graduate, also competed in sports climbing. Duffy finished fourth in the men’s lead climbing finals and second in the men’s boulder climbing finals.
Finally Rylan Kissell and Olivia Cummins round out the one-time Colorado high schoolers at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Kissell had his best finish in the mixed 10-meter air rifle competition, where he finished 13th. Meanwhile, Cummins didn’t ultimately compete in a race, but she did serve as the youngest member of the Team USA Women’s Track Cycling Team Pursuit squad, and that team ultimately won the gold medal for their event.