10 Things To Know For Paris

STARKVILLE – As the 2024 Olympics get underway in Paris and athletes sport the colors of their respective countries, several competing are forever bound together by a couple of other colors – Maroon and White.

For a full breakdown of the Bulldogs' Olympic roster, view State's full team announcement.

Mississippi State is well represented at this year's games. And with things starting up across the pond, here are 10 things to know about those with Bulldog ties.

Nine individuals connected with State will take the stage in Paris. That total marks an MSU record for a single Olympic Games, topping the previous high of seven set at the Tokyo 2020 event. "Team MSU" has also set school records for countries (7) and sports (3) represented.
Catalina Perez (COL), Ilana Izquierdo (COL) and Nuno Borges (POR) are giving MSU a few firsts. State has never before been represented in Olympic soccer, however Perez and Izquierdo have changed that. Borges is the first-ever Bulldog Olympian in tennis.
It's not a first, but it does bear noting that Izquierdo is only the 11th athlete to compete in an Olympics while still an active athlete at MSU. This past season for State's Sweet 16 team, Izquierdo led the squad with a school-record 2,097 minutes played while scoring four goals and recording three assists.
Borges will make his Olympic debut hoping to build on perhaps the biggest moment of his career. On July 21, Borges claimed his first ATP 250 Tour Championship by defeating tennis legend Rafael Nadal 6-3, 6-2 to win the Nordea Open. Borges became only the fourth person to defeat Nadal in an ATP clay court final joining Olympians Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray. As of July 24, Borges is ranked at No. 42 in the world, the highest mark of his career.
Curtis Thompson (USA) is the lone Bulldog who'll be wearing the red, white and blue of the United States in this year's Olympics. Mississippi State's first-ever NCAA champion in the javelin will be participating in his second Olympic Games.
Marco Arop (CAN) and Navasky Anderson (JAM) in the 800m and Thompson and Anderson Peters (GRN) in the javelin make Mississippi State the only school in the country with multiple Olympians in those events. Arop and Anderson, who both hold their country's national record, make up one-third of the NCAA representation in their event, and Thompson and Peters are two of only three men's javelin throwers at this year's Games that have competed in the NCAA.
Anderson is making a bit of history for his country. As he runs in Paris, he'll become only the 11th Jamaican man to race in the 800m at the Olympic Games. He'll be the first Jamaican man to race in his event at the Olympics in 16 years.
A case can certainly be made that Arop has a good shot to earn his first Olympic medal. The MSU great, competing in his second-straight Olympics, is riding a great deal of momentum into Paris after clocking an Athletics Canada Championships record 1:43.53 in the 800m while qualifying for this year's games. He also won the 2023 World Athletics Championship in the 800m and reached a world No. 1 ranking for the first time in his career in June of 2023.
Lee Eppie (BOT) has a chance to achieve something historic. Botswana, which enters the Games with the fastest 4x400m relay time in the world by a national team this season, has never won an Olympic gold in any sport. Furthermore, three of State's four Olympic medals in track and field have come in the 4x400m relay, including both of its gold medals.
If Arop, Eppie or any other Bulldogs do earn a medal in Paris, they'd join the five other former MSU athletes/coaches that have taken home hardware in previous Olympic Games. The five previous medalists with State ties are Commodore Scott Cochran (USA), who won gold in the 4x400m relay in the 1924 games; Will Clark (USA), who won silver in baseball at the 1984 games; Ron Polk (USA), who won a gold medal in 1988 and a bronze in 1996; Falilatu Ogunkoya (NGR), who won both silver and bronze medals (4x400m relay and 400m respectively) in the 1996 Olympics; and Jude Monye (NGR), who became a gold medalist in the 4x400m relay in 2000.

If you're looking to keep up with all the Bulldogs in action in Paris, CLICK HERE for the full schedule of events in which they either will or may be participating.

Mississippi State University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Navasky Anderson

Marco Arop

Nuno Borges

Lee Eppie

Ilana Izquierdo

Catalina Perez

Anderson Peters

Curtis Thompson

Related Videos