PARIS - The NSIC had five former and one current student-athlete compete at the Olympic Games in Paris.  Minnesota State had three competitors while Augustana, Northern State and Winona State each had one.  

Former Winona State track & field national champion, Mary Theisen-Lappen, finished fifth in the Women's +81kg weightlifting event. Theisen-Lappen was able to lift 115kg in the snatch portion of the event and 155kg in the clean and jerk. She attempted 162kg and 165kg in the clean and jerk, but was unsuccessful at those weights. She finished with a total 274kg. The 33-year old was making her Olympic debut in Paris. She was the silver medalist at the 2023 World Championships and has won three Pan American Games titles in her weight class.  As a Winona State student-athlete, Theisen-Lappen earned an NCAA Division II national championship in the discus at the 2011 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships. From 2009-2011 with the Warriors, Theisen-Lappen qualified for seven NCAA Championships (three indoor, four outdoor) and earned nine NCAA Division II All-America honors.

Dakotah (Bullen) Lindwurm finished the marathon in 12th place as the top American finisher.  She ran a gutsy race, leading at times and mixing it up with the leaders before finishing in 2:26:44.  At NSU, Lindwurm competed on the cross country and track and field teams, where she was a five-time National Qualifier. Lindwurm was named an All-American in the 2017 NCAA Cross Country Championship, a second team All-American in Cross Country 2017, and a first team All-American in DII 10,000m in 2018.

Denisha Cartwright exploded out of the blocks and posted a time of 12.89 in heat 2 of the 100 meter hurdles for The Bahamas at the 2024 Summer Olympic Games. Her time was fourth fastest in the heat and 19^th quickest overall.  In the repechage round she clipped the second hurdle, slowing her progress as she finished eighth with a time of 13.45 in heat 3. Cartwright gained a visible lead over the other seven competitors in the field when she contacted the hurdle. It was enough to slow her progress and end a historic 2023-24 season. The Nassau, Bahamas native finished her Maverick career with an astounding 30 individual All-America honors, including eight individual National Championships and the National Division II Honda Women's Athlete of the Year award. She also left college with the NCAA Division II all-time record in the indoor 60 meter hurdles (x4). She is the most decorated track and field student-athlete in Minnesota State history.

Former Augustana student-athlete Meritxell Soler (formally Delgado) qualified as a member of Team Spain in the marathon for the first time in her career. She becomes the first Augustana athlete to compete in the Olympics. Meritxell wrapped up her Olympic experience with a 25th place finish with a time of 2:29:56. In her two-year Augustana career, Soler earned All-NSIC honors in cross country twice and six times between indoor and outdoor track and field. She earned All-Central Region cross country honors in 2014 and in track and field for indoor 5,000m in 2015 and outdoor 10,000m in both 2014 and 2015.

Minnesota State alumnus Emmanuel Matadi (2015) advanced to the semifinals in the 100m event at the Paris Olympics, then finished eighth in semifinal no. 2 at Stade de France. Matadi advanced to the semifinals after finishing fourth in heat 7 with a time of 10.08 Saturday. Matadi entered Sunday's semifinals in a tie for 19th in the 100m event. Matadi ran a time of 10.18 (26th overall).

Current MSU Maverick Jabez Reeves handed off the baton to former Maverick Matadi in the men's 4x100 meter relay for team Liberia at the 2024 Olympics at Stade de France. Reeves ran the first leg of the race in his Olympic debut and Liberia finished heat 2 in seventh place with a time of 38.97. Matadi competed for MSU track and field in 2014-15 and made appearances in three Olympic Games, including 2016 Rio De Janeiro and 2020 Tokyo.

About the Olympic Games
The modern Olympic Games are the world’s foremost multi-sports event.  They are the largest sporting celebration in terms of the number of sports on the programme, the number of athletes present and the number of people from different nations gathered together at the same time, in the same place, in the spirit of friendly competition.  Organized every four years, they include a summer and a winter edition. Athletes from all 206 National Olympic Committees and the IOC Olympic Refugee Team are eligible to compete in a wide range of sporting disciplines and events, watched by a worldwide audience. The first edition of the modern Olympic Games was staged in Athens, Greece, in 1896, while the first winter edition was held in Chamonix, France, in 1924. Since 1994, the Olympic Games have alternated between a summer and winter edition every two years within the four-year period of each Olympiad.