KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee Athletics is once again well-represented at the Summer Games, as a school-record 31 past, present and future Vols and Lady Vols will compete on behalf of 18 countries at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
UT’s 31 Olympians ranks tied for sixth nationally among NCAA programs and is second overall in the SEC.
The previous school record was 20 during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, during which five medals were won by Vols and Lady Vols. The Big Orange will be represented in five sports: basketball (3×3 and 5×5), soccer, swimming, track & field and volleyball.
With representatives in 16 consecutive Olympiads, UT’s 143 all-time Olympians have won 68 medals, including 41 gold, while competing both as athletes as well as coaches. Tennessee athletes have brought home at least five medals in every Olympics since the 1992 games.
Leading the way for UT, 17 swimmers punched their ticket to Paris, shattering a program record of nine from the previous Olympiad. That number also ranked second in the NCAA and paces all SEC schools. Track & field will be represented by 11 individuals throughout the games, while women’s basketball boasts two alumni on Team USA rosters. Soccer rounds things out with one competitor.
The 2024 Paris Olympics will officially begin on Wednesday, July 24, as soccer begins competition. The Opening Ceremony will take place on Friday, July 23, at 1:30 p.m. ET and will be televised on NBC, the official television network of the Olympics.
Here’s the full breakdown of Tennessee athletes competing in Paris:
Women’s Basketball
Cierra Burdick (2011-15) | USA | 3×3 Basketball
Cierra Burdick, a four-year letterwinner from 2011 to 2015 and a University of Tennessee Torchbearer in 2015, is the 15th Lady Vol basketball player to earn an opportunity to compete in the Olympic Games. Burdick, a veteran of the USA 3×3 women’s basketball program, becomes the first UT woman to compete in that event at the Olympics. The 2023 gold medalist on the USA’s Pan American Games and FIBA World Cup 3×3 squads joins three other Americans to represent their country from July 30-Aug. 5 in Paris.
