The Immigrant Roots of Our U.S. Olympians

I've gone down a deep, dark rabbit hole trying to determine the immigrant roots of our U.S. Olympians. It's hard to believe it, but I could not find anyone else on the internet who has taken this on. It's almost as if other folks don't think going through the biographies of each and every of the 594 athletes would be worth the effort. So, this morning, I started the Herculean task. Did I want to give up at C? Yes, yes I did. Did I also want to drop out at N? Surely. But I continued onwards for you, dear reader. So, enjoy the fruits of my research:

 

Naturalized U.S. Citizens

Joel Embiid (basketball). A naturalized US citizen from Cameroon.

Margherita Guzzi Vincenti (fencing) became a naturalized US citizen in 2019. She was born in Italy.

Weini Keltai (track and field) was granted asylum in the United States from Eritrea. She became a naturalized US citizen in 2021.

Leonard Korir (track and field) became a naturalized citizen in 2017. He was born in Kenya.

Maria Laborde (judo) defected from Cuba and became a naturalized US citizen in 2022.

Catarina Macario (soccer--bronze medalist) is a naturalized US citizen originally from Brazil. She is the first naturalized US citizen to play for the US senior women's team.

Abdihamid Nur (track and field) is a naturalized US citizen from Somalia.

Steffen Peters (equestrian--winner of one silver and two bronze medals) became a US citizen in 1992. He was born in Germany.

Aliaksei Shostak (Gymnastics) emigrated with his parents from Belarus.

Beiwen Zhang (badminton) is a naturalized US citizen from China. She naturalized in 2020.

 

First Generation (two immigrant parents)

Rai Benjamin (track and field--gold and silver medalist) competes in the 400m hurdles. He was born in the Bronx, New York, to Antiguan immigrants.

Sunny Choi (break dancing) was named by ESPN as "one of the 10 best B-girls in the world." Both of her parents emigrated from South Korea to the United States.

Hannes Daube (water polo). His mother hails from Germany and his father from New Zealand.

Jackie Dubrovich (fencing--gold medalist). Her parents emigrated to the US from Belarus.

Annette Echikunwoke (track and field). Her parents are both from Nigeria.

Amit Elor (wrestling). Her parents are from Israel.

Naomi Girma (soccer). Her parents are from Ethiopia.

Marcos Giron (tennis). Wikipedia reports that his parents are Argentinian and Ecuadorian, but I can find no additional reporting on this.

JaJaira Gonzales (boxing). Her parents came to the US from Mexico.

Evita Griskenas (gymnastics). Her parents came to the US from Lithuania.

Asher Hong (gymnastics--bronze medal winner). His parents are immigrants from China.

Nick Itkin (Fencing--winner of two bronze medals). His parents came to the US from Ukraine in 1992.

Kanak Jha (table tennis). While not totally clear, it appears his parents are both immigrants from India.

Ashleigh Johnson (water polo--winner of two gold medals). Both of her parents were born in Jamaica.

Paul Juda (gymnastics--bronze medalist). His parents are both immigrants from Poland.

Kelly Korda (golf--gold medalist). Both of her parents are from the Czech Republic (and both competed professionally in tennis for that country!).

Desirae Krawczyk (Tennis). "Both my parents came to America - my dad is Polish, my mom is Filipino."

Jeffrey Louis (Breaking). His parents are both immigrants from Haiti.

Jennifer Lozano (boxing). Her parents came to the US from Mexico in the mid-1990s.

Salif Mane (track and field). His parents migrated to the US from Senegal.

Daniela Moroz (sailing). Her parents both came to the US from Czechoslovakia.

Yared Nuguse (track and field). His parents are from Ethiopia.

Chiaka Ogbogu (volleyball--gold mdealist). Her parents came to the US from Nigeria.

Keturah Orji (track and field). Her parents came to the US from Nigeria.

Kevin Paredes (soccer). Both of his parents are from the Dominican Republic.

Tara Prentice (water polo). Her parents are from Northern Ireland.

Fred Richard (gymnastics--bronze medalist). His mom is from the Dominican Republic and his dad is from Haiti.

Hezly Rivera (gymnastics--gold medalist). Both of her parents are from the Dominican Republic.

Xander Schauffele (golf--gold medalist) has four legal nationalities. His dad is a "French-German naturalized immigrant and his mother was born in Taiwan & raised in Japan."

Lauren Scruggs (fencing). Both of her parents are immigrants from Poland.

Jovana Sekulic (water pol0--winner of one gold and one silver medal). Her parents are immigrants from Serbia.

Howard Shu (badmitton). His parents are both from Taiwan.

Gabriel Slonina (Soccer). His parents are both from Poland.

Rachel Sung (Table Tennis). Her parents came to the US from Taiwan.

Elizabeth Tartakovsky (fencing). Her parents are from the Ukraine.

Diana Taurasi (bsasketball--winner of FIVE gold medals). Her parents emigrated from Argentina to the United States before she was born.

Lilia Vu (golf). Her parents are both from Vietnam.

Annie and Kerry Xu (badmitton). The parents of these identical twins are from China.

Lily Zhang (table tennis). Her parents are immigrants from China.

Rose Zhang (golf). Her parents are immigrants from China.

 

Second Generation (one immigrant parent) + Athletes with one non-citizen parent

Bam Adebayo (basketball -- gold medalist): A member of the Men's Team USA Basketball team, Adebayo plays for the Miami Heat. He was born in NJ to an U.S. citizen mom and a Nigerian father.

Oliver Bub (rowing). His father migrated to the U.S. from Germany.

Gianluca Busio (soccer). His father migrated to the U.S. from Italy.

Naphessa Collier (basketball--gold medalist). Her father is from Sierra-Leone.

Benjamin Cremaschi (soccer). His dad played ruby on Argentina's national team, though I cannot confirm that he was actually an Argentinian national who came to the US.

Luca Cupido (water polo). His father is from Italy.

Angelica Delgado (judo). Her dad defected to the United States from Cuba.

Markus Edegran (sailing). His father is from Sweden.

Megumi Field (artistic swimming). Her mother "grew up in Tokyo," leading me to think her mom might be a Japanese immigrant through the reporting is unclear.

Catalina Gnoriega (archery) grew up in Mexicali "the home of her mother's family," leading me to think her mom might be Mexican though reporting is unclear.

Johnny Hooper (water polo). Hooper holds dual US-Japanese citizenship via his mom, who was born in Japan.

Madison Hughes (rugby) was born and raised in England. His mother is American and his father is English.

Torri Huske (swimming--winner of 2 gold and 3 silver medals). Her mom was born in China and came to the US in 1991.

John Jayne (judo) was born in the UK to an American dad and a Bulgarian mom. He has triple citizenship!

Lee Kiefer (fencing--winner of three gold medals). Her mom came to the US from the Philippines as a child.

Spencer Lee (wrestling). His mother is from France.

Suni Lee (gymnastics--winner of two gold, one silver, and two bronze medals). Her mom came to the US as a refugee from Laos.

Jacklyn Luu (artistic swimming). Her mom came to the US as a refugee from Vietnam. 

Kareem Maddox (basketball). His mother was born in Sudan to a Sudanese father and a British mother.

Boyd Martin (Equestrian). Talk about Olympics royalty. His parents met at the 1968 Winter Olympics where his dad was competing for the US as a speed skater and his mom was competing for Australia as a cross-country skier. Martin was born and raised in Australia.

Alexander Massialas (fencing--winner of one silver and two bronze medals). His mother is from Taiwan.

Sam Mattis (track). His dad is from Jamaica.

Jack McGlynn (soccer). His dad is an immigrant from Ireland.

Victor Montalvo (breaking). His dad was a "break-dancing pioneer in Mexico" in the 80s, leading me to think his dad was a Mexican national.

Jessica Pegula (tennis). Her mom was born in South Korea and adopted by US citizens as an young child.

Jaedyn Shaw (soccer). Her mom is from Vietnam.

Gabby Thomas (track and field--winner of one silver and one bronze medal). Her dad is from Jamaica.

 

Other immigration-related athlete stories:

Ian Barrows (sailing--bronze medalist) was born and raised in Saint Thomas, the U.S. Virgin Islands, making him a U.S. citizen at birth, but an interesting one!

Chase Budinger (volleyball, beach volleyball). His maternal grandfather fled to the U.S. after the Soviet occupation of his home country, Latvia.

Jaime Czarkowski (artistic swimming) is a dual Canadian-U.S. national. She was born and grew up in Calgary (Canada). Her dad is American. 

Ben Davison (rowing) was born in Durham, England. I cannot find any information about how parents' nationalities, but I conclude that they were both US citizens as there's no indication that Davison ever naturalized.

Colin Heathcock (fencing) was born in China. His dad has dual citizenship with Germany. His mom was an architect in China when he was born--I can't find information clarifying whether she was a Chinese national.

Lucas LaCamp (rugby) was born and raised in Hong Kong.

Katie Ledecky (swimming--winner of NINE gold, four silver, and one bronze medal). Her paternal grandfather came to the US from Czechoslovakia.

Jennifer Mucino-Fernandez (archery) was born in the US and raised in Mexico City. It seems like her parents might both be Mexican, but reporting is vague.

Marcus Orlob (equestrian) was born and raised in Germany, presumably to one or more US citizens.

Ruby Remati (artistic swimming) was born in Australia.

Naya Tapper (rubgy--bronze medalist). Her parents are "of Jamaican and Puerto Rican descent."

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I hope you've enjoyed these sports updates! My carpal tunnel now needs a week off.

-KitJ