Road to Paris: Time to cheer on Team USA’s AA+PI Olympians!

Whether you’re a hardcore fan of the Olympics like I am, which involves planning your social calendar and staying up to all hours of the night (and morning) to watch live streams, or simply a casual viewer, there’s no denying that when the Games come around, people the world over tune in to watch.

I have had the great honor this past year of speaking with and getting to know many AA+PI athletes as they’ve been preparing to step onto sport’s biggest stage. It’s been a blast, and now with the Summer Olympics in Paris finally here, it’s time to cheer them on as they go for the gold.

From veteran athletes who will be competing in their second, third or even fourth Games, to newcomers representing Team USA (and in some cases, their sport!) for the first time, here are some AA+PI athletes to watch for in the next few weeks. Some you’ll recognize from our coverage over the past year, while others might be new to you.

Alex Massialas

Fencer Alex Massialas will be competing in his fourth Olympics. He was among the first American fencers to punch their tickets in February, and he’ll compete in both the individual and team events for men’s foil at the Games. Massialas qualified alongside Nick Itkin and on the women’s side, Lee Kiefer, who along with being a fellow mixed Asian American, will be defending her Olympic title in the individual women’s foil event, which she won in Tokyo.

According to USA Fencing, athletes qualified for the Olympics “through strong performances at domestic and international tournaments throughout the qualification window, accumulating points based on their finishing positions.”

Since February, 17 more fencers have made the Team USA roster, including a number of AA+PI athletes. On the men’s side, we’ll have Gerek Meinhardt, Mitchell Saron, Colin Heathcock, while Maia Chamberlain and Tatiana Nazlymov will represent the women’s side.

You can check out the full Olympic fencing schedule here.

Justine Wong-Orantes

Returning for her second Olympics, Justine Wong-Orantes will be part of Team USA’s women’s volleyball team. She’s one of eight athletes on the team of 12 who were part of the 2020 Tokyo team that won gold. USA Volleyball announced the Paris-bound team in June.

As Wong-Orantes previously told JoySauce, the team was selected based on “past performances, current performances, how (they’re) doing with (their) professional teams, and (their) experience too.”

Wong-Orantes may be the only AA+PI athlete on the women’s volleyball team, but she’ll be joined by a number of AA+PI players on the men’s side: Erik Shoji, Micah Christenson, Micah Ma’a and Garrett Muagututia.

You can check out the full Olympic volleyball schedule here.

Leanne Wong

Leanne Wong is headed to Paris for her second Olympics. Once again, the 20-year-old was selected as one of two alternates for the U.S. women’s artistic gymnastics team following the Olympic Trials last month. She’s also among the five gymnasts on the squad of seven (including the two alternates) who will be returning to the Games.

USA Gymnastics’ selection process was based on athletes’ performances at the U.S. Gymnastics Championships, in addition to the Olympic Trials.

Wong will be in good company. Her fellow AA+PI teammates include the reigning Olympic all-around champion, Suni Lee, on the women’s artistic gymnastics side, as well as Asher Hong, who will be making his Olympic debut on the men’s artistic gymnastics side.

You can check out the full Olympic artistic gymnastics schedule here.

Sunny Choi

B-girl Sunny Choi will be one of four athletes—two women and two men—to represent Team USA in breaking at the Olympics. As this is the first time breaking will be an Olympic sport, this will be all four breakers’ first time at the Games.

Choi qualified for the Olympics in November 2023, after winning the Pan American Games in Chile. She was the second American breaker to qualify for the Olympics, following b-boy Victor Montalvo, who punched his ticket by winning the 2023 WDSF World Breaking Championship in September 2023.

Joining Choi will be fellow AA+PI b-girl Logan Edra, who qualified for the Games through the breaking Olympic Qualifier Series this year.

You can check out the full Olympic breaking schedule here.

Megumi Field

For the first time in 16 years, Team USA will be represented in artistic swimming (formerly known as synchronized swimming) at the Olympics. And among the eight athletes (plus one alternate) on the squad is Megumi Field, who will be competing in the team and duet events in Paris.

While the United States qualified as a team for the Games in February, individual athletes weren’t announced until June, their selection based on “countless practice evaluations, rigorous data analysis from two World Cup performances, and thorough consideration,” according to USA Artistic Swimming.

In addition to Field, the AA+PI artistic swimmers who will be representing Team USA are Jacklyn Luu, Audrey Kwon and Calista Liu.

You can check out the full Olympic artistic swimming schedule here.

Here are some of the other AA+PI athletes who are representing Team USA at the Olympics in Paris:

Badminton
Vinson Chiu, Joshua Yuan, Jennie Gai, Annie Xu, Kerry Xu, and Beiwen Zhang

Golf
Collin Morikawa, Lilia Viu and Rose Zhang

Judo
Jack Yonezuka

Rugby
Naima Fuala'au, Lucas LaCamp, and Alena Olsen

Shooting
Ada Korkhin

Surfing
Carissa Moore

Swimming
Torri Huske

Table Tennis
Kanak Jha, Rachel Sung, Amy Wang, and Lily Zhang

Tennis
Rajeev Ram

Water Polo
Emily Ausmus and Johnny Hooper

This list is in no way complete or definitive. You can check out the full roster of the nearly 600 athletes representing Team USA in Paris here.