WISCONSIN— The Olympic games are right around the corner, bringing athletes from all over the world to Tokyo in the pursuit of gold medals.
Wisconsin will send eight Olympic athletes to the games this summer, along with six more who attended Wisconsin schools or participated in Wisconsin athletic programs.
Wisconsinites will compete in four sports this year — rowing, track and field, sailing and shooting — while Wisconsin alumni will compete in the heptathlon, decathlon, soccer, volleyball, rowing and swimming events.
Wisconsin’s professional sports teams will also field several players in their respective sports, as the Milwaukee Bucks and Brewers will send athletes to compete in basketball and baseball, respectively.
Wisconsin Olympians
Emily Sisson
Hometown: Menomonee Falls, Wis.
Sport: Track and field
This Menomonee Falls native spent time at a variety of Wisconsin athletic programs throughout her career. She even returned to University of Wisconsin for a year to run track and field. Sisson now runs professionally for New Balance in Phoenix, Ari. After two failed attempts at making the U.S. Olympic track team, Sisson made her first Olympic games at age 29 with a time of 31:03.82 in the 10,000 meter race at this year’s Olympic trials.
Molly Seidel
Hometown: Hartland, Wis.
Sport: Track and field
Seidel joins Team USA as the first athlete in U.S. women's Olympic history to qualify for the games in her first marathon. The track and field athlete went to Notre Dame for school, finishing the 2016 season as the NCAA champion in the 3,000, 5,000 and 10,000 meter outdoor races. Seidel carried that success forward into her Olympic trials, where she finished second overall.
Kenny Bednarek
Hometown: Rice Lake, Wis.
Sport: Track and field
Bednarek, who calls Rice Lake home and ran track for Rice Lake High School, qualified for his first Olympic games this year. Bednarek holds the unique record for being the first American athlete to break 20 seconds in the 200 meter and 45 seconds in the 400 meter on the same day at the 2019 NJCAA Championships in Hobbs, New Mexico.
Alicia Monson
Hometown: Amery, Wis.
Sport: Track and field
Monson, an Amery High School and University of Wisconsin track and field runner, will compete in her first Olympic Games this summer. Monson, 23, also runs for On Athletics Club in Boulder, Co.
Stephanie Roble
Hometown: East Troy, Wis.
Sport: Sailing
Though Roble was born in Miami, Fla., she calls East Troy her hometown. Though this is the skipper’s first Olympic games, Roble has picked up plenty of accomplishments over her career. Roble was a participant in the 2014, 2017, 2018 and 2020 U.S. Match Racing Championships, capturing two bronze medals.
Madeleine Wanamaker
Hometown: Neenah, Wis.
Sport: Rowing
Wanamaker qualified for her first Olympic games this year, though prior to qualifying she boasted an impressive resume. She participated in the 2018 and 2019 World Rowing Championships, winning a gold medal in the women's coxless four event in 2018.
Megan Kalmoe
Hometown: St. Croix Falls, Wis.
Sport: Rowing
Though Kalmoe was born in Minneapolis, Min., she calls St. Croix Falls her home, having graduated from St. Croix Falls High School. A three-time Olympian rower for Team USA at the 2008, 2012 and 2016 games, Kalmoe is the only athlete on this list to have previously won a medal at an Olympic games, winning bronze in rowing in 2012.
Madelynn Bernau
Hometown: Waterford, Wis.
Sport: Shooting
Like many other Olympians on this list, Bernau made her first Olympic games this year in the shotgun shooting category. Before qualifying for this summer’s games, Bernau won the silver medal in the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF)’s shotgun World Cup event in Lonato, Italy.
Olympians who studied and trained in Wisconsin
Phoebe Bacon
Hometown: Chevy Chase, Md.
Sport: 200 meter backstroke
College: University of Wisconsin
A student athlete at University of Wisconsin, Bacon will compete in her first Olympic games this year. A two-time Pan American Games medalist, Bacon also medaled at the 2018 Junior Pan Pacific Championships, winning gold while participating in the 100 meter backstroke, 400 mixed medley relay and 400 medley relay events.
Rose Lavelle
Hometown: Cincinnati, Oh.
Sport: Soccer
School: University of Wisconsin
Lavelle, a collegiate soccer star with the Badgers, qualified for the U.S. Olympic soccer team following multiple successful seasons with the national team. Her accomplishments include playing in the 2019 World Cup for the United States, being voted as an All-American in 2015, and being named the sixth-best player in the world by The Best FIFA Football Awards 2019.
Lauren Carlini
Hometown: Aurora, Ill.
Sport: Volleyball
School: University of Wisconsin
Carlini joins the U.S. Olympic volleyball team following a highly successful career at the University of Wisconsin, where she was named 2016-17 Sullivan Award Winner for best amateur athlete in any sport in the United States. Carlini has won multiple gold medals against international competition, and will make her Olympic debut as a setter.
Georgia Ellenwood
Home state: Canada
Sport: Heptathlon
School: University of Wisconsin
The only non-Team USA athlete to make this list, Ellenwood, a native of Langley, Canada, will participate in the heptathlon for Canada at this year’s track and field events. The eight-time All-American set multiple records at Madison, including being the school record holder in the heptathlon (6,173 points) and pentathlon (4,392). Ellenwood’s list of accomplishments also includes being the first female heptathlete in UW history to win an NCAA title.
Zach Ziemek
Hometown: Itasca, Ill.
Sport: Decathlon
School: University of Wisconsin
The only other athlete on this list besides Kalmoe to participate in more than one Olympic games, Ziemek will participate in his second games this year in the decathlon event. At the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics, Ziemek placed seventh overall in the decathlon.
Wisconsin professional athletes
Khris Middleton
Team: Milwaukee Bucks
Position: Forward
As the Bucks take on the Phoenix Suns in the NBA Finals, two of its athletes are also preparing for Olympic competition. Middleton, who enjoyed multiple breakout games during the playoffs this year, will take the court for Team USA as a forward. Interestingly, Middleton will wear no. 14 for Team USA instead of his usual Bucks no. 22.
Jrue Holiday
Team: Milwaukee Bucks
Position: Guard
Holiday will join his Bucks teammate on the Olympic court in Tokyo as a guard. Both he and Middleton have said that their Olympic preparation will not interfere with existing Bucks games or events.
Jamie Westbrook
Team: Brewers
Position: Infielder
Westbrook, who recently signed with the Brewers’ minor league team after spending his early career with the Arizona Diamondbacks organization, will play for Team USA in Tokyo this summer. Westbrook is the second Brewer to play in the Olympics, with the last being pitcher Ben Sheets in 2000, the last time baseball was offered as an Olympic sport.
Meet the Wisconsinites representing Team USA in the Paralympic Games, here.