UConn to be represented by 11 athletes at 2024 Paris Olympics

The group will represent five different countries across three different events.

When the 2024 Summer Olympics kick off in Paris this week, UConn will be well-represented. In total, 11 former Huskies are competing in five different events with five different countries across three different sports. Another will be there as a coach, too.

Unsurprisingly, basketball leads the way with eight Olympians. Napheesa Collier, Breanna Stewart, and Diana Taurasi are on Team USA, while Aaliyah Edwards and Kia Nurse made Canada’s roster, Gabby Williams will play for host France, and Niels Giffey is with Germany while Tiffany Hayes will be in the 3×3 competition for Azerbaijan.

The three others come from another championship program at UConn: Field hockey. Cécile Pieper will compete in her third Olympics with Germany, Karlie Kisha (Heistand) is on Team USA’s squad while Sophie Hamilton is going with Team Great Britain.

Jennifer Rizzotti is the head coach of Team USA’s 3×3 basketball squad as well.

Basketball

Team USA: Napheesa Collier, Breanna Stewart, Diana Taurasi

The most dominant team in sports will look to collect its 10th Olympic gold medal overall and eighth consecutive in Paris. Although Team USA hasn’t lost a game in the Olympics since 1992, they haven’t exactly blown away the competition recently. They eked out a victory over Belgium back in February thanks to a last-second winner from Breanna Stewart and then lost to Team WNBA in the league’s All-Star Game on Saturday, 117-109.

In fairness, the Americans also lost to the WNBA All-Stars back in 2021 then cruised to a gold medal without much trouble. They’ll get one final tune-up against Germany on Tuesday before taking on 2021 silver medalist Japan in their Olympic opener on Monday, July 29.

As for the Huskies on the team, Taurasi is set to go for an unprecedented sixth gold medal in what will be her final summer games. At age 42, she’s no longer the centerpiece of the squad but will still be counted on as an experienced veteran.

Meanwhile, Stewart is now a three-time Olympian and is one of Team USA’s top players while Collier will step into a more prominent role after going to the Tokyo Olympics as a developmental selection.

Photo by ARIS MESSINIS/AFP via Getty Images

Canada: Aaliyah Edwards, Kia Nurse

Coming off a disappointing ninth-place finish in Tokyo, Canada has redemption on the mind this summer. Nurse remains a staple of the national team as a three-time Olympian while Edwards should be an integral part of the squad now after barely seeing the court in her first summer games three years ago.

Canada is in Group B with France, which means Nurse and Edwards will battle Williams on Monday, July 29 at 11:15 a.m. ET.

Photo credit should read ANDREJ ISAKOVIC/AFP via Getty Images

France: Gabby Williams

While Williams went to the Tokyo Olympics with France, these summer games will hold special significance since Paris is the host. Because of that, the two-time national champion chose not to play in the WNBA this season to focus on her national team duties. Williams earned MVP honors at the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament after putting up 16.3 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.7 steals while shooting 30 percent from three across three games.

France is coming off a bronze medal in 2021 and reached the medal round the two Olympics prior as well, finishing second in 2012 and fourth in 2016.

Germany: Niels Giffey

In the storied history of UConn men’s basketball, Giffey is the first two-time Olympian. In fact, he’s one of just four Olympians ever to come through the program alongside Ray Allen (USA, 2000), Emeka Okafor (USA, 2004), and Gavin Edwards (Japan, 2020). Germany is coming off gold at the 2023 FIBA World Cup and will look to claim its first Olympic medal.

Giffey, a two-time national champion and 2014 graduate of UConn, will play alongside NBA talent such as Dennis Schröder, Daniel Theis, and Mo and Franz Wagner on the German squad.

Photo by Andreas Gora/picture alliance via Getty Images

Azerbaijan 3×3: Tiffany Hayes

The lone UConn representative in 3×3 basketball, Hayes will suit up for her adopted country of Azerbaijan, where she became a citizen in 2015 to play in that year’s 3×3 European Games. While Azerbaijan isn’t typically known for its sporting prowess, Hayes helped it claim gold at the 2024 FIBA 3×3 Universality Tournament in Hong Kong back in April.

Photo by Yu Chun Christopher Wong/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images

USA 3×3: Jennifer Rizzotti (coach)

While Rizzotti never went to the Olympics as a player, she’s now heading to her second summer games as a coach. In 2021, she served as an assistant on Team USA’s 5×5 squad that won gold and now, she’ll be the head coach for the 3×3 team that features Rhyne Howard, Hailey Van Lith, Dearica Hamby, and Cierra Burdick.

This is just the second year of 3×3 basketball in the Olympics. In Tokyo, fellow Husky Stef Dolson won gold with Team USA.

Set Number: X163751 TK1

Field hockey

USA: Karlie Kisha (Heistand)

A 2018 graduate of UConn, Kisha had an illustrious career in Storrs during which she went to a Final Four each season and came away with two national titles. A native of Hamburg, Pennsylvania, she started every game over her final three years and earned Third Team All-American honors as a senior. Kisha is the fourth Husky to make the US Olympic team, joining Tracey Fuchs (1988, 1996), Diane Madl (1996) and Melissa Gonzalez (2012, 2016). She currently serves as an assistant coach at Villanova.

Photo by MARTIN BERNETTI/AFP via Getty Images

Germany: Cécile Pieper

Now a three-time Olympian, Pieper will go for her second medal after taking home bronze from the 2016 Rio Games. She spent just one season at UConn as a graduate student in 2018 but left made quite an impact by leading the team with 23 goals as a First Team All-American and Big East Defensive Player of the Year.

Photo by CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP via Getty Images

Great Britain: Sophie Hamilton

Hamilton played two seasons with UConn from 2019-2021, earning First Team All-American honors as a sophomore while putting up 1.07 assists and 1.36 goals per game, which ranked first and third nationally. This is her first time competing in the summer games.

Great Britain has been one of the top teams at the Olympics recently, claiming bronze in 2012 and 2020 while winning gold in 2016.

Photo by Patrick Goosen/BSR Agency/Getty Images

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