17 athletes with Mississippi ties, including three natives, have concluded their appearances in the 2024 Summer Olympic Games. Mississippi again proved itself as one of the most competitive when it comes to sports’ biggest stage.
Here’s a look at the Mississippi-connected athletes who brought home a medal:
Sam Kendricks | Silver | Oxford, Miss. (Ole Miss) | Men’s Pole Vault | USA
Kendricks cleared a jump of 5.95 meters for his career-best medal of silver, just falling short of Sweden’s Armand Duplantis who went on to set a world record in the event. The Oxford native continues to pile achievements on top of an already decorated career.
Shelby McEwen | Silver | Abbeville, Miss. (Northwest MS CC) | Men’s High Jump | USA
After nearly bowing out of the high jump without a medal, McEwen caught fire and found himself in a jump-off for first place against New Zealand’s Hamish Kerr. McEwen was beaten out after a lengthy tiebreaker, but the silver finish is the best of the jumper’s career.
Devin Booker | Gold | Moss Point, Miss. | Men’s Basketball | USA
The three-time NBA All Star aided Team USA in their repeat of Olympic gold. It’s the second gold medal for the Moss Point native and fifth straight for the USA men.
Marco Arop | Mississippi State | 800m | Canada
In one of the fastest 800-meter finals in world history, Arop was beaten by just one-hundredth of a second to finish silver. The historic race saw Arop break a Canadian and North American record with a time of 1:41:20, a time that also the fourth-best in world history.
Anderson Peters | Mississippi State | Men’s Javelin | Grenada
Peters returns to the Olympics after competing in the 2020 Tokyo Games. He became just second man ever to win back-to-back world championships in the javelin after winning in 2019 and 2022. He’s also coming off the latest of four Grenadian championships that came earlier this year.
Rafaelle Souza | Ole Miss | Women’s Soccer | Brazil
In her third consecutive Olympic games with the Brazilian national team, Souza’s side fell just short to the United States in a 1-0 final that was decided in the final minutes of play. Souza is one of the most decorated players in Brazilian women’s soccer history, and a silver medal adds another impressive achievement to her legend.
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