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| As the 2024 Olympics get underway this weekend, we wanted to highlight the athletes you’ll see competing who have a connection to our district. This means they either grew up here or attended Michigan State University (Go Green!). We can’t wait to see these talented athletes compete in Paris.
Representing Team USA Tori Franklin Tori Franklin, competing in the women’s triple jump, graduated from Michigan State University in 2015 and is headed to her second Olympic games. At MSU, she set school records and Big Ten records in the triple jump, was a three-time Big Ten champion, and was First-Team All-Big Ten. After graduating, she continued to compete professionally at the USA and World Championships and the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. Additionally, in 2022, she became the first African American woman to ever win an Olympic medal in the triple jump, placing third. Heath Baldwin After winning the U.S. Olympic Trials decathlon, MSU graduate student Heath Baldwin is heading to his first Olympics. He has an impressive record at MSU, breaking school records in the decathlon, heptathlon, and javelin throw. He was a Big Ten Champion in the heptathlon in 2023 and was runner up at the 2024 NCAA Indoor Championships in the heptathlon. Additionally, Baldwin received the MSU Athletics George Alderton Male Athlete of the Year award for 2023, made NCAA First Team All-American for indoor and outdoor track and field, is a Big Ten Distinguished Scholar, and won Academic All-Big Ten honors. Adam Coon Wrestler Adam Coon has accomplished a lot since graduating from Fowlerville High School in 2013. He is a four-time state champion, was an Olympic alternate in 2016, won the Olympic trials in 2021, and is now headed to Paris. While his specialty is the 130-kilogram Greco-Roman event, Coon also played professional football in the NFL. However, it was his goal of going to the Olympics that brought him back to wrestling and he has his eyes set on gold. Representing a different country in Paris Myles Amine Competing for Team San Marino, Myles Amine is headed to Paris after winning a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics in wrestling. He has lived in Livingston County his entire life, but his great-grandfather came to the United States from San Marino in the early 1900s. Amine has represented San Marino since 2019 and visits the country twice a year. Along with his Olympic medal, he won gold at the 2022 European Wrestling Championships, silver at the 2023 World Wrestling Championships, and is the first person from Livingston county to qualify for two Olympic games. Shay Colley MSU alumna Shay Colley is headed to her second Olympics as a member of Canada’s women’s basketball team. Colley was a key member of the Spartan team, averaging 12.3 points a game across three seasons. Notably, she represented Canada at the 2022 FIBA World Cup, bringing the team to a fourth place finish–the best in the team’s history since 1986. Paris 2024 will be the first time in 24 years that Canada’s women’s and men’s basketball teams will compete at the same Olympic Games, and Colley will be part of this historic moment. Every couple of years the Olympics give the world an opportunity to pause and celebrate patriotism and athleticism – we hope you’ll join us in watching these incredible Olympians compete in Paris. – Office of Rep. Elissa Slotkin |
Our Michigan Olympians
