35 Black Athletes To Watch In Rio (PHOTOS)

1. Allyson Felix

Sport: Track and Field – Sprinter Hometown: Los Angeles, California Fun Fact: At age 30, Allyson is an Olympic gold medalist, two-time Olympic silver medalist and three-time World Champion.

2. Simone Manuel

Sport: Swimming Hometown: Sugar Land, Texas Fun Fact: Simone currently holds the American record in the 100yd freestyle.

3. Simone Biles

Sport: Gymnastics Hometown: Columbus, Ohio Fun Fact: Simone is the first African American woman ever to be world all-around champion and the first woman ever to win three consecutive world all-around titles.

4. Vashti Cunningham

Sport: Track and Field – High Jump Hometown: Las Vegas, Nevada Fun Fact: Vashti (who is only 18 years old by the way) is the daughter of retired NFL player Randall Cunningham and the niece of retired NFL fullback Sam Cunningham.

5. Alysia Montaño

Sport: Track and Field – Middle Distance Runner Hometown: Queens, New York Fun Fact: In 2014, Alysia competed in the 800m event at the U.S. Outdoor Championships while eight months pregnant.

6. LaShawn Merritt

Sport: Track and Field – Sprinter Hometown: Portsmouth, Virginia Fun Fact: LaShawn will be returning to the summer Olympic games to compete in the 400m event after injury prevented him from competing in 2012.

7. Serena and Venus Williams

Sport: Tennis Hometown: Lynwood, California

Fun Fact: While their list of palmares is much to long to list here, on impressive fact is that the two sisters combined have won a total of 58 Grand Slam titles during their careers.

8. Steph Curry

Sport: Basketball Hometown: Akron, Ohio Fun Fact: Steph is the first NBA player ever to be unanimously voted MVP (2015).

9. Dawn Harper-Nelson

Sport: Track and Field – 100m Hurdles Hometown: East St. Louis, Illinois Fun Fact: Dawn is the first American 100m hurdler to ever win gold at an Olympics (2008) and then another medal in the following Olympics (2012).

10. Ashleigh Johnson

Sport: Water Polo – Goalkeeper Hometown: Miami, Florida Fun Fact: If Ashleigh couldn’t play water polo anymore she would choose beach volleyball as a sport to play.

11. Gabrielle Douglas

Sport: Gymnastics Hometown: Virginia Beach, Virginia Fun Fact: Gabby is the first African American woman in Olympic history to become the individual all-around champion.

12. Donnell Whittenburg

Sport: Gymnastics Hometown: Baltimore, Maryland Fun Fact: Donnell is the 2014 National Champion on Vault and is the 2015 National Champion on the Rings.

13. Shamier Little

Sport: Track and Field – 400m Hurdles Hometown: Louisville, Kentucky Fun Fact: Rio 2016 will be Shamier’s first Olympics.

14. Maya Moore

Sport: Basketball Hometown: Jefferson City, Missouri Fun Fact: Maya is second woman ever to win the MVP award for the WNBA regular-season, the WNBA finals, and the All-Star game in one year.

15. Michelle Carter

Sport: Track and Field – Spot Put Hometown: San Jose, California Fun Fact: Michelle’s father is Michael Carter, a former Olympian and NFL player for the 49ers.

16. Carlin Isles

Sport: Rugby – Wing Hometown: Massillon, Ohio Fun Fact: Before Carlin took up rugby he competed in track and field as a sprinter.

17. Marquise Goodwin

Sport: Track and Field – Long Jump Hometown: Lubbock, Texas Fun Fact: Marquise is also a NFL wide receiver and kickoff returner for the Buffalo Bills.

18. Candice Parker

Sport: Basketball Hometown: St. Louis, Missouri Fun Fact: Candice is the first woman to dunk in an NCAA tournament game.

19. Tori Bowie

Sport: Track and Field – Long Jump, 100m, 200m Hometown: Sandhill, Mississippi Fun Fact: Tori won bronze in the 100m at the World Championships in 2015

20. Trayvon Bromell

Sport: Track and Field – Sprinter Hometown: St. Petersburg, Florida Fun Fact: Trayvon is the first junior to surpass the 10-second barrier in the 100m event.

21. Daryl Homer

Sport: Fencing – Sabre Hometown: Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands Fun Fact: Daryl is the first American man to win a medal in saber at the Senior World Championships (2015).

22. Christian Taylor

Sport: Track and Field – Triple Jump and Long Jump Hometown: Fayetteville, Georgia Fun Fact: Christian will be returning to Rio to defend his 2012 gold medal in the triple jump.

23. Lia Neal

Sport: Swimming – Freestyle Events Hometown: Brooklyn, New York Fun Fact: Lia is the second African-American woman to ever join the U.S. swim team.

24. Brittney Griner

Sport: Basketball Hometown: Houston, Texas Fun Fact: Brittney stands 6ft 9in tall.

25. Brittney Reese

Sport: Track and Field – Long Jump Hometown: Inglewood, California Fun Fact: Brittney is the current indoor word record holder in the long jump with a distance of 7.23 meters.

26. Cullen Jones

Sport: Swimming – Freestyle Sprint Events Hometown: Bronx, New York Fun Fact: Cullen was prompted to learn to swim after almost downing at a water park when he was five years old.

27. Jordan Burroughs

Sport: Freestyle Wrestling Hometown: Camden, New Jersey Fun Fact: Jordan is the fourth wrestler ever to win an NCAA title and world title in the same year.

28. Justin Gatlin

Sport: Track and Field – Sprinter Hometown: Flint, Michigan Fun Fact: Justin is a former Olympic gold medalist in the 100m dash.

29. English Gardner

Sport: Track and Field – Sprinter Hometown: Voorhees Township, New Jersey Fun Fact: English has a personal best of 10.79 seconds for the 100m dash which ranks her in the top twenty all-time.

30. Claressa Shields

Sport: Boxing Hometown: Flint, Michigan Fun Fact: Claressa is the first American woman to win a boxing gold medal (London 2012).

31. Ajee Wilson

Sport: Track and Field – Middle Distance Runner Hometown: Neptune Township, New Jersey Fun Fact: Ajee specializes in the 800m and won a Junior World Title in the event in 2012.

32. Boris Berian

Sport: Track and Field – Middle Distance Runner Hometown: Colorado Springs, Colorado Fun Fact: Boris is the 2016 National Champion in the 800m.

33. Cam F. Awesome

Sport: Boxing Hometown: Uniondale, New York Fun Fact: Cam legally changed his name from Lenroy Thompson.

34. Mebrahtom “Meb” Keflezighi

Sport: Long Distance Runner Hometown: Asmara, Eritrea Fun Fact: When Meb won the Boston Marathon in 2014, he was just shy of his 30th birthday making him the oldest winner of the Boston Marathon since at least 1930. He also was the first American male to win the race since 1983, and first American since 1985.

35. Aries Merritt

Sport: Track and Field – 110m Hurdles Hometown: Chicago, Illinois Fun Fact: Aries holds the word record in the 100m hurdles with a time of 12.80.