Several San Diegans are bringing home some serious hardware from the 2024 Paris Olympics.
In sports ranging from skateboarding to rugby, these San Diego County athletes medaled at this year’s Summer Olympic Games
Skateboarding
This is the second Olympic Games featuring skateboarding, and San Diego County was well represented, especially on Team USA.
Encinitas resident Jagger Eaton, 23, was the first San Diegan to make it to the podium in Paris. He took home a silver in the men’s street competition. Eaton won bronze at the 2020 Tokyo games.
In the men’s park skateboarding competition two San Diegans medaled: Team USA’s Tom Schaar, 24 — who is a San Dieguito Academy graduate — won silver and Australia’s Keegan Palmer, 21, who was born in San Diego, took home the gold. It was a close match-up though. Schaar fell behind in his final run, barely missing gold with a score of 92.3 compared to Palmer’s 93.11.
Women’s Rugby
The women’s rugby sevens team made U.S. Olympic history in Paris with their bronze medal. They are the first team to bring home a medal in any Olympic rugby sevens event. Three San Diegans were on the history-making roster: Kayla Cannet, 26, from Fallbrook, Sara Levy, 28, from San Diego and Ilona Maher, 27. Maher, who is also known for her social media presence, is originally from Burlington, Vermont, but currently lives and trains in San Diego.
It was a dramatic final match. The U.S. scored in the final seconds against Australia, nabbing bronze 14-12.
Cycling
San Diegan Jennifer Valente, 29, won gold in Olympic team pursuit cycling. Alongside teammates Kristen Faulkner, Chloe Dygert and Lily Williams, Valente completed the 4,000 meter endurance race in 4:04:306 beating team New Zealand who finished in 4:04:927.
Valente won a second gold medal in the Omnium cycling event.
Valente grew up taking cycling classes at the San Diego Velodrome in Balboa Park and would attend Tuesday race nights with her dad, according to The San Diego Union-Tribune. She graduated from Cathedral Catholic High School and attended the University of Colorado Springs. This is her fourth Olympic medal.
Tennis
Taylor Fritz, 26, and his partner Tommy Paul took home the bronze medal in men’s doubles. Fritz is from Rancho Santa Fe. He turned pro in 2015 and has a career-high singles ranking of world No. 5 by the Association of Tennis Professionals, achieved on February 27, 2023.
Volleyball
Garrett Muagututia, 36, and the U.S. men’s volleyball team took home bronze. They beat Italy in straight sets 3-0. Muagututia is from Oceanside. He attended UCLA.
Triple Jump
Shanieka Ricketts, 32, won silver for Jamaica in the Olympic triple jump competition.
Ricketts graduated from San Diego State University in 2014 and was inducted into the Aztec Hall of Fame in 2019.
Soccer
While not from San Diego, Naomi Girma, 24, and Jaedyn Shaw, 19, have strong San Diego ties. They both play for San Diego Wave FC.
The U.S. Women’s National Team (USWNT) won gold, beating Brazil 1-0.
It was a pretty important match as the team was seeking some redemption. From settling for bronze in Tokyo in 2020 to the team’s earliest elimination in a World Cup ever last year, the USWNT went into the 2024 Paris Olympics with something to prove.
Water Polo
Alex Bowen, 30, will competed alongside teammates to bring home the U.S. a bronze medal.
Bowen is from Santee and went to Santana High School. This is his third Olympics. Bowen was a guest on KPBS Midday Edition before the Paris games started.
Basketball
Kelsey Plum, 29, and Team USA teammates beat France to win the gold medal.
Plum is from Poway and attended La Jolla Country Day. This is her second Olympics. She won gold in the 2020 Tokyo games.
Sport Climbing
Brooke Raboutou, 23, won silver in the women's combined climbing event.
Raboutou graduated from the University of San Diego in 2023. She was the first American ever to qualify for the Olympics in sport climbing at the 2020 Tokyo games.
