PARIS – The 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris are now officially over and they featured almost a dozen athletes from the St. Louis region.
Although all of them did not win a medal in their respective events, the St. Louis region takes pride in its athletes that donned the red, white, and blue in Paris.
Eleven athletes participated in the 2024 Summer Olympic Games. Here’s a break down of how they did…
Napheesa Collier
2024 Olympics – Gold Medalist
Naphessa Collier represented the United States Women’s Basketball team in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. Collier, 27, entered the 2024 Olympics as a two-time Olympian after winning gold in the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
Collier successfully defended the gold medal she won in Tokyo as the U.S. women’s basketball team beat France in a 67-66 nail-biting win in the gold medal game. The win gave Collier her second Olympic gold medal and marked the U.S. women’s basketball team’s eighth consecutive gold medal win.
Collier was raised in St. Charles County and Jefferson City. Collier played high school ball at Incarnate Word Academy in St. Louis County, where she earned the Gatorade Player of the Year award in 2013 and 2015.
Collier currently plays professionally for the WNBA’s Minnesota Lynx, where she was drafted sixth overall in the 2019 WNBA Draft. She previously played college basketball at the University of Connecticut before her opportunities in the WNBA and Team USA Basketball.
Freddie Crittenden III
Freddie Crittenden III was a part of the United States Men’s Track and Field team in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. Crittenden III, 30, participated in his very first Olympic games.
Crittenden III participated in the 110-meter Hurdles for the U.S. track and field team, where he finished in 6th place.
Crittenden III was born in St. Louis and attended McCluer North High School through his sophomore year before moving to Michigan. He spent four years with the track and field team at Syracuse University, earning two first-team All-American honors and four All-ACC team honors.
After college, Crittenden III earned a silver medal in the 2019 Pan American Games and a gold medal in the NACAC Championships, both for the 110-meter hurdle competition.
Tyler Downs
Tyler Downs represented the United States Men’s Diving team in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. Downs, 21, is a two-time Olympian and returns after finishing 23rd in the 3m springboard event at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
Downs participated in the 3m springboard synchro event at the 2024 Summer Olympics, where he finished in 8th place.
Downs was born in St. Louis and raised in Ballwin. He briefly competed with the men’s swimming and diving team at Purdue University after graduating from an online high school program in 2021.
Downs is a six-time U.S. junior diving national champion, competing in the U.S. Junior Pan American Games as early as 2015. He earned a bronze medal after participating in the 2023 Pan American Games last year.
Brandon Miller
Brandon Miller was a member of the United States Men’s Track and Field team at the 2024 Summer Olympics Games. Miller, 22, participated in his very first Olympic games.
Miller was featured in the 800-meter track and field event, finishing 17th in the race.
Miller was born in St. Louis and attended high school at John Burroughs, where he broke school records and became a state champion.
Miller attended college at Texas A&M for two years, where he earned two first-team All-American Outdoor 800m honors and broke an American collegiate record in 2022 with a time of 1 minute, 45.24 seconds.
DeAnna Price
DeAnna Price, 31, entered her third straight Summer Olympic games as a member of the U.S. Women’s Field Events team.
Price participated in the women’s hammer throw event, where she finished in 11th place. Price previously finished in 8th place when she participated in the same events during both the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
Price was born and raised in Troy, Missouri. She attended Troy Buchanan High School, where she developed a passion for discus and shot put throwing after earning All-state honors in softball.
Price attended Southern Illinois University for college, where she won back-to-back NCAA titles in the hammer throw event in 2015 and 2016.
Price broke the USA Track & Field Indoor Championships hammer throw 25-pound record in February 2021. She would go on and set a new personal best and an American record with a distance of 80.31 meters later in the year.
Patrick Schulte
Patrick Schulte represented the United States Men’s Soccer team in the 2024 Summer Olympics. Schulte, 23, entered Paris as a first-time Olympian.
Schulte served as the goalkeeper for the USA Soccer team and won two games in five appearances. The USA soccer team would go on to lose 4-0 to Morocco’s men’s soccer team in the quarterfinals of the tournament.
Schulte was born and raised in St. Charles. He played three season as the lead goaltender for St. Louis University from 2019 to 2021, earning an A-10 Conference Championship and leading the Billikens to an NCAA Quarterfinals appearance.
Schulte is the lead goaltender for Major League Soccer’s Columbus Crew. He has won 11 matches and has a .766 save percentage, the league’s best so far this season. Although he made his Olympic debut in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, Schulte has previously participated in the Under-20 and Under-18 camps for the U.S. Men’s National Team.
Aaron Shackell & Alex Shackell
2024 Olympics – Gold Medalist (Alex Shackell – 4 x 100m Medley Relay)
2024 Olympics – Silver Medalist (Alex Shackell – 4 x 200m Medley Relay)
Siblings Aaron and Alex Shackell participated as members of the U.S. Men’s and Women’s Swimming teams. Aaron, 19, and Alex, 17, both made their debuts at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
Aaron participated in the Men’s 400m Freestyle event, where he finished in 8th place.
Alex became a 2-time Olympic medalist in the 2024 Summer Games after winning a gold medal in the women’s 4 x 100m Medley Relay and a silver medal in the 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay events. She also finished in 6th place in the women’s 200m Butterfly event.
The siblings both spent part of their childhood in the St. Louis region before their family moved to Carmel, Indiana. Their father, Nicholas, previously swam for the U.S. in the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.
Emily Sisson
Emily Sisson was a member of the United States women’s marathon team in the 2024 Summer Olympics. Sisson, 32, entered Paris for her second consecutive Olympic bid.
Sisson participated in the women’s marathon event, where she finished in 23rd place. Sisson previously finished in 10th place when she participated in the 10000m event during the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
Sisson was born in Milwaukee and spent time in Nebraska before moving to the St. Louis region in high school. She transferred to Parkway Central High School, where she would go on to win two cross country state titles.
After graduating high school, went on to run for Providence College, where she won two NCAA Championships and set a collegiate indoor record for women in the 5000-meter race with a time of 15 minutes, 12.22 seconds.
Jayson Tatum
2024 Olympics – Gold Medalist
Fresh off winning the 2024 NBA Finals, Jayson Tatum was a member of the United States men’s basketball team at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. Tatum, 26, entered the 2024 Olympics as a two-time Olympian after winning gold in the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
Although many criticized Team USA Basketball coach Steve Kerr for the amount of playing time Tatum received, Tatum successfully defended the gold medal he won in Tokyo as the U.S. men’s basketball team beat France 98-87 in the gold medal game.
Tatum was born and raised in St. Louis. He played high school basketball for Chaminade College Preparatory School in Creve Coeur, rallying the program to back-to-back Final Four state appearances and earning a state championship to close out his high school career.
Before the Boston Celtics of the NBA selected Tatum third overall in 2017, he spent one season at Duke University. Tatum’s basketball career continues to evolve. He secured his first NBA title in June after seven years in the league, five of which have led to All-Star appearances.
Jayden Ulrich
Jayden Ulrich, 21, made her Olympic debut in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris as a member of the U.S. Women’s Field Events team and participant in the discus competition.
Ulrich participated in the women’s Discus Throw event, where she finished in 18th place.
Ulrich was born and raised in the Metro East and attended East Alton-Wood River High School, where she was a three-time state champion between shot put and discus. She now attends the University of Louisville, where she set a new personal best in shot put last year with a distance of 18.66 meters in the NCAA East Regional Championship.
Ulrich did not immediately secure an Olympic bid after placing 17th in the shot put event in the 2024 Olympic trials, but qualified after her performance helped her jump to 25th in the world rankings.
