Although Paris, France, sits worlds away from Iowa City, Iowa, a handful of Hawkeyes will represent the Black and Gold there in the upcoming Summer Olympics from July 26 to Aug. 11.
Leading the pack is one of the most decorated Iowa athletes of all time in Spencer Lee, a current favorite to win a gold medal in the 57-kilogram weight class in men’s freestyle wrestling, which will run from Aug. 8-9.
The three-time NCAA Champion qualified for the Summer Games with four-straight wins at the World Olympic Games Qualifier in Istanbul, Turkey — his devastating end to his collegiate career motivating him in the quest for gold one year later.
In search of his fourth national championship at the 2023 NCAA Championships, Lee was again the favorite to win it all but was shockingly pinned by Purdue’s Matt Ramos in the semifinals in one of the biggest upsets in collegiate wrestling history, marking his final match for the Hawkeyes.
That fate is similar to that of legendary Iowa wrestling coach Dan Gable — one of the greatest collegiate wrestlers of all time — whose sole loss in college came in a massive upset in the NCAA final of his senior season. But Gable went on to win gold at the 1972 Munich Games, in which he did not surrender a single point. Lee looks to take a similar path.
“I’m finally an Olympian now, so that’s great,” Lee told FloWrestling. “But to me, [being an] Olympian doesn’t mean a whole lot unless you come back with that prized gold medal.”
On the track, former Hawkeye sprinter Brittany Brown will represent the red, white, and blue next month with her second-place finish in the women’s 200-meter final at the USATF Olympic Trials in Eugene, Oregon, this past week.
The Adidas athlete of Claremont, California, and 11-time All American at Iowa ran a personal record of 21.90 seconds, beating the likes of Sha’Carri Richardson to make the cut and advance to Paris.
“We are all so proud of Brittany and everything she has overcome to make her first Olympic team,” Iowa Director of Track and Field Joey Woody told HawkeyeSports. “She had her PR performance at the perfect time to punch her ticket to Paris, and we are so excited for her.”
Although not a part of the star-studded U.S. men’s basketball national team that holds the likes of NBA champion Jayson Tatum, all-time great LeBron James, and former Iowa State Cyclone Tyrese Haliburton, Keegan Murray will instead go against them in their quest for gold.
That’s because the current Sacramento Kings shooter was one of 15 hoopers named to the USA Basketball Men’s Select Team to train with the national team in preparation for the Summer Games.
Murray returns after being a member of the team last year, this time joining the likes of Cooper Flagg of Duke University and Brandon Miller of the Charlotte Hornets.
The native of Cedar Rapids is averaging 13.7 points per game on 45 percent from the field and 38 percent from deep thus far in his career, and he has proven to be one of the most valuable young players in the NBA.
While counterpart Caitlin Clark will be missing from the U.S. women’s basketball team, still on the court will be 2019 Naismith College Player of the Year and current Las Vegas Aces backup Megan Gustafson — this time representing Spain upon receiving Spanish citizenship this year.
“It’s definitely been a dream of mine since I was a little girl to play at the highest level,” Gustafson told Northern News Now. “Every four years, I would watch the Olympics with my family and the people in it that I’ve always looked up to and wanted to be like them, so just to see that happening and realize a dream like that is really awesome.”
Likewise, four-year Hawkeye veteran Tomi Taiwo will represent Nigeria on the basketball court, having served in a reserve role as an off-the-bench shooter for Iowa before transferring to TCU in 2022 for her final year of eligibility. She currently plays overseas.
Former Hawkeye hooper Peter Jok, a first-team All-Big Ten selection in 2017 by way of Rumbek, South Sudan, is vying for a spot on South Sudan men’s basketball team as the team competes in the event for the first time in its country’s history. The final roster is to be determined on July 18. Jok currently plays for the Ottawa BlackJacks in the Canadian Elite Basketball League.
Two of Team Canada’s five women’s artistic gymnasts are incoming freshmen at the University of Iowa: Cassie Lee of Toronto and Aurélie Tran of Repentigny.
The two were on Team Canada’s team that won bronze at the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, while Tran competed in the 2021 Junior Pan American Games and won bronze in the all-around and silver on the uneven bars.
More uniquely, Eve Stewart will represent Iowa’s rowing team on behalf of Great Britain, having qualified three times for the NCAA Rowing Championships in her career with the Hawkeyes.
Stewart, of the Netherlands, will mark the first Hawkeye to ever compete in the rowing event at the Summer Olympics.
“It doesn’t feel real yet,” Stewart told the Iowa Center for Advancement. “It’s an actual dream come true. [That’s] the best way to describe it.”
