PARIS – The City of Light awaits seven Ole Miss Rebels who are set to represent their home countries in the pinnacle of sport at the upcoming Games of the XXXIII Olympiad – the 2024 Summer Olympic Games – held in Paris beginning this week and running until the closing ceremonies on August 11.
The Paris Games come only three years after the last iteration – the 2021 Tokyo Games – that were delayed a year due to the global COVID pandemic. Ole Miss affiliated athletes came away from Tokyo with two silver medals and look to bring home even more hardware from France this summer.
The seven Olympic berths this year come from two sports (soccer, track & field) and ties the Ole Miss department record set first by the 2016 delegation to Rio. Representing Ole Miss in Paris are: Mario Garcia Romo (Team Spain, track & field), Sam Kendricks (Team USA, track & field), McKenzie Long (Team USA, track & field), Shu Ohba (Team Japan, soccer), Raven Saunders (Team USA, track & field), Rafaelle Souza (Team Brazil, soccer) and Sintayehu Vissa (Team Italy, track & field).
This marks the third Olympiad each for Kendricks, Saunders and Souza – with Kendricks and Saunders each owning an Olympic medal to their name. Kendricks was the bronze medalist in the men's pole vault after a thrilling competition in the rain in Rio in 2016, while Saunders took silver in the women's shot put in Tokyo three years ago – becoming only the third American woman to ever medal in the event.
For the remainder of Ole Miss' delegation – Garcia Romo, Long, Ohba and Vissa – the Paris Games will be their first experience at the Olympics. Ohba will serve as Japan's alternate goalkeeper, while the NCAA Champions Garcia Romo, Long and Vissa look to make a name for themselves on the largest stage of the track & field world.
Soccer action will begin this Thursday morning (July 25), with Japan taking on Spain at 10 a.m. CT and Brazil squaring off against Nigeria at noon CT – both part of Women's Group C qualifying. Competition for the rest of the Rebel delegation picks up after the Opening Ceremonies, which will be held this Friday (July 26) live on NBC at 12:30 p.m. CT (and replayed again on NBC at 6:30 p.m. CT).
Fans can watch all the Olympic action live on the NBC family of networks or online via the Peaco*ck streaming app. A full schedule of events is available HERE, and a full broadcast schedule is online at NBCOlympics.com. For more information regarding Rebel athletes in the Olympics, see below or visit OleMissSports.com/Paris2024.
Ole Miss Olympians
Mario Garcia Romo – Team Spain – Track & Field (Men's 1500-Meter)
Sam Kendricks – Team USA – Track & Field (Men's Pole Vault)
McKenzie Long – Team USA – Track & Field (Women's 200-Meter Dash)
Shu Ohba – Team Japan – Women's Soccer (Alternate)
Raven Saunders – Team USA – Track & Field (Women's Shot Put)
Rafaelle Souza – Team Brazil – Women's Soccer
Sintayehu Vissa – Team Italy – Track & Field (Women's 1500-Meter)
COMPETITION SCHEDULE (all times CT)
Thurs., July 25
10 AM CT – Shu Ohba (Japan) – Soccer – vs. Spain, Women's Group C
Noon CT – Rafaelle Souza (Brazil) – Soccer – vs. Nigeria, Women's Group C
Fri., July 26
12:30 PM CT – Opening Ceremonies
Sun., July 28
10 AM CT – Shu Ohba (Japan) & Rafaelle Souza (Brazil) – Soccer – Japan vs. Brazil, Women's Group C
Wed., July 31
10 AM CT – Rafaelle Souza (Brazil) – Soccer – vs. Spain, Women's Group C
10 AM CT – Shu Ohba (Japan) – Soccer – vs. Nigeria, Women's Group C
Fri., Aug. 2
4:05 AM CT – Mario Garcia Romo (Spain) – Track & Field – Men's 1500-Meter First Round
Sat., Aug. 3
3:10 AM CT – Sam Kendricks (Team USA) – Track & Field – Men's Pole Vault First Round
8 AM CT – Shu Ohba (Japan) and/or Rafaelle Souza (Brazil) – Soccer – Women's Quarterfinal (if qualified)
10 AM CT – Shu Ohba (Japan) and/or Rafaelle Souza (Brazil) – Soccer – Women's Quarterfinal (if qualified)
12:15 PM CT – Mario Garcia Romo (Spain) – Track & Field – Men's 1500-Meter Repechage Rounds (if needed)
Sun., Aug. 4
3:55 AM CT – McKenzie Long (Team USA) – Track & Field – Women's 200-Meter Dash First Round
2:50 PM CT – Mario Garcia Romo (Spain) – Track & Field – Men's 1500-Meter Semifinals (if qualified)
Mon., Aug. 5
5:50 AM CT – McKenzie Long (Team USA) – Track & Field – Women's 200-Meter Dash Repechage Round (if needed)
Noon CT – Sam Kendricks (Team USA) – Track & Field – Men's Pole Vault Final (if qualified)
1:45 PM CT – McKenzie Long (Team USA) – Track & Field – Women's 200-Meter Dash Semifinals (if qualified)
Tues., Aug. 6
3:05 AM CT – Sintayehu Vissa (Italy) – Track & Field – Women's 1500-Meter First Round
11 AM CT – Shu Ohba (Japan) and/or Rafaelle Souza (Brazil) – Soccer – Women's Semifinal (if qualified)
1:50 PM CT – Mario Garcia Romo (Spain) – Track & Field – Men's 1500-Meter Final (if qualified)
2 PM CT – Shu Ohba (Japan) and/or Rafaelle Souza (Brazil) – Soccer – Women's Semifinal (if qualified)
2:40 PM CT – McKenzie Long (Team USA) – Track & Field – Women's 200-Meter Dash Final
Wed., Aug. 7
5:45 AM CT – Sintayehu Vissa (Italy) – Track & Field – Women's 1500-Meter Repechage Round (if needed)
Thurs., Aug. 8
3:25 AM CT – Raven Saunders (Team USA) – Track & Field – Women's Shot Put Qualifying
4:10 AM CT – McKenzie Long (Team USA) – Women's 4x100-Meter Relay First Round (if selected)
12:35 PM CT – Sintayehu Vissa (Italy) – Track & Field – Women's 1500-Meter Semifinals (if qualified)
Fri., Aug. 9
8 AM CT – Shu Ohba (Japan) and/or Rafaelle Souza (Brazil) – Soccer – Women's Bronze Medal Match (if qualified)
12:30 PM CT – McKenzie Long (Team USA) – Women's 4x100-Meter Relay Final (if selected & qualified)
12:40 PM CT – Raven Saunders (Team USA) – Track & Field – Women's Shot Put Final (if qualified)
Sat., Aug. 10
10 AM CT – Shu Ohba (Japan) and/or Rafaelle Souza (Brazil) – Soccer – Women's Gold Medal Match (if qualified)
1:25 PM CT – Sintayehu Vissa (Italy) – Track & Field – Women's 1500-Meter Final (if qualified)
Sun., Aug. 11
2 PM CT – Closing Ceremonies (Live)
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OLE MISS OLYMPIAN BIOS (IN COMPETITION ORDER)
Shu Ohba • Team Japan •Women's Soccer (Alternate)
Years at Ole Miss:2023-
Hometown:Fujisawa, Japan
Olympiads:1 (2024)
Best Finish in Ole Miss History: 4th place (2016, Rafaelle Souza, Team Brazil)
Schedule
Thurs., July 25 – 10 AM CT – Women's Group C – Japan vs. Spain
Sun., July 28 – 10 AM CT – Women's Group C – Japan vs. Brazil
Wed., July 31 – 10 AM CT – Women's Group C – Japan vs. Nigeria
Sat., Aug. 3 – Starting at 8 AM CT – Women's Quarterfinals (if qualified)
Tues., Aug. 6 – Starting at 11 AM CT – Women's Semifinals (if qualified)
Fri., Aug. 9 – 8 AM CT – Women's Bronze Medal Match (if qualified)
Sat., Aug. 10 – 10 AM CT – Women's Gold Medal Match (if qualified)
Preview
Current Ole Miss Soccer goalkeeper Shu Ohba has been named an alternate for Team Japan at the 2024 Olympics this summer in Paris. Ohba has been training with the team all summer and while she will not be staying in the Olympic Village with the team, she will be in Paris and waiting for her opportunity should it come.
Ohba has been competing with Team Japan on a regular basis, most recently playing in the team's friendly matches against New Zealand and Ghana. She also was on the roster for the 2024 SheBelieves Cup and the 2023 Asian Games in China.
In her first season as a Rebel, Ohba was named to the United Soccer Coaches All-Southeast Region team and was named the All-SEC Second Team Goalkeeper for 2023. She started 14 matches in goal for Ole Miss, posting seven shutouts and allowing just 13 goals. Her 0.91 goals against average was the fifth-lowest in a single season in program history.
Career Notes
•2023 All-SEC Second Team Goalkeeper
• 2023 United Soccer Coaches All-Southeast Region
• Led the SEC in saves and saves per game in 2023
• 2x SEC Defensive Player of the Week
• 2024 SheBelieves Cup with Team Japan
• 2023 Asian Games with Team Japan
• 2022 U-20 FIFA Women's World Cup with Team Japan
• Played two seasons at East Tennessee
• 2022 SoCon Player of the Year
• 2021 SoCon Freshman of the Year
2024, Paris
• Named an alternate goalkeeper for Japan's national team
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Rafaelle Souza • Team Brazil • Women's Soccer
Years at Ole Miss:2011-13
Hometown:Cipo, Brazil
Olympiads:3 (2016, '21, '24)
Best Finish in Ole Miss History: 4th place (2016, Rafaelle Souza, Team Brazil)
Schedule
Thurs., July 25 – Noon CT – Women's Group C – Brazil vs. Nigeria
Sun., July 28 – 10 AM CT – Women's Group C – Brazil vs. Japan
Wed., July 31 – 10 AM CT – Women's Group C – Brazil vs. Spain
Sat., Aug. 3 – Starting at 8 AM CT – Women's Quarterfinals (if qualified)
Tues., Aug. 6 – Starting at 11 AM CT – Women's Semifinals (if qualified)
Fri., Aug. 9 – 8 AM CT – Women's Bronze Medal Match (if qualified)
Sat., Aug. 10 – 10 AM CT – Women's Gold Medal Match (if qualified)
Preview
Former Ole Miss Soccer athlete Rafaelle Souza will be competing in the 2024 Olympics this summer as a defender and one of the most experienced players on Team Brazil.
Souza's trip to Paris will be the third of her career after playing for her home country in Tokyo in 2021 and in Rio in 2016. She has played in nine total Olympic matches, leading Brazil to a fourth-place finish in 2016 and the quarterfinals in 2021. She has also played with Team Brazil in both the 2015 and 2023 World Cups, even being named a captain for the 2023 tournament. Souza has scored nine goals in her international career.
After being drafted by the NWSL's Houston Dash in 2014, Souza has played for six different professional soccer teams in three different countries. She spent a large part of her professional career in China playing for Changchun Zhuoyue of the Chinese Women's Super League from 2016-2021. In 2022, Souza became the first Brazilian woman to player for Arsenal Women in London. Most recently she signed a two-and-a-half-year deal with the Orlando Pride.
Career Notes
Olympedia Bio
• Captained Team Brazil in the 2023 World Cup
• Captained Team Brazil in the 2022 Copa America Feminina
• Has scored nine goals for Team Brazil in international play
• First Brazilian woman to play for Arsenal (2022-23)
• Became a U.S. citizen in 2024
• Scored a goal in the 2024 CONCACAF W Gold Cup in 5-0 win over Panama
• Selected 10th overall in 2013 by the Houston Dash in the Women's Pro Soccer Draft
• 2013 NSCAA First-Team All-American
• 2013 CoSIDA Academic All-American
• 2x CoSIDA Academic All-District
• 2x NSCAA/USC Scholar All-America selection
• 2x SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year
• 2x All-SEC
• 2x NSCAA/USC All-Region
• Set what was then the Ole Miss records for career points (108) and goals (44)
• Scored 50 points alone in the 2013 season
2016, Rio • 4th Place
• On Brazilian team that finished fourth overall
• Played in all five matches
2021, Tokyo • Quarterfinals
• On Brazilian team that advanced to quarterfinal stage
• Lost to eventual gold medal winners, Canada, in a 4-3 shootout
• Played and started in all four matches
2024, Paris
• Named to her third Brazilian Olympic team
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Mario Garcia Romo • Team Spain•Men's Track & Field • 1500-Meter
Years at Ole Miss:2018-22
Hometown:Salamanca, Spain
Olympiads:1(2024)
World Rank: 89th
Spanish Rank: 5th
Personal Best: 3:29.18 • No. 3 Spanish History • June 15, 2023 (Oslo Diamond League)
Season-Best: 3:35.31 • July 16, 2024 (Luzern, Switzerland)
Best Finish in Ole Miss History: N/A (First ever qualifier)
Schedule
Fri., Aug. 2 – 4:05 AM CT – Men's 1500-Meter First Round
Sat., Aug. 3 – 12:15 PM CT – Men's 1500-Meter Repechage Round (if needed)
Sun., Aug. 4 – 2:50 PM CT – Men's 1500-Meter Semifinals (if qualified)
Tues., Aug. 6 – 1:50 PM CT – Men's 1500-Meter Final (if qualified)
Preview
During his splendid Ole Miss career, Mario Garcia Romo was known to his teammates as "The Rocket" – a fitting nickname for one of the best all-around collegiate distance runners of his era. He had range from 800 meters to 5K on the track and up to 10K on the cross country course – proven by his SEC cross title in 2020, his 55.02 final 400 in the 2022 World 1500-meter final, and everything in between. He rewrote portions of the middle-distance record book at Ole Miss on the track and helped lead the Rebels to their first two conference titles in program history in cross country in 2018 and 2019.
In his Rebel career, Garcia Romo was the 2022 NCAA Indoor Champion in the mile, a two-time NCAA Runner-Up, a six-time First-Team All-American and a five-time SEC Champion with 30.25 career NCAA points and 42.5 career SEC points scored. And none of that includes his exploits as one of Ole Miss' finest cross country runners, capped by the aforementioned SEC title and an All-America finish in 2020.
But the 1500 and mile have been and still are Garcia Romo's specialty, and he has been a consistent player on the world stage since leaving Ole Miss in 2022. Since going pro, Garcia Romo has made three World finals in the 1500 and has become part of an impressive middle distance group in Spain. His career-best 3:29.18 from 2023 ranks third in Spanish history, and in the prior mentioned 2022 World final he finished fourth at an all-dates collegiate record 3:30.20.
Career Notes
•3x World finalist
• 3x World Championships qualifier
• Finished fourth in the 2022 World Outdoor 1500-meter final in Oregon at an all-dates collegiate record 3:30.20, his first major international meet following his Ole Miss career
• Third all-time in Spanish history at his 2023 PR of 3:29.18 from the Oslo Diamond League meet
• Owns Spain's national record in the mile at 3:47.69 from the 2023 Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon
• 4x Spanish national medalist in the 1500-meter, including a gold in 2022
• 2022 European Championships bronze medalist (1500-meter)
• 2021 European U23 Championships silver medalist (1500-meter)
• 2022 NCAA Indoor Champion (mile)
• First Ole Miss NCAA mile champion, first individual national title on the track by a Rebel since 2005 (Antwon Hicks, 60-meter hurdles)
• 2x NCAA Runner-Up (2022 Outdoor, 1500-meter; 2021 Indoor, DMR)
• Ran anchor on what was then the second-fastest distance medley relay in collegiate history and fourth-fastest in world history at the 2021 NCAA Indoor Championships (9:20.75)
• 6x First-Team All-American
• 5x NCAA qualifier
• 3x NCAA East Region qualifier
• 30.25 career NCAA points scored
• 5x SECChampion
• 42.5 career SEC points scored
• 2022 SEC Indoor Men's Scholar-Athlete of the Year
• 2020 NCAA Cross Country All-American
• 2020 SEC Cross Country Champion
• 2020 SEC Cross Country Runner of the Year
• 2019 SEC Indoor Freshman Runner of the Year
• Set Ole Miss records in the mile (3:53.36, 2022), 3K (7:47.56, 2022) and distance medley relay (9:20.75, 2021)
• Ran anchor on two winning teams at the 2022 Penn Relays, splitting 3:58.36 on the mile leg of an Ole Miss record 9:29.45 DMR team (No. 11 NCAA history) and 1:47.91 on a 7:13.71 school record 4x800-meter relay squad (No. 9 NCAA history)
• Finished sixth in the 2022 Wanamaker Mile indoors, was lone collegian in the field
2024,Paris
• Qualified for Spain's national team; ran the Olympic standard multiple times within the qualifying window
• Finished third in Spain's national final
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Sam Kendricks • Team USA • Track & Field • Men's Pole Vault
Years at Ole Miss:2012-14
Hometown:Oxford, Miss.
Olympiads:3(2016, '21, '24)
World Rank: T-4th
U.S. Rank: 2nd
Personal Best: 6.06m/19-10.50 • No. 2 U.S. History (former American record), T-No. 5 World History • July 27, 2019 (U.S. Outdoor Championships; Des Moines, Iowa)
Season-Best: 5.95m/19-06.25 • July 7, 2024 (Paris Diamond League)
Best Finish in Ole Miss History: Bronze Medal (2016, Sam Kendricks, Team USA)
Schedule
Sat. Aug. 3 – 3:10 AM CT – Men's Pole Vault Qualifying
Mon. Aug. 5 – Noon CT – Men's Pole Vault Final (if qualified)
Preview
Hometown hero Sam Kendricks looks to make Oxford proud yet again, heading to Paris for his third Olympic Games.
Kendricks won bronze in Rio in 2016 amid a historic Olympic pole vault final at 5.85m/19-02.25. The competition was wet and delayed nearly an hour due to rain, but the final few bars among Kendricks, former world record holder and silver medalist Renaud Lavillenie of France (5.98m/19-07.50), and home crowd favorite and gold medalist Thiago Braz of Brazil (6.03m/19-09.25) were sublime drama – with Braz coming out on top with an Olympic record. Furthermore, Kendricks – a First Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Reserve – became a worldwide viral sensation after video surfaced of him stopping his warmup on the runway abruptly to stand at attention for The Star-Spangled Banner.
Since then, Kendricks has consistently been one of the top pole vaulters on the planet, winning back-to-back World Championship gold medals in 2017 and 2019 – becoming the first repeat World champion since former world record holder Sergey Bubka. He extended his record streak of U.S. outdoor titles to six in 2019 on a historic American record clearance of 6.06m/19-10.50, and several months later he took down the U.S. Indoor record as well at 6.01m/19-08.50 before the pandemic brought global competition to a standstill. In total since leaving Ole Miss in 2014 as a two-time NCAA Champion, Kendricks has won 11 U.S. titles, five World medals, 18 Diamond League titles and became the 22nd member all-time in the six-meter club.
Career Notes
Olympedia Bio
• 3x Olympian
• Olympic bronze medalist in 2016
• First Rebel men's athlete in department history to make Team USA multiple times (regardless of sport)
• First men's athlete in Ole Miss track & field history to qualify for multiple Olympiads
• Ranks second in U.S. history in the pole vault outdoors (6.06m/19-10.50, 2019) and third indoors (6.01m/19-08.50, 2020)
• Tied for fifth in world history
• 2x World Outdoor champion in the pole vault; became one of only two men in history to repeat alongside former world record holder Sergey Bubka
• Won 2019 World title over world record holder, Mondo Duplantis
• 5x World Championships medalist (2x gold)
• 6x World Championships qualifier
• 11x U.S. Champion (7outdoors, 4indoors)
• First American to ever win six straight U.S. outdoor men's pole vault titles (2014-19)
• 2x NCAA Champion (2013, '14 outdoor)
• 2014 NCAA Indoor Runner-Up
• 5x All-American
• 2x SEC Champion
• 2013 World University Games Gold Medalist
•2014 SEC Indoor Men's Field Athlete of the Year
•18x IAAF Diamond League champion
•2017 USATF Jesse Owens Athlete of the Year
•22nd member of the six-meter club
2016, Rio • Bronze Medal
Event Replay
• Took bronze in highly competitive pole vault final at 5.85m (19-02.25)
• Gold medalist Thiago Braz won on an Olympic record height of 6.03m (19-09.25) over former world record holder Renaud Lavillenie (5.98m/19-07.50)
• Competition was delayed by nearly an hour due to rain
• Kendricks, a First Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Reserve, was caught on camera in a momentthat soon went viral, stopping his warmup on the runway to stand at attention for The Star-Spangled Banner
2021, Tokyo
• Did Not Compete
2024, Paris
•Qualified by winning the U.S. Olympic Trials;cleared Olympic standard multiple times within qualifying window
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McKenzie Long • Team USA • Women's Track & Field • 200-Meter Dash
Years at Ole Miss:2023-24
Hometown:Ironton, Ohio
Olympiads:1 (2024)
World Rank: 2nd
U.S. Rank: 2nd
Personal Best: 21.83 (+1.0) • Ole Miss Record, No. 2 Collegiate History, T-No. 10 U.S. History, T-No. 24 World History • June 8, 2024 (NCAA Final; Eugene, Oregon)
Season-Best: Same
Best Finish in Ole Miss History: N/A (First ever qualifier)
Schedule
Sun., Aug. 4 – 3:55 AM CT – Women's 200-Meter Dash First Round
Mon., Aug. 5 – 5:50 AM CT – Women's 200-Meter Dash Repechage Round (if needed)
Mon., Aug. 5 – 1:45 PM CT – Women's 200-Meter Dash Semifinals (if qualified)
Tues., Aug. 6 – 2:40 PM CT – Women's 200-Meter Dash Final (if qualified)
Thurs., Aug. 8 – 4:10 AM CT – Women's 4x100-Meter Relay First Round (if selected)
Fri., Aug. 9 – 12:30 PM CT – Women's 4x100-Meter Relay Final (if selected & qualified)
Preview
Rebel fans and U.S. track fans have come to admire McKenzie Long and her rare combination of unwavering determination and raw talent. Now, it's the world's turn.
Long was only an Ole Miss Rebel for two seasons after transferring from NC State prior to the 2023 indoor season, but in those proceeding 18 months she lit the school record book on fire and left as one of the most consequential athletes in program history. If 2023 were her only season she still would have been one of the best to ever don a Rebel uniform, finishing as the NCAA runner-up outdoors and dismantling six Ole Miss records across the indoor and outdoor campaigns.
But the 2024 season was one for the ages – especially considering the hardships she fought through on the way. Early during the indoor season on January 29, Long lost her mother – Tara Jones – who had passed away unexpectedly at the age of 45. Through grief, track was simultaneously Long's distraction and her outlet to honor her mother's memory. Indoors, Long returned to the track to earn an SEC bronze and another NCAA runner-up honor in the 200-meter. And then she put the world on notice outdoors.
From May 11 until June 28, Long reigned as the world leader in the 200 – beginning with her SEC winning time of 22.03 (+0.6). Long marched through the NCAA postseason in rhythmic dominance, culminating in a triple crown at the national meet in Oregon in a span of just 90 minutes – becoming one of six women in collegiate history to sweep NCAA titles in the 100-meter, 200-meter and 4x100-meter relay. Long ended as the second-fastest collegian ever at 200-meters at her NCAA-winning time of 21.83 (+1.0), which stood as the world lead until fellow Team USA member Gabby Thomas leapfrogged her in the U.S. semifinals on June 28.
Career Notes
• 2024 U.S. bronze medalist, 200-meter dash
• 2024 Women's Bowerman Award Semifinalist
• 3x NCAA Champion
• Won all three of her career national titles in a 90-minute span on June 8, 2024 in Eugene, Oregon
• One of 15 women in NCAA Division I history to sweep the 100 and 200; one of six women in NCAA Division I history to add on a victory in the 4x100-meter relay
• First Rebel to win an NCAA Outdoor title in an event shorter than 800-meters, men or women
• First Rebel woman to win an NCAA title, indoors or outdoors, in an event shorter than 1500-meters
• First Rebel to win two national titles in the same meet, let alone three, let alone on the same day
• One of four Rebels to ever win multiple national titles in the same season, only the second Rebel woman to do so alongside four-time Olympian Brittney Reese (indoor/outdoor long jump, 2008)
• NCAA-winning 200-meter time of 21.83 (+1.0) ranked second in collegiate history, No. 10 in U.S. history and No. 24 in World history
• Only woman in collegiate history to record multiple wind-legal sub-22 second times in the 200 (within the collegiate season)
• NCAA semifinal 100-meter time of 10.91 (+0.0) tied for 10th in collegiate history
• Ran second leg on Ole Miss' winning 4x1 team; ran 42.22 in the semifinal to rank the Rebels No. 5 in collegiate history
• Scored 22.5 of Ole Miss' 38 meet points outdoors in 2024 en route to a record fifth-place team finish
• 2x NCAA Runner-Up
• 8x All-American (7x First-Team)
• 45.5 career NCAA points scored
• Part of four top-25 NCAA team finishes in as many career tries with the Rebels
• 9x NCAA qualifier (all at Ole Miss)
• 9x NCAA East Region qualifier
• 2x SEC Champion (200-meter, 2023 & 2024)
• 2x First-Team All-SEC
• 2x Second-Team All-SEC
• 6x SEC medalist
• 47.5 career SEC points scored
• 2024 SEC Indoor Women's Scholar-Athlete of the Year
• First repeat SEC champion in the women's 200-meter dash since LSU's Kimberlyn Duncan, who won three in a row from 2011-13
• Ran on each of the six fastest 4x1 times in Ole Miss history, as well as seven of the top-nine and eight of the top-10
• USTFCCCA National Athlete of the Week (May 13, 2024)
• SEC Women's Runner of the Week (April 30, 2024)
• First Rebel woman to ever attempt the 100/200/4x1 triple at NCAAs (did so twice)
• Ended career with six Ole Miss records: indoor 60-meter (7.10), indoor 200-meter (22.48), indoor 300-meter (37.38), outdoor 100-meter all-conditions (10.80/+3.5), outdoor 100-meter wind-legal (10.91/+0.0), outdoor 200-meter (21.83/+1.0), outdoor 4x100-meter relay (42.22)
• 2x USTFCCCA All-Academic
• Finished her master's in criminal justice at Ole Miss in 2023; working toward her second master's in public health in 2024
• Graduated from NC State in 2022 with a bachelor's in psychology and communications
2024, Paris
USA Today Feature
• Qualified after finishing third at the U.S. Olympic Trials for the final spot to Paris
• Held the world lead in the 200-meter for much of the outdoor season; enters Paris ranked at her NCAA-winning 21.83 (+1.0) second behind U.S. teammate Gabby Thomas (21.78/+1.4)
• Owns three of the 10 fastest 200-meter times worldwide heading into Paris
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Sintayehu Vissa • Team Italy • Women's Track & Field • 1500-Meter
Years at Ole Miss:2021-22
Hometown:Bertiolo, Italy
Olympiads:1 (2024)
World Rank: 52nd
Italian Rank: 3rd
Personal Best: 4:01.66 • No. 3 Italian History • Aug. 19, 2023 (World Outdoor Championships; Budapest, Hungary)
Season-Best: 4:03.35 • July 14, 2024 (Lignano Sabbiadoro, Italy)
Best Finish in Ole Miss History: N/A (First ever qualifier)
Schedule
Tues., Aug. 6 – 3:05 AM CT – Women's 1500-Meter First Round
Wed., Aug. 7 – 5:45 AM CT – Women's 1500-Meter Repechage Round (if needed)
Thurs., Aug. 8 – 12:35 PM CT – Women's 1500-Meter Semifinals (if qualified)
Sat., Aug. 10 – 1:25 PM CT – Women's 1500-Meter Final (if qualified)
Preview
Ole Miss great Sintayehu Vissa only spent two seasons as a Rebel, but at nearly every turn she made history as one of the best Rebel women's distance runners all-time. Born in Ethiopia, Vissa grew up in Italy and spent time as a sprinter and hurdler before finding her calling as a distance runner. She began her career at Division II Saint Leo, but upon transferring to Ole Miss prior to the 2021 indoor season, Vissa stunned with how fast she acclimated to the top conference in collegiate track, dismantling her previous PRs by massive margins and writing her name all over the school record book.
Vissa ended as a four-time First-Team All-American on the track, highlighted by her NCAA 1500-meter title outdoors in 2022 and her mile runner-up finish that indoor season. Her title was the first on the track in the history of Ole Miss women's track & field, and she was the first woman in program history to even qualify for NCAAs in an event longer than 800 meters. She won three SEC titles as well, becoming the first woman in program history to ever win titles in the mile, 1500 or distance medley relay. And on the DMR, Vissa was a key member of the first two women's DMR teams to ever qualify for the national meet.
Her list of firsts did not stop there, as she also was the first woman in Ole Miss history to ever earn All-America status during the cross country season, finishing 33rd at the 2021 national meet.
Since leaving Ole Miss, Vissa has been a successful professional runner, qualifying for Italy's national team twice for the World Outdoor Championships, winning Italy's 2023 national title in the 1500 in addition to two other runner-up finishes, and breaking Italy's all-time indoor mile record at 4:24.54 – 11th-best in world history at the time.
Career Notes
• 2x World Outdoor Championships qualifier
• 2023 Italian champion (1500-meter)
• 2x Italian runner-up (1500-meter)
• Broke Italy's all-time indoor mile record at the 2023 Millrose Games in the Women's Wanamaker Mile at 4:24.54 (No. 11 world history)
• Went pro in 2022 with two years of NCAA eligibility remaining
• 2022 NCAA Outdoor Champion (1500-meter)
• First NCAA title on the track in Ole Miss women's history
• 2022 NCAA Indoor Runner-Up (mile)
• 4x First-Team All-American
• 19.75 career NCAA points scored
• First Rebel woman to qualify for the NCAA Indoor meet in an individual event higher than the 800-meters
• First Rebel woman to ever qualify for the NCAA Outdoor meet in the 1500-meter
• 3x SEC Champion
• 37.75 career SEC points scored
• First Rebel woman to ever win an SEC title in the mile, 1500 or DMR
• First Rebel woman to ever win an individual title on the track at the SEC Indoor Championships; one of six to ever do so outdoors
• Broke seven school records in 2022 alone: indoor mile (4:32.70), indoor 3K (9:04.95), indoor DMR (10:56.39), outdoor 800-meter (2:01.06), outdoor 1500-meter (4:07.72; No. 15 NCAA history), outdoor 4x1500-meter relay (17:24.46; No. 14 NCAA history) and outdoor DMR (10:55.61; No. 7 NCAA history)
• Set two SEC meet records: indoor DMR and outdoor 1500
• Ended collegiate career No. 15 in NCAA history in the 1500-meter with the 16th-fastest time at her SEC-winning 4:08.72
• Ranks 14th all-time in Italian history in the 800-meter (2:01.06; 2022); at the time was the fourth-fastest ever run by an Italian woman on American soil -- the best since Olympic gold medalist Gabriella Dorio's 1:59.53 in the semifinal and 1:59.05 in the final to finish fourth in the 1984 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles
• Her 4:08.72 from the 2022 SEC Championships was the fifth-best ever run by an Italian woman on American soil
• 2021 Cross Country All-American (33rd place); first women's cross All-American in Ole Miss history
• Born in Ethiopia, spent large part of her childhood and adolescence in Italy
• Ran the short sprints and intermediate hurdles before transitioning to the distance events
• Ran at Division II Saint Leo University prior to transferring to Ole Miss in January 2021
2024, Paris
• Runner-up in Italy's national 1500-meter final; ran the Olympic standard multiple times within the qualifying window
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Raven Saunders • Team USA • Track & Field • Women's Shot Put
Years at Ole Miss:2016-18
Hometown:Charleston, S.C.
Olympiads:3(2016, '21, '24)
World Rank: 7th
U.S. Rank: 3rd
Personal Best: 19.96m/65-6 • No. 8 U.S. History • June 24, 2021 (U.S. Olympic Trials; Eugene, Oregon)
Season-Best: 19.90m/65-03.50 • June 29, 2024 (U.S. Olympic Trials; Eugene, Oregon)
Best Finish in Ole Miss History: Silver Medal (2021, Raven Saunders, Team USA)
Schedule
Thurs., Aug. 8 – 3:25 AM CT – Women's Shot Put Qualifying
Fri., Aug. 9 – 12:40 PM CT – Women's Shot Put Final (if qualified)
Preview
From beginnings in Charleston, South Carolina, to high school superstar, to four-time NCAA Champion and Olympic medalist, Raven Saunders has excelled at every turn, and now stands on the precipice of a third career Olympiad in Paris.
At the U.S. Olympic Trials last month, Saunders took care of business, finishing as the runner-up at a near-PR of 19.90m/65-03.50 – giving the United States a powerful team alongside World champion Chase Jackson and NCAA champ Jaida Ross.
Saunders is no stranger to the Olympic stage, first qualifying as an Ole Miss sophom*ore in 2016 and finishing fifth to become the youngest American to ever make the women's shot put final. In Rio that year, Saunders witnessed Michelle Carter make history as the first American to win gold and the first U.S. medal winner since 1960. In Tokyo five years later, Saunders joined Carter and Earlene Brown's bronze in 1960 with a silver medal finish in the 2021 Games. Another medal in Paris would make Saunders the first American woman to ever win multiple medals in the shot put.
Career Notes
Olympedia Bio
• 3x Olympian in the women's shot put
• 2021 Olympic silver medalist
• Third American woman to ever medal, and the first to win silver; joined Earlene Brown (1960, Rome;bronze) and Michelle Carter (2016, Rio; gold)
• Fifth Rebel to ever win an Olympic medal regardless of sport
• Joined Brittney Reese as the only Olympic medalists from the Ole Miss women's track & field team
• 2016 Olympic finalist in the shot put (5th place)
• 2017 U.S. Outdoor champion in the shot put
• 2021 U.S. Olympic Trials runner-up at career-best 19.96m/65-06.00, currently No. 8 in U.S. history
• Finished 10th at the 2017 World Outdoor Championships
• 4x NCAA Champion
•7x All-American
•One of only four women in NCAA history to break 19 meters indoors and the first to do so outdoors
•First woman in NCAA history to break 19 meters twice in the same series
•Broke both collegiate records during her career
•2017 USTFCCCA Women's Indoor Co-National Field Athlete of the Year
•2016 Bowerman Award Finalist
• 2015 Pan American junior champion
• 2014 World Junior silver medalist
2016, Rio • 5th Place
• Youngest American to ever make the women's shot put final at 20 years old
• Threw what was then a personal best 19.35m (63-06.00) in the fifth round
• Michelle Carter won on a U.S. record 20.63m (67-08.25), becoming the first American to ever win gold and the first to medal since Earlene Brown won bronze in 1960
2021, Tokyo • Silver Medal
Highlights|Interview|Tokyo Live Interview
• Won silver at 19.79m/64-11.25
• Third American woman to ever medal, and the first to win silver; joned Earlene Brown (1960, Rome;bronze) and Michelle Carter (2016, Rio; gold)
• Fifth Rebel to ever win an Olympic medal regardless of sport
• Joined Brittney Reese as the only Olympic medalists from the Ole Miss women's track & field team
• Was third overall and first in Group A qualifying at 19.22m/63-00.75
2024, Paris
• Qualified after finishing as the runner-up at the U.S. Olympic Trials
• Threw the Olympic standard prior to the Trials and in the U.S. final
