Team Spirit
Every Houstonian Competing in This Year’s Olympics
How they’re doing and when to watch them.
Who doesn’t love the Olympics? The pomp and circumstance, the outstanding athleticism, the national pride? After all, who can resist two weeks every four (or five) years where you can make-believe you’re as talented as Simone Biles or as fast as Michael Phelps?
Yes, it’s finally, finally time for the Tokyo Olympics, and we have a lot to be excited for. And our eyes are on the 20-plus Houston athletes competing in this year’s Games. Here’s a roundup of the Bayou City’s finest and when they’re competing—for both Team USA and other countries—from now through the end of the games on August 8.
Baseball
Who’s competing:
Shane Baz
- Hometown: Cypress
- Specialty: Right-handed Pitcher
- Age: 22
- Olympic experience: This is his first Olympics.
- Fun fact: Baz currently plays for the Tampa Bay Rays.
Scott Kazmir
- Hometown: Cypress Falls
- Specialty: Left-handed Pitcher
- Age: 37
- Olympic experience: This is his first Olympics.
- Fun fact: Kazmir plays for the San Francisco Giants.
Simeon Woods-Richardson
- Hometown: Sugar Land
- Specialty: Right-handed Pitcher
- Age: 20
- Olympic experience: This is his first Olympics.
- Fun fact: He currently plays for the Toronto Blue Jays.
When to watch:
5 a.m. Friday, July 30
- USA vs Israel
5 a.m. Saturday, July 31
- USA vs South Korea
Gold medal game: 2:30 a.m. Saturday, August 7
Basketball - Men’s
Who’s competing:
Dante Exum
- Country: Australia
- Specialty: Guard
- Age: 26
- Olympic experience: This is his first Olympics.
- Houston team: Houston Rockets
When to watch:
3:20 a.m. Sunday, July 25
- Final: Australia 84, Nigeria 65
3:20 a.m. Wednesday, July 28
- Final: Australia 86, Italy 83
3:20 a.m. Saturday, July 31
- Australia vs Germany
Gold medal game: 9:30 p.m. Friday, August 6
Basketball - Women’s
Who’s competing:
Brittany Griner
- Hometown: Houston
- Specialty: Center
- Age: 30
- Olympic experience: This is her second Olympics. Griner won gold in the 2016 Rio Games.
- Fun fact: Griner plays for the Phoenix Mercury.
When to watch:
11:40 p.m. Monday, July 26
- Final: USA 81, Nigeria 72
11:40 p.m. Thursday, July 29
- USA vs Japan
11:40 p.m. Sunday, August 1
- USA vs France
Gold medal game: 9:30 p.m. Saturday, August 7
Boxing - Women’s
Who’s competing:
Virginia “Ginny” Fuchs
- Hometown: Bellaire
- Specialty: Flyweight
- Age: 33
- Olympic experience: This is her first official Olympics.
- Fun fact: Fuchs won her weight class in the 2016 U.S. Olympic trials, but lost in the qualifiers. In spite of this, the U.S. women’s boxing team still named her team captain for the Rio Games, even though she couldn’t compete.
When to watch:
9 p.m. Saturday, July 24
- Final: Fuchs 3, S. Soluianova (Russia) 2
5:39 a.m. Thursday, July 29
- Fuchs vs. S. Krasteva (Bulgaria)
Gold medal match: 12:15 a.m. Saturday, August 7
Cycling
Who’s competing:
Lawson Craddock
- Hometown: Houston
- Specialty: Road Cycling
- Age: 29
- Olympic experience: This is his first Olympics.
- Fun fact: Craddock raised more than $200,000 for Houston's Alkek Velodrome after Hurricane Harvey.
When to watch:
6:30 p.m. Friday, July 23
- Final: 80th place, 6:21:46 time
Fencing - Women’s
Who’s competing:
Courtney Hurley
- Hometown: Born in Houston, raised in San Antonio
- Specialty: Epee Fencing
- Age: 30
- Olympic experience: This is her third Olympics. Hurley won a team bronze medal in the 2012 London Games and competed in the 2016 Rio Games.
- Fun fact: Hurley is the younger sister of fellow Olympian Kelley Hurley.
Kelley Hurley
- Hometown: Born in Houston, raised in San Antonio
- Specialty: Epee Fencing
- Age: 33
- Olympic experience: This is her fourth Olympics. Hurley won a team bronze medal in the 2012 London Games and competed in the 2008 Beijing and 2016 Rio games.
- Fun fact: Hurley is the older sister of fellow Olympian Courtney Hurley.
Anna Van Brummen
- Hometown: Houston
- Specialty: Epee Fencing
- Age: 27
- Olympic experience: This is her first Olympics.
- Fun fact: Van Brummen will turn 27 less than a week after the Games end on August 15.
When to watch, women’s individual:
7 p.m., Friday, July 23
- Final: C. Hurley 8, M. Zhu (China) 15
- Final: K. Hurley 11, A. Murtazaeva (ROC) 12
When to watch, women’s team:
11:25 a.m. Tuesday, July 27
- Quarterfinal: Korea 38, USA 33
- Classifications Place 5–8 Final: USA 42, Hong Kong 31
- Team Placement 5–6 Final: USA 33, Poland 26
Gymnastics - Women’s
Who’s competing:
Simone Biles
- Hometown: Spring
- Specialty: Artistic Gymnastics
- Age: 24
- Olympic experience: This is her second Olympics. Biles won five medals (four gold, one bronze) in 2016 Rio Games.
- Fun fact: Biles has four moves named after her.
When to watch, subdivisions and qualifying:
Subdivisions and qualifying
- Final: Team USA, 2nd place
Team Final: 5:45 a.m., Tuesday, July 27
- On July 27, Biles withdrew from the team competition on account of her mental health. Team USA went on to win silver.
When to watch, individual:
Biles has withdrawn from the individual competitions on account of her mental health.
Rugby - Men’s
Who’s competing:
Kevon Williams
- Hometown: Houston
- Specialty: Wing
- Age: 30
- Olympic experience: This is his first Olympics.
- Fun fact: Williams plays for the Denver Barbarians.
When to watch:
9:30 p.m. Sunday, July 25
- Final: USA 19, Kenya 14
4:30 a.m. Monday, July 26
- Final: USA 19, Ireland 17
9:30 p.m. Monday, July 26
- Final: South Africa 17, USA 12
Skateboarding - Women’s
Who's competing:
Jordan Santana
- Hometown: Houston
- Specialty: Women's Skateboard Park
- Age: 17
- Olympic experience: This is her first Olympics—it’s also the first Olympics to feature skateboarding.
- Fun fact: In 2020, Santana became the third woman in the world to land a 540—a.k.a. The McTwist—where the rider launches from a vertical ramp, spins in the air for a full one and a half rotations, then lands.
When to watch:
Wednesday, August 4
Soccer - Women’s
Who’s competing:
Rachel Daly
- Country: Great Britain
- Specialty: Forward
- Age: 29
- Olympic experience: This is her first Olympics.
- Houston team: Houston Dash—Daly is team captain.
Allysha Chapman
- Country: Canada
- Specialty: Defender
- Age: 32
- Olympic experience: This is her second Olympics. Chapman won a bronze team medal at the 2016 Rio Games.
- Houston team: Houston Dash
Nichelle Prince
- Country: Canada
- Specialty: Forward
- Age: 26
- Olympic experience: This is her second Olympics. Prince won a bronze team medal at the 2016 Rio Games.
- Houston team: Houston Dash
Sophie Schmidt
- Country: Canada
- Specialty: Midfielder
- Age: 33
- Olympic experience: This is Schmidt’s fourth Olympics. She competed in the 2008 Beijing Games and won bronze medals in the 2012 London and 2016 Rio games. Schmidt is an alternate for the Tokyo Games
- Houston team: Houston Dash
When to watch:
Tuesday, July 20
- Final: Great Britain 2, Chile 0
Wednesday, July 21
- Final: Canada 1, Japan 1
2:30 a.m. Saturday, July 24
- Final: Canada 2, Chile 1
5:30 a.m. Saturday, July 24
- Final: Great Britain 1, Japan 0
6 a.m. Tuesday, July 27
- Final: Canada 1, Great Britain 1
Gold medal match: 9 p.m. Thursday, August 5
Softball
Who’s competing:
Cat Osterman
- Hometown: Houston
- Specialty: Left-handed Pitcher
- Age: 38
- Olympic experience: This is her third Olympics. Osterman won gold in the 2004 Athens Games and silver in the 2008 Beijing Games.
- Fun fact: In college, she was a three-time USA Softball National Player of the Year with the Texas Longhorns.
When to watch:
10 p.m. Tuesday, July 20
- Final: USA 2, Italy 0
7 p.m. Wednesday, July 21
- Final: USA 1, Canada 0
12:30 a.m. Saturday, July 24
- Final: USA 2, Mexico 0
8 p.m. Saturday, July 24
- Final: USA 2, Australia 1
8 p.m. Sunday, July 25
- Final: USA 2, Japan 1
Gold medal game: 6 a.m. Tuesday, July 27
- Final: Japan 2, USA 1. Team USA takes home silver. Listen to Osterman's reaction to the game here.
Swimming
Who’s competing:
Simone Manuel
- Hometown: Sugar Land
- Specialty: 50-meter Freestyle
- Age: 24
- Olympic experience: This is her second Olympics. Manuel won four medals (two gold, two silver) in the 2016 Rio games.
- Fun fact: Manuel will turn 25 on August 2.
When to watch:
Saturday, July 24
- Final: Bronze medal, Women's 4 x 100-meter Freestyle Relay
5:24 a.m. Friday, July 30
- Heats begin
Table Tennis - Women’s Team
Who’s competing:
Huijing Wang
- Hometown: Sugar Land
- Specialty: n/a
- Age: 41
- Olympic experience: This is her first Olympics.
- Fun fact: Wang was born in Tianjin, China.
When to watch:
Sunday, August 1
- USA vs Sweden
Monday, August 2
- USA vs Chinese Taipei
Gold medal game: 5: a.m. Thursday, August 5
Track and Field
Who’s competing:
Raevyn Rogers
- Hometown: Houston
- Specialty: 800 m
- Age: 24
- Olympic experience: This is her first Olympics.
- Fun fact: A Kinkaid graduate, Rogers is also a painter.
Bryce Deadmon
- Hometown: Missouri City
- Specialty: 4 x 400-meter Mixed Relay
- Age: 24
- Olympic experience: This is his first Olympics.
- Fun fact: Deadmon was the 2021 SEC Outdoor championship 400-meter runner up.
When to watch, women’s 800 m:
7:55 p.m. Thursday, July 29
Finals: 7:25 a.m. Tuesday, August 3
When to watch, mixed relay:
6 a.m. Friday, July 30
Finals: 7:35 p.m. Saturday, July 31
Wrestling - Women's
Who's competing:
Tamyra Mensah-Stock
- Hometown: Katy
- Specialty: Freestyle Wrestling
- Age: 28
- Olympic experience: This is her first Olympics as a competitor.
- Fun fact: Mensah-Stock is the reigning women's 68kg world champion.
When to watch:
5 a.m. Sunday, August 1
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