Who’s headed to Paris Olympics from Las Vegas Valley?

Forty-three athletes and a coach with Southern Nevada ties will be searching for gold when they compete in the 2024 Paris Olympics beginning July 26.

The list comprises six members of the Aces, one player from the Lights Football Club, three swimmers and a coach, a track and field star, a taekwondo fighter, a shooter, a badminton player, two golfers and 27 skateboarders.

Though their sports cover an array of athletic skills, most of the athletes share one common bond.

“When you put on a United States of America jersey, you really represent so many people,” said Aces guard Kelsey Plum, who won a gold medal on the 3X3 basketball team in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics that took place in 2021 because of the COVID pandemic. “There’s a pride in that. We have a lot of differences today in our society. But at the end of the day, something about that jersey.”

Shooter Lexi Lagan, a Boulder City High graduate, echoed that thought.

“To represent your country on such a huge stage is truly incredible,” she said. “What a great experience to be at that level of excitement.”

Here’s a look at the 44 headed to Paris:

Women’s basketball

Plum will play for the main U.S. team, joining center A’ja Wilson and guards Chelsea Gray and Jackie Young — the Aces’ “Core Four.”

Wilson, a two-time winner of the WNBA MVP award, will be playing in her second Olympics. She was a key player on the U.S.’s main team in Tokyo, averaging 16.5 points a game.

Center Megan Gustafson will represent Spain’s main team. Tiffany Hayes will play on the 3X3 team for Azerbaijan.

Soccer

Edison, a midfielder for the Lights of the United Soccer League, will play for the Dominican Republic. The 20-year-old has extensive international experience. He has one assist in 13 appearances with the Lights this season.

Swimming

At 15, Katie Grimes was the youngest member of the U.S. team in Tokyo, finishing fourth in the 800m freestyle.

Billed as the “future of U.S. swimming” by legendary American swimmer Katie Ledecky, Grimes was the first U.S. athlete to qualify for Paris. Now 18, the former Sandpipers of Nevada star will swim in the 1500m freestyle, the 400m individual medley and the open-water 10-kilometer events.

Also competing for the U.S will be 17-year-old Claire Weinstein, a transplant from New York and another member of the Sandpipers club. She will appear in the 200m freestyle and 4x200m freestyle relay.

Local swimmer Ilya Kharun, 19, will compete in the men’s 100m and 200m butterfly for Canada.

Ronald Aitken, the Sandpipers’ head coach and CEO, will serve as the U.S. Open Water head coach.

Track and field

Bishop Gorman High graduate Vashti Cunningham, 26, will compete in the high jump.

Cunningham, daughter of former NFL great Randall Cunningham, finished 13th in the event in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics and sixth at Tokyo. She has won one gold medal, one silver and one bronze in her World Indoor Championships experience.

Golf

Collin Morikawa, 27, will compete for the U.S. men’s team for the second straight Olympics. He moved to Las Vegas from Southern California shortly after turning pro in 2019 and quickly became one of the world’s top players. He won in his sixth start on the PGA Tour, then captured the 2020 PGA Championship and 2021 British Open.

Morikawa lost in a seven-way playoff for the bronze medal to C.T. Pan of Chinese Taipei in Tokyo.

Rose Zhang, 21, will play for the U.S. women’s team for the first time. She is the most decorated amateur golfer of her generation, winning the U.S. Women’s Amateur, Augusta National Women’s Amateur and two NCAA individual titles at Stanford before turning pro last summer.

Zhang won her first professional start at the LPGA’s Mizuho Americas Open last summer, then won again this spring at the Cognizant Founders Cup to reach the top 10 in the world rankings.

Born and raised in Southern California, Zhang moved to Las Vegas in April.

Taekwondo

Faith Dillon, 22, surprised even herself with outstanding performances in qualifying events, earning a spot on the American team in the featherweight (-57kg) division.

The West Career and Technical Academy alum won a bronze at the Roma World Taekwondo Grand Prix in June 2023 and a silver at the Manchester Grand Prix in December.

Shooting

Lagan, 31, qualified for the U.S. team in January and will compete in the 10m air pistol events. She did not medal in her first Olympic appearance four years ago, but said she gained valuable experience.

Badminton

Chinese-born American Beiwen Zhang, 33, will compete as a singles specialist in badminton.

The Las Vegas resident has lived in the United States since 2013 and will play for the U.S. women’s team. She has a 319-173 career record, topped by singles titles at the 2021 Pan Am Championships and 2023 Pan American Games.

Park skateboarding

This will mark the second Olympics for the men’s and women’s park skateboarding event, which will consist of fields largely made up of athletes representing a Las Vegas-based organization.

Street League Skateboarding relocated from Southern California this year and is headquartered in the UFC building in the southwestern part of the valley.

The combined men’s and women’s fields will include 27 athletes who compete under the SLS banner. Those competitors represent 10 countries and include five of the six medalists from Tokyo.

Park skateboarding takes place on “street-like courses” with stairs, handrails and similar obstacles. Athletes are graded on tricks and judged on control of their board and the course over two 45-second runs.

American superstar Nyjah Huston headlines the group of American men’s qualifiers from SLS, along with defending Olympic champion Yuto Horigome of Japan, silver medalist Kelvin Hoefler of Brazil and American bronze medalist Jagger Eaton.

Sora Shirai (Japan), Gustavo Ribeiro (Portugal), Chris Joslin (USA), Aurelien Giraud (France), Giovanni Vianna (Brazil), Matt Berger (Canada), Ryan Decenzo (USA), Felipe Gustavo (Brazil), Vincent Milou (France), Jhancarlos Gonzalez (Colombia) and Shane O’Neill (Australia) round out the men’s group.

Americans Paige Heyn, Poe Pinson and Mariah Duran qualified from SLS on the women’s side, along with defending Olympic silver medalist Rayssa Leal of Brazil and bronze medalist Funa Nakayama of Japan.

They will be joined by Liz Akama (Japan), Chloe Covell (Australia), Wenhui Zeng (China), Roos Zwetsloot (Netherlands), Pamela Rosa (Brazil), Keet Oldenbeuving (Netherlands) and Gabi Mazetto (Brazil).

Adam Hill and Greg Robertson contributed to this story. Review-Journal reporter Jeff Wollard can be reached at jwollard@reviewjournal.com.