California

How many Olympians does California have? Meet the athletes headed to the 2024 Summer Games

This story and visualization are part of our new “Data In Your Life” series, in which we mine public databases to tell quick stories about the world around us.

The Summer Olympics are about to kick off as more than 10,000 athletes from across the world compete for gold, including nearly 600 on the U.S. Olympic team.

The games start Friday in Paris and will go until Sunday, Aug. 11.

This will be the third time that the French capital has hosted the Summer Games.

What are the top sports for Team USA at Summer Olympics?

Historically, the United States has done the best at track and field, swimming and shooting at the Summer Olympics, with more gold medals in these categories than any other.

Team USA has collected a total of 344 gold medals in track and field events at the Summer Games, compared to 257 gold medals for swimming and 57 for shooting.

Other sports that have garnered American athletes a lot of gold include wrestling, boxing and diving.

These are the top 15 sports for the U.S. at the Summer Olympics since the first modern Olympic games in 1896.

Which US states have most Olympic athletes per capita?

Olympians come from almost every state in the country this year.

However, Colorado, Vermont and Hawaii have the most Olympians per capita.

Vermont has 4.66 Olympians per 1 million people, while Colorado has 3.47 Olympians per a million residents and Hawaii has 3.45.

In contrast, California has 3 Olympians per 1 million people.

How many Olympians does California have at 2024 Summer Games?

California has a total of 142 Olympians and Paralympians on the U.S. team in 2024, according to the Team USA website.

That’s the most of any state in the nation.

In contrast, Florida has 46 Olympians and Paralympians competing as part of Team USA in Paris, and Texas has 44 athletes headed to the Olympics.

Most of the Californians competing at the Olympics this summer hail from the Bay Area or Southern California. That includes five athletes from San Jose, eight from Los Angeles and nine from San Diego.

From left, Norwegian players Christian Sorum and Anders Mol and Australian players Thomas Hodges and Zachery Schubert take part in a practice session ahead of the opening of the 2024 Olympic Games at the Eiffel Tower Stadium in Paris on Wednesday.
From left, Norwegian players Christian Sorum and Anders Mol and Australian players Thomas Hodges and Zachery Schubert take part in a practice session ahead of the opening of the 2024 Olympic Games at the Eiffel Tower Stadium in Paris on Wednesday. Odd Andersen AFP/Getty Images/TNS

Several Olympians come from Sacramento and the Central Valley, include Sacramento swimmer Luca Urlando, Folsom rower Michelle Sechser and water polo player Alex Obert.

Skateboarder Nyjah Huston and runner Fiona O’Keefe are from Davis.

Swimmer Erika Connolly calls Modesto home, and Sagen Maddelena, who’s competing in shooting, is from Groveland.

Click on a dot to see which Olympian is from your area.

Who are Californian Olympic athletes? Where are they from?

Here are the Californians competing in the Paris Olympics as part of the U.S. team, where they’re from and the sports in which they’ll compete, according to the Desert Sun:

Archery

  • Catalina Gnoriega, San Diego

Artistic swimming

  • Jacklyn Luu, Milipitas

Badminton

  • Jennie Gai, Fremont
  • Annie Xu, San Jose
  • Kerry Xu, San Jose

Men’s basketball

  • Kareem Maddox, Los Angeles

Women’s basketball

  • Chelsea Gray, Hayward
  • Jrue Holiday, Los Angeles
  • Sabrina Ionescu, Walnut Creek
  • Kelsey Plum, Poway
  • Diana Taurasi, Chino

Men’s beach volleyball

  • Andy Benesh, Rancho Palos Verdes

Women’s beach volleyball

  • Kelly Cheng, Fullerton
  • Sara Hughes, Costa Mesa

Boxing

  • Jajaira Gonzalez, Glendora

Cycling

  • Matteo Jorgensen, Walnut Creek

Equestrian

  • Steffen Peters, San Diego

Fencing

  • Nick Itkin, Los Angeles
  • Alexander Massialas, San Francisco

Golf

  • Collin Morikawa, La Canada
  • Xander Schauffele, San Diego State

Rowing

  • Azja Czajkowski, Chula Vista
  • Kara Kohler, Clayton
  • Michelle Sechser, Folsom

Rugby

  • Kayla Canett, Fallbrook
  • Naya Tapper, Beaufort

Sailing

  • Daniela Moroz, Lafayette
  • Hans Henken, San Francisco

Shooting

  • Sagen Maddalena, Groveland

Skateboarding

  • Tate Carew, San Diego
  • Nyjah Huston, Davis
  • Chris Joslin, Hawaiian Gardens
  • Tom Schaar, Malibu
  • Bryce Wettstein, Encinitas

Women’s soccer

  • Tierna Davidson, Menlo Park
  • Naomi Girma, San Jose
  • Catarina Macario, Los Angeles

Sport climbing

  • Natalia Grossman, Santa Cruz

Surfing

  • Griffin Colapinto, San Clemente
  • Caitlin Simmers, Oceanside

Swimming

  • Abbey Weitzeil, Santa Clarita

Table tennis

  • Kanak Jh, Milpitas
  • Rachel Sung, San Jose
  • Lily Zhang, Palo Alto

Taekwondo

  • C.J. Nickolas, Brentwood

Tennis

  • Marcus Giron, Thousand
  • Desirae Krawczyk, Palm Desert

Track and field

  • Nia Akins, San Diego
  • Malcolm Clemons, Oakland
  • Tara Davis-Woodhall, Agoura Hills
  • Kendall Ellis, North Hollywood
  • Rachel Glenn, Long Beach
  • Desiree Linden, Chula Vista
  • Michael Norman, Murrieta
  • Fiona O’Keeffe, Davis
  • Nico Young, Camarillo

Triathlon

  • Taylor Spivey, Redondo Beach

Men’s volleyball

  • T.J. Defalco, Huntington Beach
  • Garrett Muagututia, Oceanside
  • David Smith, Saugu

Women’s volleyball

  • Kathryn Plummer, Aliso Viejo
  • Justine Wong Orantes, Cypress

Men’s water polo

  • Alex Bowen, Santee
  • Luca Cupido, Newport Beach
  • Ben Hallock, Westlake Village
  • Johnny Hooper, Los Angeles
  • Max Irving, Long Beach
  • Alex Obert, Loomis
  • Marko Vavic, Palos Verdes
  • Adrian Weinberg, Los Angeles

Women’s water polo

  • Rachel Fattal, Seal Beach
  • Jenna Flynn, San Jose
  • Kaleigh Gilchrist, Newport Beach
  • Amanda Longan, Moorpark
  • Maddie Musselman, Newport Beach
  • Maggie Steffens, Danville
  • Tara Prentice, Temecula

Wrestling

  • Amit Elor, Walnut Creek
  • Miles Partain, Pacific Palisades
  • Dominique Parrish, Scotts Valley
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