AUBURN, Ala. – The XXXIII Olympic Games in Paris, France are slated for July 26 through August 11 and 10 current and former Auburn student-athletes will make the trip to France’s capital city to represent their countries and the Tigers.
Sunisa Lee (USA), Kanyinsola Ajayi (Nigeria), Favour Ashe (Nigeria), Makanakaishe Charamba (Zimbabwe), Marcelo Chierighini (Brazil), Azeem Fahmi (Malaysia), Emily Hallifax (France), Tim Puetz (German), Valerie Tarazi (Palestine) and Donal Thomas (Bahamas) have all earned the right to compete on the world’s grandest stage.
Chierighini, Lee, Puetz and Thomas lead Auburn’s group of veterans when it comes to Olympic competition. Thomas, the Bahama native, enters his fifth Olympic Games, tying George Bovell, Kirsty Coventry, Glenn Eller and Brett Hawke as the most all-time in Auburn history. Chierighini will compete in his fourth Olympics. Both Lee and Puetz are set to make their second appearance in the Olympics.
Ajayi, Ashe, Charamba, Fahmi, Hallifax and Tarazi will each make their Olympic debuts in Paris.
Lee, the 2020 all-around gold medalist, headlines an Auburn class looking to add more hardware. In Tokyo, Lee’s unforgettable performance was just one of three medals the Minnesota native collected, tying for the second most in a single Olympics in program history.
Auburn’s track and field contingent may be its strongest in decades. Head coach Leroy Burrell’s squad solidified a National Runner-up performance at the 2024 NCAA Outdoor Championships, which included a national title in the men’s 4×100 relay. Ajayi, Charamba and Fahmi made up three of the four legs of the historic race for the Tigers. All four sprinters rank inside the top 100 in the world in the 100m.
