Later this month, some of the world's best athletes will be descending upon Paris, France for the 2024 Summer Olympics. With more than 320 events across 32 different sports and over 10,000 athletes participating, there are a handful of athletes that have ties to Cleveland or the Northeast Ohio area.
These are the five athletes at the Summer Olympics that Northeast Ohio is part of the story for.
Katie (Nageotte) Moon — Women’s Pole Vault
Moon is returning to the summer games to defend her title. The graduate of Olmsted Falls High School took home the gold medal in women’s pole vault during the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo (that occurred in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic). Since then, she’s won gold medals at the 2022 and 2023 World Championships, matching her Olympic-winning vault of 4.90 meters at the 2023 competition. Moon also placed second at the 2022 World Indoor Championship. Her other accomplishment since her Olympic gold medal? Tying the knot with her husband, Hugo Moon, in 2022. Moon will begin her competition on Aug. 5 at 4:40 a.m. Eastern Time.
Morelle McCane — Women’s Boxing
McCane picked up boxing as a 17-year-old senior at Glenville High School and 12 years later she finds herself on the world stage representing the United States in Paris. McCane qualified for the Olympics thanks to a silver medal at the 2023 Pan American Games. Her best finish in the World Championships is ninth place, but that came in the 70kg division. While in Paris, she’ll be representing the United States in the 66kg weight class. McCane is the first female boxer from Cleveland to qualify for the Olympics and just the second from the state of Ohio. McCane's first boxing match of the Olympics comes in the Round of 16 on Aug. 1 at 10:50 a.m.
LeBron James & Stephen Curry — Men’s Basketball
The member of this list that needs the least introduction is certainly James. His story is well-known, as the greatest basketball player of all time calls Akron his home. The current Los Angeles Lakers and former Cleveland Cavaliers forward will be competing in his fourth Olympic games, having previously won two gold medals and a bronze medal in the 2004 Summer Olympics (we like to forget about that one). He enters this summer as the all-time Olympic assist leader for USA Basketball, while tied for second in games played and sits in third in points scored. He’s one of just three men to play in three Olympic games for the United States.
Curry isn’t often associated with Northeast Ohio — at least not in a good way for Cavs fans — but he was born in Akron while his father, Dell, was a member of the Cavs during the 1987-88 season. Despite being labeled as the greatest shooter of all time and the NBA’s all-time leader in 3-pointers, Curry has never played in the Olympics. Team USA begins its quest to defend their gold medal July 28 at 11:15 a.m. against Serbia.
Marcus Christopher — Men’s BMX Freestyle
BMX Freestyle made its Olympic debut in Tokyo in 2021 and it returns with a Northeast Ohioan taking part in the festivities. Marcus Christopher, a resident of Canton, will be heading to Paris to represent the United States. Christopher is coming off of a gold medal at X Games Ventura 2024 in the BMX Park. In Tokyo, Team USA went home without a medal, and Christopher will look to change that later this summer. The BMX Park event takes place 8:45 a.m. on July 31.
For more updates about Cleveland, sign up for our Cleveland Magazine Daily newsletter, delivered to your inbox six times a week.
Cleveland Magazine is also available in print, publishing 12 times a year with immersive features, helpful guides and beautiful photography and design.
