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The 2024 Olympics concluded in Paris earlier this month and the United States dominated in the games with the most medals won as a country. An astonishing statistic from the Olympic Games is that out of 126 medals won by the United States, 53 of the medals were won by olympians with Texas ties. Black excellence was also on full display from the athletes from the Lone Star State.

This isn’t a new trend for Texas as the state has produced such Olympic legends like tennis player Zina Garrison, sprinter Carlette Guidry, boxing legend George Foreman, and track stars like Michael Johnson, Carl Lewis, and Clarksville, Texas’ own Tommie Smith who famously raised his fist in protest on the podium after winning gold at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City. Here are some of the olympians that brought a little piece of Texas to the world stage.

Texas had plenty of athletes in the track and field category headlined by Oak Cliff native Sha’Carri Richardson. Richardson made her Olympic debut by winning a silver medal in the 100 meter and a gold in the 4 by 100 meter relay. She wore unique nail designs in all of her races including a design that featured her quote after her return to the sport, “I’m not back, I’m better”. Tara Davis-Woodhall celebrated her winning gold in the high jump by donning her trademark cowgirl hat and draping herself with the American flag. ‘America’s Cowgirl’ attended the University of Texas at Austin from 2018 to 2021.

In gymnastics, the women’s gymnastics team had vignettes from pop icon and Houston native, Beyoncé. Spring, Texas’ Simone Biles would add to her already stellar résumé when she led the gymnastics team to gold alongside Jordan Chiles who moved to Spring to train with Biles. Chiles celebrated the win by sporting a grill to match her medal while Biles had a necklace with a diamond encrusted goat pendant. In individual competition, Biles would win silver and at that time, Chiles won the bronze in the floor exercise competition. They celebrated by bowing to Brazilian gymnast Rebeca Andrade won gold, giving us an iconic Olympic moment.

Los Angeles is the site for the 2028 Olympics and it will be interesting to see what Texas Olympians will bring to represent their state on the West Coast. 

As of this article, Jordan Chiles has been allowed to keep her bronze medal that was in question due to a controversial decision by the International Olympic Committee. She originally finished fifth in the floor exercise, but an appeal by the U.S. coaches saw her score upgrade her to third place. The IOC says it should not have been allowed because the appeal was late by four seconds. Romanian gymnast Ana Bǎrbosu was awarded a bronze medal in a ceremony in Romania after the country originally requested all three members of the team receive a medal. This story is ongoing.

Follow Rashad Miller on all social media @theuncoolurban for more sports content as well as his Youtube channel under the same name.

The post Texas Athletes Shine at the 2024 Olympics with 53 Medals appeared first on Dallas Weekly.