Last month, the United States women’s national soccer team dropped a bombshell: Alex Morgan ’10, a star member of the USWNT for the past 14 years, would not be competing at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
“Today, I’m disappointed about not having the opportunity to represent our country on the Olympic stage,” Morgan posted on social media after being left off the 18-player roster. “This will always be a tournament that is close to my heart and I take immense pride any time I put on the crest.”
Morgan has represented the U.S. in the past three Olympics and has not missed a major tournament since the 2008 Games in Beijing. Now 35, she is more than eight years older than the average on this year’s team. A pure striker, she also isn’t as versatile as some of the athletes chosen.
USWNT head coach Emma Hayes said in a statement that making an Olympic team is a “huge privilege” and that choosing the roster involved some “difficult choices.”
“We couldn’t be more proud of Alex and everything she has done for U.S. Soccer, not only in international competition, but how she has helped grow the game at home,” said Jonathan Okanes, assistant athletic director for communications. “Alex has been, and always will be, an incredible ambassador for Cal and Team USA.”
While Morgan won’t be representing Cal soccer in Paris this year, two other Golden Bears will: Sydney Collins ’22 for Canada and Ifeoma Onumonu ’16 as an alternate for Nigeria. Both are heading to their first Olympics games, which run from Friday, July 26 until Sunday, August 11.
Collins and Onumonu are just two of the 58 current and former athletes and coaches also attending. This number breaks Cal’s previous record of 57, set just last Olympics in Tokyo. The athletes include 25 women and 31 men representing over 20 countries. With record turnout at the 2024 games, Cal could be on track to score a historic number of medals. The current record is 23, set in the 2012 London Games.
As usual, Cal has an “especially strong contingent in the pool,” said Athletic Director Jim Knowlton, referring to the 12 male swimmers, eight female swimmers, and assistant coach heading to Paris. There are several swimmers to watch out for, including top talent Ryan Murphy ’17, a four-time Olympic gold medalist and the former world-record holder in the 100 meter backstroke. Abbey Weitzeil ’20 also has four Olympic medals, including one gold from the 4×100 meter freestyle relay in the Olympics. Another star is current Cal swimmer Jack Alexy ’25, a freestyle sprinter who won five medals at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships.
But don’t miss the other Cal swimmers, many with compelling personal stories. Current athlete Ziyad Saleem qualified for Sudan, becoming just the sixth Sudanese swimmer ever to qualify for the Olympics. Stephanie Au ’14, from Hong Kong, will be swimming in her fifth Olympics – something Okanes called “Michael Phelps territory.” And 32-year-old Jeremy Bagshaw ’14 qualified for the first time this year for Canada after five attempts – and did it just after graduating from medical school.
Outside of the pool, other big names expected to have a shot at medalling include track and field stars Mykolas Alekna ’25 and Camryn Rogers ’23. Both have a good chance at gold. Alekna shattered the world record in the discus earlier this year and came in third at the World Championships in 2023, while hammer thrower Camryn won those World Championships and came in fifth at the Tokyo Olympics as the youngest competitor in the field.
Collin Morikawa ’19, also has a chance to podium in golf, as does recent grad Nikolaos Papanikolaou ’23, one of the best men’s water polo players in Cal history, who will be representing Greece.
Cal will have a showing in lesser known sports as well—including some the university doesn’t even offer. Three players will be representing the U.S. in badminton, including twins Annie and Kerry Xu ’20 as well as 20-year-old Joshua Yuan. Lily Zhang ’18, a six-time U.S. national champion in women’s table tennis singles, will be competing in her third Olympics. (You can find the full list of athletes at Cal Athletics’ Olympics homepage.)
Hand in hand with the joy that comes with making the Olympic team, of course, comes the sorrow of those like Morgan who didn’t. British Cal hammer thrower Anna Purchase ’22, M.A. ’23 qualified for the Olympics with her world ranking, but wasn’t selected by Great Britain due to her home country’s harder qualifying standards. On social media, she said the decision left her “heartbroken.” In swimming alone, only six of the over 30 Cal athletes who competed at the U.S. Olympic Trials made the cut.
But in four years they’ll have a chance to represent the flagship university in its home state at the 2028 summer games in Los Angeles. Until then, as Morgan said, we’ll all “look forward to supporting this team and cheering them on alongside the rest of our country.”
