Six Former or Current Athletes Connected to U of A Win Medals at Paris Olympics
Clockwise from top left: Olympic gold medalists Chris Bailey, Kaylyn Brown, Kelsey Plum and Roje Stona. Razorback Athletics and Michael Steele/Getty Images.
Current and alumni Razorback athletes and one former graduate student garnered four gold medals, two silver medals and two bronze medals during the 2024 Olympiad in Paris, France. It was the U of A’s highest medal count since Razorbacks began winning medals in 1948. A group of professional athletes who train at Fayetteville also received a total of seven medals: four gold, two silver and a bronze.
If the medals won by U of A athletes were combined with those won by professional athletes who train in Fayetteville, they would have placed at No. 14 in the Olympic medal count, just behind Canada and Uzbekistan.
Razorback Medalists
Roje Stona, competing for Jamaica, broke the Olympic record for discus with a gold-medal winning throw of 229 feet, 8 inches (70.00 meters) at the Stade de France. Stona became Jamaica’s first gold medalist in a field event. “It’s a great feeling, it’s what I’ve been praying for and what I’ve been dreaming of,” Stona said. “To come here and actually do it, it’s the best feeling in my life.”
Through the final three rounds, Stona was in seventh place. “It doesn’t get any more difficult than that,” he said. “I knew I had nothing to lose so I just went for it.” His throw improved on the world record by 2 inches.
Kelsey Plum, a former graduate student and grad assistant for the Razorbacks women’s basketball team, won her second Olympic gold medal as part of this year’s U.S. women’s Olympic basketball team. The U.S. team narrowly squeaked by France in the final game, 67-66. In 2021, Plum helped the United States win the first-ever Olympic gold medal awarded in 3×3 basketball when the sport was introduced. She currently plays for the Las Vegas Aces in the WNBA, which won national championships in 2022 and 2023.
Razorback sprinter Kaylyn Brown of the United States collected Olympic gold and silver medals as a member of the U.S. relay teams in the world-record-setting women’s 4×400-meter team and its mixed 4 x 400-meter relay team, respectively. Brown’s split was 49.14 as the anchor leg for the United States during the preliminary competition, and the team set a world record in that preliminary round.
Alumnus Wayne Pinnock, competing for Jamaica, won the silver medal in the men’s Olympic long jump with a leap of 27 feet, 5.25 inches (8.36 meters) in the second round. “Words can’t explain the feeling,” Pinnock said. “I’ve always wanted to be an Olympian. My dream has really come through with a silver medal. Unfortunately, I didn’t get gold, but it’s all in God’s plan.”
Chris Bailey, a Razorback alumnus who still trains at Fayetteville, led off the U.S. men’s 4×400-meter relay team, which won gold with finished sixth in the men’s 400-meter race with a time of 44.58. During semi-final qualifying rounds, Bailey ran a career best time of 44.31 during his split.
Similarly, Amber Anning picked up two bronze medals as a relay team member for Great Britain’s mixed 4×400-meter relay team and its women’s 4×400-meter relay team. Anning ran the anchor leg for Great Britain’s 4×400-meter relay, which also won bronze. Anning also set the British national record in the 400-meter race with a time of 49.29 seconds, placing fifth overall on a wet track surface and just 1/100th of a second behind fourth-place Rhasidat Adeleke of Ireland.
U of A Competitors
Romaine Beckford, a senior this year who swept NCAA high jump titles indoors and outdoors, finished in the men’s high jump finals, competing for Jamaica.
Razorback alumna Taliyah Brooks, who still trains in Fayetteville, finished 11th overall with a score of 6,258 points in the women’sheptathlon competing for the United States. While at Arkansas, she won the NCAA pentathlon championship.
Former Razorback Nico Echavarria represented his native Colombia at the 2024 Olympics in the men’s golf competition, finishing tied for 35th with four other competitors. Echavarria was an All-American during the 2013 season.
Alumna Maria Fassi, representing Mexico, finished in 58th place in the women’s golf competition. Fassi, the 2019 NCAA champion, also competed in the delayed Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
Rachel Glenn, a red-shirt sophomore and two-time NCAA champion, finished in eighth place in the women’s high jump, competing for the United States.
Competing for Jamaica, the 19-year-old Razorback alumnus Jaydon Hibbert, winner of The Bowerman trophy in 2023, finished fourth in the men’s triple jump, just an inch behind the bronze medalist, Andy Diaz Hernandez of Italy.
Alumna Nikki Hiltz took seventh in the women’s 1,500-meter final with a time of 3:56.38 with fellow American Elle St. Pierre finishing right behind in eighth. During U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Hiltz set a new American record for the 1,500-meter race with a time of 3:55.33.
Anna Hopkin, who competed in swimming for the Razorbacks and earned a master’s degree in kinesiology at the U of A, raced in four swim events, finishing seventh overall in two team events with Great Britain’s women’s 4×100-meter freestyle relay and the mixed 4×100-meter medley relay. She also finished 10th in the women’s 50-meter freestyle race and 11th in the 100-meter race. She was part of the British relay team that won the gold medal in 2021 at the Tokyo Olympics.
Current Razorback Sanu Jallow, who just finished her sophomore year, represented her home country of The Gambia in the women’s 800-meter race but failed to advance after round one of the competition.
Alumna Gaby Lopez returned to Olympic golfing this summer but finished out of competition for medals. Lopez finished tied for 29th with five other golfers. Lopez was runner-up for the 2015 NCAA Championship and was playing in her third Olympics.
Alumna Shafiqua Maloney, the first athlete from St. Vincent and the Grenadines to reach an Olympic finals, was less than a quarter second away from medaling in the 800-meter final. She finished fourth with a time of 1:57.66 in the race.
Alumna Ackera Nugent, competing for Jamaica, made it to the finals of the women’s 100-meter hurdles but did not finish after hitting her first hurdle and never recovering for the rest of the race. Nugent was the 2023 NCAA champion for the Razorbacks.
Ayden Owens-Delerme finished the men’s decathlon with a final score of 8,437 points that placed the Arkansas alumnus ninth overall in his Olympic debut. He represented Puerto Rico at the Olympics.
Nickisha Pryce, the Jamaican national record holder in the 400-meter race, made it to the semi-finals but failed to advance to the finals, which were won by Marileidy Paulino of the Dominican Republic.
Joscelyn Roberson, who will start classes in a couple of weeks, was chosen as a traveling alternate athlete for the U.S. women’s gymnastics team going to the Olympics, but didn’t see competition.
Alumna Tina Šutej, who won the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championship in 2011 and finished fifth in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, finished 19th in the women’s pole vault for her native Slovenia
Incoming transfer Isabella Whittaker qualified for the U.S. Olympic team’s 4×400 relay pool, a group of six runners who were available to run in the U.S. team’s relay races.
Athletes Who Train at Fayetteville
In addition to current Razorback athletes and alumni, the following 10 competitors with ties to the U of A or Fayetteville also qualified:
- Ryan Crouser, a volunteer assistant coach for the Razorbacks, became the first athlete to win three gold medals in the shotput. He won gold medals previously in Rio and Tokyo, and holds the world record in shotput.
- Tara Davis-Woodhall, who trains in Fayetteville after competed for Georgia and Texas as a collegian, won gold in the women’s long jump. Her husband, Hunter Woodhall, competed for the Razorbacks and was a 200-meter silver medalist in the 2016 Paralympics and two-time bronze medalist in 2016 and 2021.
- Anna Cockrell, who trains at Fayetteville, placed second in the women’s 400-meter hurdles for the Olympic silver medal.
- Shamier Little, an Arkansas volunteer assistant and two-time silver medalist in the World Championships, and Alexis Holmes, a professional runner training in Fayetteville, were part of the U.S. 4×400-meter relay team that set an American record while winning gold. Holmes also finished sixth in the 400-meter race.
- Brittany Brown, a professional runner who trains in Fayetteville, won bronze in the women’s 200-meter race, competing for the United States.
- Andranette Knight, who trains in Fayetteville, was part of Jamaica’s relay pool for the women’s 4×400-meter relay, which placed fourth, and the mixed 4×400-meter relay.
- Jah-Nhai Perinchief, who trains at Fayetteville and was the flag bearer for Bermuda during the Opening Ceremony, competed in the men’s triple jump but didn’t make it to the finals.
- Cindy Sember, who trains in Fayetteville, represent Great Britain in the women’s 100-meter hurdles but was not able to finish during a semifinal race or advance to the finals.
- Gianna Woodruff represented Panama for a second time in the Olympic Games. She placed seventh in the 400-meter hurdles at the Tokyo Olympics. In Paris, she competed through the first round but was unable to move to the finals.
PREVIOUS OLYMPIC MEDALISTS
U of A athletes, students and alumni have won 32 Olympic medals through the years:
2024
Chris Bailey – 4×400 Relay – Gold
Kaylyn Brown – 4×400 Relay – Gold
Kelsey Plum – 5×5 Basketball – Gold
Roje Stona – Discus – Gold
Kaylyn Brown – Mixed 4×400 Relay – Silver
Wayne Pinnock – Long Jump – Silver
Amber Anning – 4×400 Relay – Bronze
Amber Anning – Mixed 4×400 Relay – Bronze
2021
Anna Hopkin – 4×100 Mixed Medley Swim Relay – Gold
Kelsey Plum – 3×3 Basketball – Gold
Hunter Woodhall – Paralympics 400-meter Dash – Bronze
2016
Taylor Ellis-Watson – 4×400 Relay – Gold
Omar McLeod – 110-meter Hurdles – Gold
Sandi Morris – Pole Vault – Silver
Veronica Campbell-Brown – 4×100 Relay – Silver
2012
Veronica Campbell-Brown – 100 meters – Bronze
Veronica Campbell-Brown – 4×100 Relay – Silver
2008
Veronica Campbell-Brown – 200 meters – Gold
2004
Veronica Campbell-Brown – 100 meters – Bronze
Veronica Campbell-Brown – 200 meters – Gold
Veronica Campbell-Brown – 4×100 Relay – Gold
Deena Drossin Kastor – Marathon – Bronze
Matt Hemingway – High Jump – Silver
2000
Veronica Campbell-Brown – 4×100 Relay – Silver
1996
Calvin Davis – 400-meter Hurdles – Bronze
1992
Mike Conley Sr. – Triple Jump – Gold
1984
Joe Kleine – Basketball – Gold
Alvin Robertson – Basketball – Gold
Mike Conley Sr. – Triple Jump – Silver
1948
Clyde Scott – 110-meter Hurdles – Silver
Gordon Carpenter – Basketball – Gold
R.C. Pitts – Basketball – Gold
This story also appeared in the University of Arkansas News publication.