Alabama Crimson Tide Athletes Competing in the Tokyo Olympics
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — A grand total of 19 current and former University of Alabama athletes will be competing at this year's 2021 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
The athletes will compete in eight different sports and represent 12 different countries. Eight of the 19 athletes will be representing the United States.
Among the Americans, three will be competing for a gold medal in track and field. Quanesha Burks graduated in 2017 and will be representing the U.S. in the women's long jump while Daniel Haugh, a two-time All-American at Alabama who transferred to Kennesaw State for his redshirt senior season in 2018, will be competing in the men's hammer throw.
Shelby McEwen was the last American athlete to qualify, earning himself a spot on Team USA on Sunday night by placing third in the men's high jump at the Olympic qualifiers.
One American swimmer also made the cut, with current Crimson Tide junior Rhyan White earning a ticket to Tokyo to compete in both the 100-meter and 200-meter women's backstroke.
Sarah Robles will be competing in her third Olympics, having represented the United State in weightlifting in 2012 and 2016. At the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Robles won the bronze medal — the first for an American man or woman since 2000.
Perhaps the three most recognizable names that will be representing the United States for Alabama fans are Justin Thomas, who will be competing in men's golf, Haylie McCleney, who will be on the U.S. Softball team and David Robertson for U.S. Baseball.
The 2021 Summer Olympic Games are slated to begin on Wednesday, July 21 and will be broadcast in the United States on the NBC family of networks. Stay tuned to Bama Central for a full How to Watch schedule once the TV listings are announced.
Here is a full list of the 19 athletes competing in this year's Olympics (in alphabetical order), as well as the country they will be representing and their respective event(s):
Alabama Crimson Tide Athletes at the 2021 Tokyo Summer Olympics
Kalia Antoniou: Cyprus, Swimming - TBD
Quanesha Burks: United States, Track & Field - Women’s Long Jump
Kristian Gkolomeev: Greece, Swimming - Men’s 50m Freestyle; Men’s 4×100 Free Relay
Daniel Haugh: United States, Track & Field - Men’s Hammer Throw
Kirani James: Grenada, Track & Field - Men’s 400m
Leonie Kullmann: Germany, Swimming - Women’s 400m Free; Women’s 4×200 Free Relay
Haylie McCleney: United States, Softball
Shelby McEwen: United States, Track & Field - Men’s High Jump
Anton McKee: Iceland, Swimming - Men’s 200m Breaststroke
Stephanie Meadow: Ireland, Women's Golf
Shallon Olsen: Canada, Gymnastics - Vault; others TBD
Diana Petkova: Bulgaria, Swimming - Women’s 200m Individual Medley
Abbas Qali: Kuwait, Swimming - Men’s 100m Butterfly
Jereem Richards: Trinidad & Tobago, Track & Field - Men’s 200m
David Robertson: United States, Baseball
Sarah Robles: United States, Weighlifting - +87kg Weightlifting
Justin Thomas: United States, Men’s Golf
Merel Van Dongen: Netherlands, Women’s Soccer
Rhyan White: United States, Swimming - Women’s 100m, 200m Backstrokes
This story will be updated with more athletes/information if necessary. A special shout-out to @BamaProUpdates on Twitter for compiling the list of athletes from the 10 different represented countries.