Here are the 2024 Olympic athletes with ties to New Mexico

Jul. 26—CHASE JACKSON — SHOT PUT — UNITED STATES

Born in Los Alamos and graduated Los Alamos High

Set for her first Olympic appearance, Jackson, 31, is the odds-on favorite to take home gold in the women's shot put after winning back-to-back outdoor world titles in 2022-23. And the Los Alamos High School graduate is more than deserving of those odds: After coming up short at previous qualifying meets in 2016 and 2021, Jackson dominated the field at the U.S. Olympic Trials to earn a coveted trip to Paris — one she even delayed her honeymoon for.

"Olympics come first," the former Chase Ealey, long known for her exuberant personality, told the Journal right after her marriage to Mitch Jackson in February. "And then I'm just gonna wear (the medal) to sleep, I'll wear it on my honeymoon. You'll see the picture."

MARIAH DURAN — STREET SKATEBOARDING — UNITED STATES

Born, lives and trains in Albuquerque

Duran, 27, is the only returner from the United States' inaugural Olympic street skateboarding team in 2021, accompanying 16-year-old Paige Heyn and 19-year-old Poe Pinson. After taking a year off from competitive skating, the six-time X Games medalist is looking to improve upon her 13th place overall finish in Tokyo with a "refreshed" mindset heading into her second Olympic games.

"(I'm) just enjoying the process because it goes so fast and taking what I can get, and I guess just being more forgiving with hurdles that I had to jump over, taking those as good things and learning from them and building off of them," Duran told the Journal in April. "So I feel like that was kind of like the biggest thing going into this one, accepting. Accepting the adversity that comes with the competitive environment."

WEINI KELATI — 10,000M — UNITED STATES

UNM athlete

Kelati's ferocious kick to come from behind and win the women's 10,000 meter final proved to be one of the most memorable moments from this year's U.S. Olympic Team Trials. And while another win won't be easy — Kelati, 27, is set to race against 10,000 world record holder Beatrice Chebet of Kenya — the former UNM All-American and American half-marathon record-holder has more than proved she can dig deep when it counts.

ALICJA KONIECZEK — 3,000M STEEPLECHASE — POLAND

Lives and trains in Albuquerque, former UNM coach

A former volunteer track and field coach at UNM, Konieczek left Boulder, Colorado-based On Athletic Club in 2022 to train for the Paris Games in Albuquerque. So far, the move has paid off for the 29-year-old from Zbąszyń, Poland as she recorded a personal best in the 3,000 meters steeplechase (9:17.20) earlier this year.

ANICKA NEWELL — POLE VAULT — CANADA

Grew up in Albuquerque, graduated Highland High

A former 5A state champion at Highland High School, Newell is making her third Olympics appearance for Canada after growing up in Albuquerque and later competing at Texas State University. Newell, 30, holds dual citizenship between the United States and Canada and is looking to improve upon a no height finish at the Tokyo Games in 2021. Read more.

JOSH KERR — 1,500M — GREAT BRITAIN

UNM athlete, trains in Albuquerque

Few races in Paris will attract as much attention as the men's 1,500, and Kerr is playing as big a role as any in that. Not only has the Edinburgh, Scotland native and former NCAA champion at UNM had a sensational year to date — Kerr, 26, recorded a new indoor two-mile world record and broke Steve Cram's 39-year-old British mile record — but he's spent much of his time on and off the track stoking a burgeoning rivalry with the reigning 1,500 gold medalist in Norway's Jakob Ingebrigtsen.

Factor in other contenders like U.S. phenom Cole Hocker and Kenya's Timothy Cheruiyot and it's fair to say the 1,500 might provide one of the biggest spotlights of any race in Paris this summer — one that Kerr is eager to take the lead in.

"I don't care how I win," he told The Mirror earlier this month. "People might think I only have one way from seeing (his gold medal run at the 2023 World Outdoor Championships in Budapest) but I've been doing this a long time, winning in every kind of way."

TAPIWANASHE (CARLIE) MAKARAWU — 200M — ZIMBABWE

New Mexico Junior College athlete

Makarawu, 23, will be competing in his first Olympics after wrapping up an astounding junior college career in Hobbs that included two national titles in 2024, in the 100 meters and 200 meters, in his senior season. The Harare, Zimbabwe native ran the 200m in 19.93 seconds at a meet in Lubbock in April, currently the 10th fastest 200m in the world this year.

KEVON WILLIAMS — RUGBY SEVENS — UNITED STATES

New Mexico Highlands athlete

A Houston native, Williams, 33, is making his second Olympics appearance. In both Tokyo and Paris, the halfback wing served as captain of the U.S. Rugby Sevens team. He plays professional rugby for the Denver Barbarians. In 2012, Williams was a star wide receiver for the New Mexico Highlands football team, leading the Cowboys in receptions (73), and was second on the team in receiving yards (945) and receiving touchdowns (six) in his senior year.

VICTOR PEREZ — GOLF — FRANCE

UNM athlete

Perez, 31, a three-time All-Mountain West selection from 2012-14, has made 12 of 18 cuts in his first full-time PGA Tour season, with a solo third place finish at the RBC Canadian Open serving as his high watermark on the year. Set for his first Olympic appearance, he joins Matthieu Pavon as one of two new faces representing France in Paris.

GAVIN GREEN — GOLF — MALAYSIA

UNM athlete

Green, 30, has two top-five finishes and 13 of 19 made cuts this season on the DP World Tour, his best result coming in a tie for fifth place at the Hero Indian Open in March. As Malaysia's only representative on the men's side, the former two-time Mountain West Golfer of the Year has made five straight cuts and is the tour's fourth-ranked golfer in strokes gained putting (+1.13 per round).

MANON DE ROEY — GOLF — BELGIUM

UNM athlete

De Roey, 32, has rebounded from a rough year on the LPGA Tour to record seven top-ten finishes on the Ladies European Tour (LET) this season, including a four-stroke (-14) victory in the Investec South African Women's Open in April. The 2014 Mountain West individual champion is currently ranked third in the LET's Order of Merit rankings, a season-long competition to determine the tour's best player.

ALENA SHARP — GOLF — CANADA

NMSU athlete

Set for her third Olympic appearance, Sharp, 43, has made seven of 10 cuts this season across six starts on the LPGA Tour and four on the second-tier Epson Tour. The former NMSU All-American carded her best finish of the year with a third place showing at the Epson Tour's Copper Rock Championship in May.

URSULA WIKSTROM — GOLF — FINLAND

NMSU athlete

A former All-America honorable mention at NMSU, Wikström, 44, has three top ten finishes on the Ladies European Tour this season. Her best result came at the three-round Tiesport Czech Ladies Open in June, with the 43-year-old finishing third (-12) overall.

OTHERS

Mackenzie White and Ellis Dawson, both UNM alumni and former athletic staffers, will also represent UNM as staff for Team USA. A 2009 graduate, White will serve as a dietician for U.S. swimmer and track and field athletes while Dawson, a 1993 graduate, will work as a manager for Team USA Basketball.

Journalist Gadi Schwartz, a Cibola High and New Mexico State alum, will be in Paris reporting on the Olympics for NBC and its affiliate stations. This is Schwartz's third Olympics, following his debut at the 2016 Rio Games and the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Games. Schwartz spent nearly a decade at KOB-TV in Albuquerque before joining NBC's national reporting team. Noah Apodaca, who will be entering his senior year at New Mexico State this fall, is interning with the NBC Sports team involved in streaming Olympic events online. Apodaca will be working out of the NBC Sports hub in Stamford, Connecticut.

Swimmer Katie Ledecky, 27, leads Team USA with 10 Olympic medals, including seven golds and three silvers and will be one of the more prominent athletes from any country in any sport competing in Paris. Though Katie was born in Washington, D.C., her mother, Mary Gen Hagan Ledecky, is a former UNM swimmer.

Wyndham Clark, 30, is one of four golfers on the American team. The 2023 U.S. Open Champion was born in Denver but both of his parents are from Albuquerque. Father Randall Clark was a dominant state champion tennis player for Albuquerque Academy and his mother, the late Lise Thevenet, was named Miss New Mexico in 1981.