By Foster Nicholas | Sports Editor
Seven Baylor Bear athletes and one coach will represent the green and gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics from July 26 to Aug. 11. The Olympic opening ceremony is set for 12:30 p.m. CT Friday, and the three-hour event will be aired live on NBC.
The Paris Games will feature 329 events in 32 sports, including the “core” 28 and four optional sports — breaking, skateboarding, sport climbing and surfing — being added by the Paris Organizing Committee. Although no Bears will compete in the new events, Baylor will tie a school record set during the 2020 Tokyo Games of seven participating athletes.
The Bears have consistently performed among the best, as at least one current or former Baylor athlete has won a gold medal in seven of the past eight Summer Games. Here is a look at the seven athletes and one coach representing Baylor at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Avery Skinner | Women’s Volleyball, United States
The unanimous 2021 All-Big 12 First Teamer will compete in her first Olympic Games in 2024. The 25-year-old outside hitter played 2017-20 at Kentucky before wrapping up her college career in 2021 at Baylor. Skinner made her debut with Team USA in 2022 as a member of the Women’s National Team for the Pan Am Cup and the Pan Am Cup Final Six.
Skinner and the United States will open their Paris Olympics in the Preliminary Round, playing in Pool A against China at 10 a.m. on Monday. Team USA will look to keep their hot streak rolling, as the squad has earned Bronze or better in each of the last four Summer Games, including a first-place finish in 2020.
Brittney Griner | Women’s Basketball, United States
Griner will compete in her third consecutive Olympic Games at 33 years old. The two-time gold medalist and three-time Big 12 Player of the Year was honored by Baylor women’s basketball during the 2023-24 season, and her jersey was lifted into the rafters of Foster Pavilion. During the Olympics, Griner has started 14 games, averaging 12.6 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game.
Since 1984, the United States has won Gold in nine of the 10 previous Summer Games. Team USA tips off play against Japan at 2 p.m. on Monday. They will round out Group C play against Germany and Belgium on Aug. 1 at 10:15 a.m. and 2 p.m., respectively.
Chinecherem Prosper Nnamdi | Men’s Track & Field, Nigeria
The 2024 Big 12 Outdoor Javelin Champion holds every top 10 mark in Baylor program history and will attend his first Olympic Games at 22 years old. The Awka, Nigeria native is one of two current Bears competing in the 2024 Paris Games alongside rising senior teammate Nathaniel Ezekiel.
He just wrapped up his junior campaign at Baylor, where he won the conference title for the third consecutive year and broke the Big 12 Championship record with a throw of 262-6 on his final attempt. The stacked resume doesn’t stop there. In March, Prosper Nnamdi won the All-African Games with a 271-8 mark, breaking the program record in Ghana and earning a personal best.
Men’s Javelin Throw qualifying will occur on Aug. 6 at 3:20 a.m. All finalists will go for Gold on Aug. 8 at 1:25 p.m.
Nathaniel Ezekiel | Men’s Track & Field, Nigeria
On the heels of his junior season at Baylor, during which he broke the program record he set in 2022 in the 400m hurdle with a time of 48.29, Ezekiel will compete in his first Olympic Games. The 21-year-old was the 2024 Outdoor Big 12 Champion in the 400m hurdle and secured the Bronze Medal at the NCAA Outdoor meet.
The rising senior opened the 2024 Outdoor season in the top-2 in the nation in the 400-meter and 400-meter hurdles. Ezekiel will compete in the 400-meter hurdle event, which opens on Sunday, Aug. 4, at 5:35 a.m. for initial heats before the Semifinals and Final in the following days.
John Peers | Men’s Tennis, Australia
Peers snagged Bronze in mixed doubles in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and will compete in his third Olympic Games in Paris. The 36-year-old spent his senior year in 2010-11 with Baylor, where he was named All-Big 12 in both singles and doubles.
Peers won his first Grand Slam title at the 2017 Australian Open and added his second in mixed doubles at the 2022 US Open. Since his time at Baylor, the Australian has racked up 27 career titles and peaked as high as No. 2 in the world in doubles play in 2017.
Playing in doubles, Peers will team up with Matt Ebden and face Benjamin Hassan and Hady Habib of Lebanon in the first round starting Sunday at 3:30 p.m.
Kristy Wallace | Women’s Basketball, Australia
Wallace will debut with the Opals squad for women’s 5-on-5 basketball in her first Olympic Games. At Baylor, she was a five-time All-Big 12 team member and had six top-10 records in program history at the end of her college career in 2018. Wallace is in her third season in the WNBA, averaging 4.8 points, 2.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists with the Indiana Fever.
Playing in Group B, Australia will face Nigeria on Monday at 4 a.m., Canada on Aug. 1 at 6:30 a.m. and France on Aug. 4, at 2 p.m.
Michael Ford | Track & Field, Coach, United States
After coaching his way to Olympic gold in 2004 and 2008, Baylor track and field head coach Michael Ford will return to the Olympic games for Team USA as the men’s sprints and hurdles coach.
Ford just completed his 22nd year on staff with the Bears and his third as head coach. He was also a prolific sprinter in his day, a two-time 4×400-meter relay national champion while running the first leg for both the 1995 and 1996 teams.
“I am truly grateful, thankful and blessed to be selected to the USA Paris Olympic staff,” Ford said. “I have been on a few international teams before, but the Olympic Games is a huge honor.”
Track and Field events at the Paris Olympics will begin on Aug. 1, with major event finals on Aug. 7, 8 and 9.
Nuni Omot | Men’s Basketball, South Sudan
Omot spent two seasons with the Bears, including the 2016-17 season, where Baylor hit No. 1 in the AP Poll for the first time in program history. Since averaging 9.9 points per game in his senior season at Baylor in 2017-18, Omot has played in the NBA with the Brooklyn Nets and New York Knicks. He has most recently played overseas with the Ningbo Rockets of the Chinese Basketball Association, the Chorale de Roanne in France and the Maccabi Ramat Gan of the Israeli Basketball Premier League.
The 29-year-old will represent South Sudan in their historic Olympic Debut. In a video posted by FIBA on Instagram, Omot shared his feelings about representing his country.
“It’s a blessing,” Omot said. “It’s amazing. A lot of emotions so I can’t even describe the emotions that we feel right now. Obviously, it’s gonna be our first Olympic debut campaign. Just to be able to be a part of it, it’s a blessing. We’re opening up doors and opportunities and showing that good light and good face for the country after how many years we’ve suffered.”
Participating in Group C, South Sudan will tip off its 2024 Olympic games against Puerto Rico on Sunday at 4 a.m. It will then face the United States on July 31 and Serbia on Aug. 3.
