Friday, July 26
All Athletes
12:30 PM
Mississippi State
vs
Opening Ceremony
School-Record Number Of Bulldogs Bound For Paris Games
July 09, 2024 | Men's Tennis, Track & Field, Soccer, Olympic Games
STARKVILLE – "Team MSU" will send its largest delegation in school history to the 2024 Paris Olympic Games as Mississippi State will be represented by eight athletes and one coach in the City of Light this summer.
The nine Olympians is a school record, topping the Tokyo 2020 Games' seven (six athletes, one coach). State athletes will represent seven countries in three different sports beginning on July 25, a day before the Opening Ceremony.
Five Bulldogs are making their second Olympic appearance. Marco Arop (CAN), Anderson Peters (GRN) and Curtis Thompson (USA) all competed in track and field at the Tokyo Games. MSU head track and field coach Chris Woods was an assistant coach that year for Canada, guiding Arop, and will reprise that role in 2024. Catalina Perez (COL) will make her second Games after being selected to Colombia's soccer roster for the Rio 2016 Games before she enrolled at MSU.
Making their first Olympic teams are Navasky Anderson (JAM) and Lee Eppie (BOT) in track and field, Ilana Izquierdo (COL) in soccer and Nuno Borges (POR) in tennis. Borges is the first Bulldog Olympian in tennis, and Izquierdo will be the 11th athlete to compete in an Olympics while still an active student-athlete at MSU. State has never before been represented in Olympic soccer.
Izquierdo and Perez will open the Games for Team MSU on July 25 with the group stage of the Olympic soccer tournament. Borges gets underway on July 27 and is expected to compete in both the men's singles and men's doubles brackets. Track and field competition will begin on Aug. 1, but the Bulldogs' events do not begin until Aug. 6 when Peters and Thompson begin the men's javelin competition. Anderson and Arop begin the men's 800m on Aug. 7, and Botswana's 4x400m relay team with Eppie will run its first race on Aug. 9.
Mississippi State has been represented by 26 athletes and three coaches in five different sports at the Olympic Games and has had at least one member of an Olympic team every four years since 1980. Bulldogs have won seven medals, including four golds. Four of the medals were won in track and field, and three of those in the men's or women's 4x400m relay. The other three were won in baseball. State's last medal came in 2000 when Jude Monye won gold in the men's 4x400m relay with Nigeria.
Full Olympian bios are available below. State's 2024 Paris Olympic Games schedule is available at HailState.com/Paris2024.
For more information on Bulldog athletics, follow on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook and Instagram by searching "HailState."
The nine Olympians is a school record, topping the Tokyo 2020 Games' seven (six athletes, one coach). State athletes will represent seven countries in three different sports beginning on July 25, a day before the Opening Ceremony.
Five Bulldogs are making their second Olympic appearance. Marco Arop (CAN), Anderson Peters (GRN) and Curtis Thompson (USA) all competed in track and field at the Tokyo Games. MSU head track and field coach Chris Woods was an assistant coach that year for Canada, guiding Arop, and will reprise that role in 2024. Catalina Perez (COL) will make her second Games after being selected to Colombia's soccer roster for the Rio 2016 Games before she enrolled at MSU.
Making their first Olympic teams are Navasky Anderson (JAM) and Lee Eppie (BOT) in track and field, Ilana Izquierdo (COL) in soccer and Nuno Borges (POR) in tennis. Borges is the first Bulldog Olympian in tennis, and Izquierdo will be the 11th athlete to compete in an Olympics while still an active student-athlete at MSU. State has never before been represented in Olympic soccer.
Izquierdo and Perez will open the Games for Team MSU on July 25 with the group stage of the Olympic soccer tournament. Borges gets underway on July 27 and is expected to compete in both the men's singles and men's doubles brackets. Track and field competition will begin on Aug. 1, but the Bulldogs' events do not begin until Aug. 6 when Peters and Thompson begin the men's javelin competition. Anderson and Arop begin the men's 800m on Aug. 7, and Botswana's 4x400m relay team with Eppie will run its first race on Aug. 9.
Mississippi State has been represented by 26 athletes and three coaches in five different sports at the Olympic Games and has had at least one member of an Olympic team every four years since 1980. Bulldogs have won seven medals, including four golds. Four of the medals were won in track and field, and three of those in the men's or women's 4x400m relay. The other three were won in baseball. State's last medal came in 2000 when Jude Monye won gold in the men's 4x400m relay with Nigeria.
Full Olympian bios are available below. State's 2024 Paris Olympic Games schedule is available at HailState.com/Paris2024.
Paris 2024 Olympian Bios
Navasky Anderson – Jamaica – Track & Field (800m)
Will make his Olympic debut at the Paris 2024 Games ... won the 2024 Jamaican Championship in the 800m ... previously represented his country at the 2022 and 2023 World Athletics Championships, 2023 Pan American Games and 2022 Commonwealth Games ... won bronze in the 800m at the 2023 Pan American Games ... holds the Jamaican national record in the men's 800m both indoors and outdoors ... broke the Jamaican national record in the 800m for the first time at the 2022 NCAA Outdoor Championships where he was the national runner-up ... bettered the previous mark which had stood for 45 years ... was the 2022 SEC Outdoor Champion in his event ... three-time All-American ... holds three top-five marks in MSU history in the indoor and outdoor 800m and the indoor mile.Marco Arop – Canada – Track & Field (800m)
Made his second career Olympic team and will compete at the Paris 2024 Games ... clocked an Athletics Canada Championships record 1:43.53 in the 800m while qualifying for Paris ... ran the second leg on Canada's 4x400m relay at the 2024 World Athletics Relays ... won the 2023 World Athletics Championship in the 800m ... reached world No. 1 ranking for the first time in his career in June 2023 ... took bronze in the 800m at the 2022 World Athletics Championships ... became first Canadian man to medal at the World Championships in the 800m since Gary Reed in 2007 ... competed at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games ... won gold at the 2019 Pan American Games ... two-time NCAA runner-up ... four-time Athletics Canada champion ... holds Canadian national records in the 800m both indoors and outdoors ... holds MSU's 800m school records indoors and outdoors and State's freshman record.Nuno Borges – Portugal – Tennis (Men's Singles, Men's Doubles)
Will make his Olympic debut at the Paris 2024 Games ... is State's first athlete to compete in tennis at the Olympics … ranked No. 50 in the world leading into the Paris Games and has won 16 professional tournaments including back-to-back titles at the Phoenix Challenger in 2023-24 … has competed on tennis' biggest stages including Wimbledon, the U.S. Open, the Australian Open and Roland-Garros … closed his Bulldog career as the 2019 ITA National Player of the Year and ITA National Senior Player of the Year … was a five-time All-American (singles – 2017-19, doubles – 2018-19) and three-time SEC Player of the Year (2017-19) … one of only two players to ever hold the No. 1 national ranking in both singles and doubles in school history … led the Bulldogs to back-to-back SEC Tournament Championships in 2018 and 2019 … was the 2019 NCAA Singles finalist after being a semifinalist the previous two years … holds MSU records in nine different categories including career wins (189) … posted a perfect 25-0 dual match singles record as a senior in 2019 … earned the 2018 ITA Arthur Ashe Jr. Sportsmanship and Leadership Award … won the 2017 Oracle ITA National Fall Singles Championship.Lee Eppie – Botswana – Track & Field (4x400m Relay)
Will make his Olympic debut at the Paris 2024 Games as a member of Botswana's relay pool ... Botswana's men's 4x400m relay qualified by winning the World Athletics Relays in The Bahamas, clocking a then-world-leading 2:59.11 ... won a silver medal in the 400m at the 2024 African Championships, finishing in a lifetime-best 45.39 ... ran on four of the five fastest indoor 4x400m relays in school history ... was an indoor All-American in the 4x400m relay in 2022 ... ran at the 2023 NCAA East Prelims in the 400m, falling two places shy of advancing to the NCAA Outdoor Championships ... clocked a collegiate-best 45.89 to win the 400m at the 2023 Crimson Tide Invitational ... finished third in the 400m at the Botswana Athletic Association meet in 2023, winning his finals heat ... also competed in the 4x400m at that event, running the third leg for a Botswana team that finished second in 3:04.49 ... won a silver medal at the 2017 African U-20 Championships as a member of Botswana's 4x400m relay team.Ilana Izquierdo – Colombia – Soccer (Midfielder)
Will make her Olympic debut at the Paris 2024 Games ... one of 11 Bulldogs in school history to make an Olympic team while still an active student-athlete ... debuted with the Colombian senior Women's National Team in 2024 for the inaugural CONCACAF Women's Gold Cup where she started every match, winning two group stage matches and reaching the quarterfinals ... has also played in friendlies on the 2024 Mexico Tour ... started all 23 matches for MSU in 2023 after transferring from Southern Miss ... led the team with a school-record 2,097 minutes played while scoring four goals and recording three assists ... played in the 2022 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in Costa Rica, where Colombia won its group to reach the quarterfinals ... also represented Colombia in the 2022 CONMEBOL Sudamericano Femenino U-20 in Chile where she scored in the final stage to help Colombia finish second ... also played in the Bolivarian Games that year where she scored her first international goal against Panama on June 26 ... added goals against Paraguay and Venezuela in that tournament ... played in the 2020 CONMEBOL Sudamericano Femenino U-20 in Argentina ... joined the Colombian Women's National Team at 17 … played in the 2018 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup in Uruguay and the CONMEBOL Sudamericano Femenino U-17 Championship in Argentina where her squad won all four group stage matches before finishing second overall.Catalina Perez – Colombia – Soccer (Goalkeeper)
Will make her second Olympic team at the Paris 2024 Games ... also represented Colombia on the Rio 2016 Olympic team before enrolling at MSU ... currently playing professionally with Werder Bremen in the Frauen-Bundesliga (Germany) ... played in the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup where Colombia reached the quarterfinals ... allowed four goals while making 15 saves ... backstopped the Colombian Women's National Team to a runner-up performance at the 2022 Copa America to qualify for Paris ... won gold with Colombia at the 2019 Pan American Games, recording two shutouts and making eight saves in Colombia's gold-medal shootout victory ... totaled 14 saves in the tournament and Colombia never trailed ... medal was the first international medal of any kind for an MSU soccer player and Colombia's first international championship in women's soccer ... earned All-American and First-Team SEC honors at MSU in 2017 ... recorded six shutouts and nine wins in her one season at State … second in school history in career goals against average (1.00) ... came to State as a graduate transfer after playing her undergrad career at Miami ... also played in the Pan American Games in 2011 ... made her first national team at the age of 15 … attended the 2010 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in Germany but did not play any matches.Anderson Peters – Grenada – Track & Field (Javelin)
Will compete in the javelin at the Paris 2024 Olympics ... made his Olympic debut in the javelin at the 2020 Tokyo Games ... won his fourth Grenadian championship in 2024 ... three-time Diamond League winner in the javelin ... won gold at the 2022 and 2019 World Athletics Championships ... became just the second man to ever win back-to-back world championships in the javelin and the first since 1995 ... threw a lifetime best 93.07m in the 2022 Diamond League Doha meeting to break his own Grenada national record and climb to fifth in world history ... won gold at the 2019 Pan American Games ... five-time CARIFTA Games Champion ... Austin Sealy award winner ... two-time NCAA and SEC Champion ... won bronze at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and 2018 Continental Cup ... named 2018 SEC Freshman Field Athlete of the Year ... two-time semifinalist for The Bowerman.Curtis Thompson – United States – Track & Field (Javelin)
Qualified for his second Olympic team in the javelin and is bound for the Paris 2024 Games ... made his Olympic debut in the javelin at the 2020 Tokyo Games ... four-time USATF Champion in 2024, 2021 and 2018 ... threw a lifetime best 87.70m at the 2022 American JavFest, which ranked third all-time by an American man ... won silver at the 2018 NACAC Championships ... represented the United States at the Pan American Games and The Match Europe vs. USA in 2019 and the 2019 Athletics World Cup ... U.S. Olympic Trials Champion in 2016 ... Mississippi State's first NCAA Champion in the javelin in 2016 ... NCAA runner-up in 2019.Chris Woods – Canada – Track & Field (Assistant Coach)
Will return to the Olympics at the 2024 Paris Games as an assistant coach for Team Canada ... made his Olympic debut as an assistant coach with Team Canada at the Tokyo 2020 Games ... coaches Marco Arop in the men's 800m after tutoring him as a student-athlete at State ... guided Arop to the 2023 World Athletics Championship in the 800m ... also directly coaches Bulldog Olympian Navasky Anderson of Jamaica ... named head track and field coach at MSU following a stint as the interim head coach in 2019 ... returned to MSU as an assistant coach in 2014 ... ran for the Maroon and White as a student-athlete from 2005-08 ... was a two-time All-American outdoors in the 800m and 4x400m relay ... held the school record in the indoor 800m and has now coached each of the top five athletes who have since broken his record ... ran on the then-school-record outdoor 4x800m relay in 2007 and still holds three of the top five times in program history ... also ran on the then-school-record outdoor sprint medley relay in 2007 ... after graduation, made coaching stops at Claflin University and Abilene Christian.For more information on Bulldog athletics, follow on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook and Instagram by searching "HailState."
Players Mentioned
800m
/ Olympic Games
800m
/ Olympic Games
Singles & Doubles
/ Olympic Games
4x400m Relay
/ Olympic Games
Midfielder
/ Olympic Games
Goalkeeper
/ Olympic Games
Javelin
/ Olympic Games
Javelin
/ Olympic Games
Asst. Coach
/ Olympic GamesOLYMPIC GAMES | Navasky Anderson's Olympic Journey
Monday, July 29
OLYMPIC GAMES | Marco Arop's Olympic Journey
Thursday, July 25
OLYMPIC GAMES | Anderson Peters' Olympic Journey
Monday, July 22
OLYMPIC GAMES | Ilana Izquierdo's Olympic Journey
Sunday, July 21