Olympians Head to Paris
The 2024 Olympic Games begin Friday, July 26, followed by the Paralympic Games on Aug. 28. Of the 13 athletes and two coaches affiliated with Northwestern University, four are School of Education and Social Policy students or alumni.
All listed events will air live nationally in the United States on Peacock, the NBCUniversal streaming platform. Here's when to catch our current students and alumni competing in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Nok Sze 'Daphne' Chan ’28
Team: Hong Kong
Event: Foil Fencing
First event: Individual Tournament on July 28
Chan initially wasn’t a big fan of fencing when she tried it for the first time as a six-year-old. “I cried at the first few lessons,” she told Tatler Asia. “When I put on the helmet, it was a little dark and I couldn’t see [clearly]. I didn’t know what I was supposed to do. I cried. I was scared.” Since then, Chan has risen to become one of the Hong Kong’s strongest female fencers, recently winning the gold in Thailand at the 2023 Women’s Foil Junior World Cup; it was Hong Kong’s first girls’ gold medal at the event.
Hailey Danz (BS13)
Team: United States
Event: Triathlon—PTS2
First event: Sept. 1 at 1:15 a.m. CDT
Danz will be competing for the US in the paralympic triathlon for the third Olympics in a row. Danz has already won two silver medals, and in 2015 was named USA Triathlon Paratriathlete of the Year. “I now feel a sense of confidence that I never felt before,” she told SESP in 2021. “Some of it comes from the consistency I’ve had in training to become a triathlete. But it’s also from being who I am and not having to hide any part of myself. I didn’t realize how much energy I was expending on that until I didn’t have to do it anymore. And waking up every day to do something I love—yeah, it’s amazing.”
Sebastian Rivera (BS20)
Team: Puerto Rico
Event: Wrestling—Freestyle (65kg)
First event: Round of 16, Quarterfinals, and Semifinals on Aug. 10
Known as “Seabass” during his days at Northwestern, Rivera will also be the flag bearer for Team Puerto Rico during the opening ceremony in Paris. A wrestler since he was young, he credits much of his success to the support of his father Steve, a New Jersey state champion in high school. “I’ve been on a mat since I was like four years old,” he told Rutger’s Athletics. “My dad’s definitely been the inspiration for me throughout my wrestling career.”
Maddie Zimmer '24
Team: United States
Event: Field Hockey—Midfield
First event: USA vs. Argentina on July 27 at 12:45 p.m. CDT
As a midfielder, Zimmer was the player of the match for during two of the Team USA’s five games during the Olympic qualifier tournament, held in 2024 in Ranchi, India. “Don’t be afraid to make mistakes, just bounce back from them and work harder to get it right next time,” she said. Her dream job is running a cat sanctuary on a tropical island.
In addition to Danz, SESP has two previous medal winners, including:
- Betty Robinson Schwartz (BS34), track, Amsterdam 1928 and Berlin 1936; 1928 gold medal, 100 meters; 1928 silver medal, 4 x 100-meter relay; 1936 gold medal, 4 x 100-meter relay
- Annette Rogers Kelly (BS37),track, Los Angeles 1932 and Berlin 1936; 1932 gold medal, 4 x 100-meter relay; 1936 gold medal, 4 x 100-meter relay
Adapted from Northwestern at the Summer Games, by Northwestern's Alumni Association.