2020 Olympic profile: ‘Swashbuckling surgeon’ Kat Holmes goes for gold in Tokyo

July 22, 2021

Ed Mulholland

Kat Holmes, dubbed here as “the Swashbuckling Surgeon” before the 2016 Olympics in Rio, has only done more to earn that moniker in the last five years.

Holmes, 28, narrowly missed out on a medal in fencing — the U.S. Women’s Epee Team lost in overtime to finish fifth in Rio, and Holmes placed 25th in the individual competition. But she made history in 2018 by anchoring Team USA to a gold medal at the Senior World Championships, the first U.S. women’s team to medal.

And — oh, by the way — the National Cathedral School graduate also graduated from Princeton magna cum laude with a degree in neuroscience and technology.

As if that weren’t impressive enough, Holmes then took on the daunting task of applying to medical school while simultaneously trying to qualify for the 2020 Olympics.

“There was a time there when I’d go to a World Cup and I’d fly right back from the World Cup to a med school interview, and then I’d go from a med school interview right to a World Cup,” Holmes told WTOP. “I couldn’t get too stressed about one thing because I was always going on to something else.”

“She likes to work,” Zoltan Dudas, Holmes’ coach at Princeton over the last 10 years, said in 2016. “When you’re tired and exhausted, she’s still able to focus in those moments, and she knows it isn’t always fun.”

The overlap wasn’t supposed to happen. Holmes was accepted into the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in March 2020, but deferred medical school for a year while training for the Olympics.

Before the coronavirus pandemic, she had considered retiring from fencing, but the delay of the Summer Games into 2021 actually helped her continue fencing competitively.

“I’m not saying, ‘Yes 100%, I’m 100% committed,’ but I’m very committed to trying to making both work still,” Holmes said.

How the pandemic changed the game

Holmes said her training routine changed 11 times during the pandemic. She and her team were in Hungary when it hit, and she said they barely made it back to the U.S. before the travel ban went into effect.

The restrictions at home also put a damper on training. Holmes said she couldn’t use the gym at Princeton, so she made a makeshift gym at home by creating weights out of Home Depot buckets filled with sand and practiced fencing in Dudas’ basement — which was unexpectedly frustrating.

“As eternally grateful as I am to my coach for loaning out his house, I think a piece of my soul died in that basement,” she said — it was a tight space, and the foam-tile ceilings would catch her sword.

Now, Holmes can practice at a nearby fencing club, and has “a legit gym in my apartment” in New York that includes real weights from her sponsor.

“It’s been kind of a nightmare figuring it all out, but at the end of the day, I got it done,” she said.

Holmes said she’s not concerned about the state of emergency in Japan as the Summer Games begin, citing Japan’s low case rate and stricter measures compared with the United States. She added that the fencing team is isolated on a U.S. military base and tested multiple times every day.

“Quite honestly, I have negative (number of) concerns,” Holmes said.

Medal hopes

As she did in 2016, Holmes is competing in team and individual epee. The attitude, individually and collectively, is much different this time around.

“I think we kinda knew that we could medal in Rio, but now we really believe that we can,” she said. “It’s a subtle dichotomy … but there’s a big difference.”

Holmes’ confidence comes from the team’s win in the world championships in 2018 and its No. 1 world ranking for the 2018-19 season.

“Definitely from a team perspective, we want to win gold this time,” she said. “We’d be happy with a medal of any color, but I don’t think we’ll be truly satisfied unless it’s gold.”

What about a medal in the individual competition?

“Individually, I’ve improved a lot over the last five years,” Holmes said, citing the extra year the pandemic provided her to train. “My goal is always, I wanna win.”

If she does bring home gold, don’t expect the busiest Olympian to take a long victory lap around her old stomping grounds at Chevy Chase Fencing Club.

Holmes starts med school in New York three days after returning from Tokyo.

Rob Woodfork

Rob Woodfork is WTOP's Senior Sports Content Producer, which includes duties as producer and host of the DC Sports Huddle, nightside sports anchor and sports columnist on WTOP.com.

<p><strong>Katie Ledecky (Bethesda, Maryland) — Swimming</strong></p>
<p><strong>Notable facts:</strong> Ledecky was a teenage phenom on WTOP&#8217;s radar before she became the face of United States swimming. <a href="https://wtop.com/news/2012/07/locals-in-london-area-athletes-go-for-gold/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">In Ledecky&#8217;s 2012 Olympic profile</a>, Yuri Suguiyama, her coach at the Curl-Burke Swim Club, wasn&#8217;t surprised she made it to the Summer Games at age 15.</p>
<p>“I think Katie possesses a lot qualities that make her a successful swimmer, but it’s really the qualities … you can’t see,” he said. “She’s got a tremendous drive about her. She’s incredibly self-motivated. She’s a very hard worker and she’s very competitive, as well.”</p>
<p>Since then, Ledecky collected five gold medals and one silver across two Olympic appearances. Now, she&#8217;s one of the biggest Olympic stars in the world and a favorite to earn multiple medals again.</p>
<p><strong>Competition:</strong> 200 freestyle, 400 freestyle, 800 freestyle, 1,500 freestyle, 4&#215;200 freestyle — July 24 — Aug. 1</p>
<p><strong>Results</strong>: Women’s 1,500-meter freestyle — gold</p>
<p>Women&#8217;s 800 freestyle — gold</p>
<p>Women&#8217;s 400 freestyle — silver</p>
<p>Women&#8217;s 4&#215;200 freestyle relay — silver</p>
<p>Women&#8217;s 200 free — fifth</p>
Katie Ledecky, of the United States, reacts after winning a heat of the women’s 800-meter freestyle at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Thursday, July 29, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
<p><strong>Phoebe Bacon (Chevy Chase, Maryland) — Swimming</strong></p>
<p><strong>Notable facts:</strong> Bacon, 18, has quite a bit in common with her swimming mentor and fellow Olympian Katie Ledecky — both graduated from Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart, and now both can say they were teenage Olympians. Bacon&#8217;s second-place finish in the 200 meter backstroke earned her a spot in her first Summer Games, and again like Ledecky, it&#8217;s probably the beginning of a long, successful Olympic career.</p>
<p><strong>Competition:</strong> 200 meter backstroke — July 31</p>
<p><strong>Results</strong>: fifth</p>
Phoebe Bacon after the women’s 200-meter backstroke during wave 2 of the U.S. Olympic Swim Trials on Saturday, June 19, 2021, in Omaha, Neb. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
<p><strong>Matthew Centrowitz (Beltsville, Maryland) — Track and Field</strong></p>
<p><strong>Notable facts:</strong> Centrowitz, <a href="https://wtop.com/olympics/2016/08/centrowitz-follows-fathers-footsteps-as-he-looks-to-forge-golden-legacy/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">who was profiled by WTOP in 2016</a>, is making his third trip to the Summer Games and is a second-generation Olympian (his father is two-time Olympian Matt Centrowitz Sr.).</p>
<p>The younger Centrowitz took home a gold medal in the 1,500 meters in Rio five years ago, the first American to do so since 1908. He also came a fraction of a second from a medal in the same race in London in 2012.</p>
<p><strong>Competition:</strong> Men&#8217;s 1,500 — Aug. 7</p>
Matthew Centrowitz of the U.S. celebrates after winning the men’s 1500 meters race at the IAAF Diamond League athletics meeting at London Stadium in London, Sunday, July 22, 2018. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)
<p><strong>Christina Clemons (Waldorf, Maryland) — Track and Field</strong></p>
<p><strong>Notable facts:</strong> The Westlake High School grad went on to have a record-setting collegiate career at Ohio State, where she won two NCAA championships and 10 Big Ten conference championships. Now, <a href="https://www.nbcsports.com/washington/five-things-know-about-olympic-track-and-field-star-christina-clemons" target="_blank" rel="noopener">after overcoming several obstacles</a>, she&#8217;s headed to Tokyo for her first Olympics. Oh, by the way … her husband, Kyle Clemons, brought home gold from the Summer Games in Rio, winning the 4&#215;400 meter relay.</p>
<p><strong>Competition:</strong> 100-meter hurdles —  July 31-Aug. 2</p>
<p><strong>Results:</strong> fourth in Aug. 1 semifinal</p>
Christina Clemons in the Women 100 Meter Hurdles on day three of the 2020 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Team Trials at Hayward Field on June 20, 2021 in Eugene, Oregon. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
<p><strong>Kevin Durant (Suitland, Maryland) — Basketball</strong></p>
<p><strong>Notable facts:</strong> Does he really need introduction? Durant is perhaps the biggest basketball star to come out of the D.C. area since Elgin Baylor. Durant — an 11-time All-Star, four-time scoring champion and two-time NBA Finals MVP, just to name a few honors — is playing in his third Olympics and has yet to lose a game in international competition.</p>
<p><strong>Competition:</strong> July 25 — Aug. 7</p>
Kevin Durant #7 of the 2021 USA Basketball Men’s National Team dunks during a practice at the Mendenhall Center at UNLV as the team gets ready for the Tokyo Olympics on July 6, 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
<p><strong>Jerami Grant (Hyattsville, Maryland) — Basketball</strong></p>
<p><strong>Notable facts:</strong> The former four-star recruit from sports powerhouse DeMatha Catholic High School went on to star at Syracuse and was drafted in the second round of the 2014 NBA draft. Grant, who is playing for his fourth NBA team, is the son of former Bullets forward Harvey Grant.</p>
<p><strong>Competition:</strong> July 25 — Aug. 7</p>
Lerami Grant #9 of the 2021 USA Basketball Men’s National Team dunks as he practices at the Mendenhall Center at UNLV as the team gets ready for the Tokyo Olympics on July 6, 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
<p><strong>Farrah Hall (Annapolis, Maryland) — Windsurfing</strong></p>
<p><strong>Notable facts:</strong> Hall is competing in her second Olympics after a disappointing finish in 2012, but told WTOP that this time around, &#8220;I&#8217;m really, really happy with how I&#8217;m sailing right now and I really don&#8217;t think I&#8217;ve sailed better than right now.&#8221;</p>
<p>Hall, who found windsurfing as a youth along the Magothy River in Cape St. Claire, is confident in a good result in Tokyo because she&#8217;s refined her technique in the nine years since the London Olympics and &#8220;I&#8217;m an experienced athlete now. I was more on the rookie side in 2012.&#8221;</p>
<p><strong>Competition:</strong> Women&#8217;s RS: X — July 26-31</p>
<p><strong>Results</strong>: 15th place</p>
<p><em>Read more about Hall <a href="https://wtop.com/news/2012/07/locals-in-london-area-athletes-go-for-gold/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">from 2012</a> and <a href="https://wtop.com/olympics/2021/07/2020-olympic-profile-farrah-hall-makes-olympic-return/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the upcoming 2020 Summer Games</a>.</em></p>
USA’s Farrah Hall competes during the rs:x women class race at the London 2012 Summer Olympics, Thursday, Aug. 2, 2012, in Weymouth and Portland, England. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
<p><strong>Kat Holmes (D.C.) — Fencing </strong></p>
<p><strong>Notable facts:</strong> <a href="https://wtop.com/olympics/2016/08/kat-holmes-dcs-swashbuckling-surgeon/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Holmes was profiled by WTOP</a> before competing in the 2016 Olympics, where she placed fifth with the U.S. Women’s Epee Team and 25th individually at the Summer Games in Rio. Holmes made history in 2018 by anchoring Team USA to a gold medal, the first U.S. Women’s Epee Team to medal at the Senior World Championships.</p>
<p><strong>Competition:</strong> Women&#8217;s Epee Team — July 23-24</p>
<p><strong>Results:</strong> fifth</p>
Jason Pryor and Kat Holmes take part in a fencing demonstration during Team USA’s Road to Rio Tour presented by Liberty Mutual on April 27, 2016 in New York City. The event marks 100 days until the Opening Ceremony of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. (Photo by Ed Mulholland/Getty Images for USOC)
<p><strong>Torri Huske (Arlington, Virginia) — Swimming</strong></p>
<p><strong>Notable facts:</strong> Huske could be the latest in a long line of D.C.-area swimming greats. The 18-year-old Yorktown High School grad is fresh off setting <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyepYeHHL3s" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the American women&#8217;s record for 100-meter butterfly</a> — twice. She&#8217;s also the first freshman swimmer, male or female, to be awarded The Washington Post All-Met Swimmer of the Year.</p>
<p><strong>Competition:</strong> 100 butterfly — July 24</p>
<p><strong>Results</strong>: fourth</p>
Torri Huske of the United States competes in a semifinal heat for the Women’s 100m freestyle during Day Five of the 2021 U.S. Olympic Team Swimming Trials at CHI Health Center on June 17, 2021 in Omaha, Nebraska. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
<p><strong>Troy Isley (Alexandria, Virginia) — Boxing</strong></p>
<p><strong>Notable facts: </strong>Isley seeks to become the first middleweight boxer to win gold for the United States since 2004. The Alexandria City High School (formerly T.C. Williams High School) graduate enters his first Summer Games with bronze medals in the 2019 Pan Am Games and the 2017 World Championships.</p>
<p><strong>Competition: </strong>Men&#8217;s middleweight — July 29-Aug. 1</p>
<p><strong>Results</strong>: Isley lost to Russian Gleb Bakshi via split decision in the Round of 16.</p>
USA’s Troy Isley (red) and Russia’s Gleb Bakshi fight during their men’s middle (69-75kg) preliminaries round of 16 boxing match during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Kokugikan Arena in Tokyo on July 29, 2021. (Photo by Luis ROBAYO / POOL / AFP)
<p><strong>Lucas Kozeniesky (Colorado Springs, Colo.; Robinson Secondary School (Fairfax, Va.) — Shooting</strong></p>
<p><strong>Notable facts: </strong>Kozeniesky is a 2013 graduate of Robinson Secondary in Fairfax, where he led the Rams rifle team to a 2012 national championship.</p>
<div class="athlete-profile-field">
<p><span class="athlete-profile-field-label">Olympic Experience</span></p>
<ul>
<li>Two-time Olympian (2016, 2020)</li>
<li>Olympic Games Tokyo 2020</li>
<li>Olympic Games Rio 2016, 21st (10 air rifle)</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="athlete-profile-field">
<p><span class="athlete-profile-field-label">World Championship Experience</span></p>
<ul>
<li>Most recent: 2018 — silver (50 team rifle prone), 15th (50 rifle prone), 18th (mixed team 10 air rifle), 27th (50 rifle three-position), 57th (10 air rifle)</li>
<li>Years of participation: 2014, 2018</li>
<li>Medals: 1 (1 silver)</li>
<li>Silver — 2018 (50 team rifle prone)</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="athlete-profile-field">
<p><span class="athlete-profile-field-label">Other Career Highlights</span></p>
<ul>
<li>2019 Pan American Games, 1st (10-meter air rifle), 2nd (mixed team air)</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Competition</strong>: Men&#8217;s 10m Air Rifle, Mixed 10m Air Rifle</p>
<p><strong>Results</strong>: Mixed 10m Air Rifle — silver</p>
<p>Men&#8217;s 10m Air Rifle — sixth</p>
</div>
(Courtesy Team USA)
<p><strong>Noah Lyles (Alexandria, Virginia) — Track and Field</strong></p>
<p><strong>Notable facts</strong>: The Alexandria City High School (formerly T.C. Williams High School) graduate fell short of the 2016 Olympics but won a pair of gold medals in the Under 20 Championships that year. Lyles also brought home gold in the 2019 World Athletic Championships, in both the 200- meter event and the 4&#215;100 relay. His <a href="https://ftw.usatoday.com/lists/olympics-track-noah-lyles-team-usa-tokyo" target="_blank" rel="noopener">varied interests off the track</a> make him a potential star in the making.</p>
<p>Keep an eye out for his younger brother, Josephus, as well — he&#8217;s an award-winning sprinter in his own right.</p>
<p><strong>Competition:</strong> Men&#8217;s 200-meter — Aug. 3-4</p>
<p><strong>Results</strong>: Men&#8217;s 200-meter — Bronze</p>
Noah Lyles of Team United States celebrates after winning the bronze medal in the Men’s 200m Final on day twelve of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Olympic Stadium on August 04, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
<p><strong>Helen Maroulis (Rockville, Maryland) — Wrestling</strong></p>
<p><strong>Notable facts:</strong> In 2016, Maroulis became the first U.S. woman to win an Olympic wrestling gold medal, beating Saori Yoshida — a three-time gold medalist for Japan and a 13-time world champion considered the most dominant wrestler of all-time. Now, the 29-year-old is attempting another storybook Olympic moment; her wrestling career was derailed by a 2018 concussion <a href="https://www.sportstravelmagazine.com/helen-maroulis-the-inspiring-olympics-comeback-story-of-a-wrestling-pioneer/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">severe enough to prompt Maroulis to consider retirement</a>.</p>
<p><strong>Competition:</strong> Women&#8217;s 57-kilogram — competes for Bronze medal Aug. 5</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
USA’s Helen Louise Maroulis reacts after being defeated by Japan’s Risako Kawai in their women’s freestyle 57kg wrestling semi-final match during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Makuhari Messe in Tokyo on August 4, 2021. (Photo by Jack GUEZ / AFP) (Photo by JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images)
<p><strong>Andrew Seliskar (McLean, Virginia) — Swimming</strong></p>
<p><strong>Notable facts:</strong> At age 24, Seliskar heads to his first Olympics as a highly decorated swimmer, earning 2019 NCAA Male Swimmer of the Year honors after a year in which he won an NCAA title in the 200 freestyle as a senior at the University of California, one of his four championships for the Golden Bears. Seliskar, a Thomas Jefferson High School graduate, earned his spot in Tokyo with his fourth-place finish in 200-meter freestyle at the Olympic Trials.</p>
<p><strong>Competition:</strong> 4×200 freestyle relay — July 28</p>
<p><strong>Result:</strong> fourth in trials</p>
Andrew Seliskar Looks on after finishing second place in the Men’s 200 Meter IM Final on Day Four of the TYR Pro Swim Series at Mission Viejo at Marguerite Aquatics Center on April 11, 2021 in Mission Viejo, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
<p><strong>Kyle Snyder (Woodbine, Maryland) — Wrestling</strong></p>
<p><strong>Notable facts:</strong> The man known as &#8220;Captain America&#8221; has a wrestling resume that reads a lot like the fictional super soldier. After going undefeated in 179 high school matches at Our Lady of Good Counsel, Snyder went on to earn a gold medal in the 2016 Summer Games in Rio, becoming the youngest wrestler to win the NCAA, World and Olympic titles in the same year. He&#8217;s also the first Olympic gold medalist to return to college to win an NCAA title, earning two more championships at Ohio State. (<a href="https://olympics.com/en/featured-news/five-interesting-facts-wrestling-olympic-champion-kyle-snyder" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Click here to read more about Snyder</a>.)</p>
<p><strong>Competition: </strong>Men&#8217;s freestyle wrestling — Aug. 6</p>
Gold medalist Kyle Frederick Snyder of the United States stands on the podium during the medal ceremony for the Men’s Freestyle 97kg on Day 16 of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at Carioca Arena 2 on Aug. 21, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)
<p><strong>Trevor Stewart (Lorton, Virginia) — Track and Field</strong></p>
<p><strong>Notable facts:</strong> Stewart, a South County High School graduate, is headed to his first Olympics after finishing fourth in the 400-meter event at the Olympic Team Trials. He also runs the 400 for North Carolina A&amp;T — an HBCU in Greensboro, North Carolina — where he finished second in the 2019 NCAA Championships and fourth in the 2021 NCAA Championships.</p>
<p><strong>Competition:</strong> Men&#8217;s 4 x 400 relay — Aug. 6</p>
Trevor Stewart runs in the first round of the Men’s 400 Meters during Day One of the 2020 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Team Trials at Hayward Field on June 18, 2021 in Eugene, Oregon. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
<p><strong>Frances Tiafoe (Hyattsville, Maryland) — Tennis</strong></p>
<p><strong>Notable facts:</strong> Tiafoe, 23, is considered a tennis prodigy; he only turned pro six years ago yet he&#8217;s currently ranked fifth in the United States and 53rd in the world, topping out at a 29th world ranking in 2019 — the year he made a run to the Australian Open quarterfinals. A 17-year-old Tiafoe was the youngest American in the main French Open draw since Michael Chang in 1989.</p>
<p><strong>Competition: </strong>Men&#8217;s doubles, Men&#8217;s singles — play begins July 24</p>
<p><strong>Results</strong>: Men&#8217;s doubles — second round</p>
<p>Men&#8217;s singles — second round</p>
Frances Tiafoe, of the United States, plays Stefanos Tsitsipas, of Greece, during the second round of the tennis competition at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, July 27, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
<p><strong>Andrew Wilson (Bethesda, Maryland) — Swimming</strong></p>
<p><strong>Notable facts:</strong> Not to be confused with the older brother of actors Luke and Owen Wilson, this Andrew Wilson made a name for himself at the U.S. Olympic trials with his historic second-place finish in the 100-meter breaststroke. The Emory University graduate is believed to be the first former Division III swimmer to earn a spot on the U.S. Olympic swim team.</p>
<p><strong>Competition:</strong> 100 breaststroke, 200 breaststroke — July 26-29</p>
<p><strong>Results</strong>: Men&#8217;s 100 breaststroke — sixth</p>
Andrew Wilson of the United States swims in a heat of the men’s 200-meter breaststroke at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, July 27, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
<p><strong>Nicole Yeargin (Forestville, Maryland) — Track and Field </strong></p>
<p><strong>Notable facts:</strong> Yeargin, a graduate of Bishop McNamara High School, will run for Great Britain (her mother is Scottish) in the 2020 Olympics. She qualified with a personal best 50.96 in the 400 m and is one of 15 track and field athletes from USC to compete in the Summer Games in Tokyo.</p>
<p><strong>Competition:</strong> Women&#8217;s 400 m — Aug. 6</p>
USC’s Nicole Yeargin celebrates winning her heat of the 400 meter at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships, Thursday, June 10, 2021, at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. (AP Photo/Thomas Boyd)
<p><strong>Katie Zaferes (Hampstead, Maryland) — Triathlon</strong></p>
<p><strong>Competition:</strong> Women&#8217;s Triathlon</p>
<p><strong>Result</strong>: Zaferes placed third in the women&#8217;s triathlon to claim the bronze medal, posting a time of 1:57:03.</p>
Katie Zaferes placed third in the women’s triathlon to claim the bronze medal Monday night, posting a time of 1:57:03 in the rainy finish.
(1/23)
<p><strong>Katie Ledecky (Bethesda, Maryland) — Swimming</strong></p>
<p><strong>Notable facts:</strong> Ledecky was a teenage phenom on WTOP&#8217;s radar before she became the face of United States swimming. <a href="https://wtop.com/news/2012/07/locals-in-london-area-athletes-go-for-gold/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">In Ledecky&#8217;s 2012 Olympic profile</a>, Yuri Suguiyama, her coach at the Curl-Burke Swim Club, wasn&#8217;t surprised she made it to the Summer Games at age 15.</p>
<p>“I think Katie possesses a lot qualities that make her a successful swimmer, but it’s really the qualities … you can’t see,” he said. “She’s got a tremendous drive about her. She’s incredibly self-motivated. She’s a very hard worker and she’s very competitive, as well.”</p>
<p>Since then, Ledecky collected five gold medals and one silver across two Olympic appearances. Now, she&#8217;s one of the biggest Olympic stars in the world and a favorite to earn multiple medals again.</p>
<p><strong>Competition:</strong> 200 freestyle, 400 freestyle, 800 freestyle, 1,500 freestyle, 4&#215;200 freestyle — July 24 — Aug. 1</p>
<p><strong>Results</strong>: Women’s 1,500-meter freestyle — gold</p>
<p>Women&#8217;s 800 freestyle — gold</p>
<p>Women&#8217;s 400 freestyle — silver</p>
<p>Women&#8217;s 4&#215;200 freestyle relay — silver</p>
<p>Women&#8217;s 200 free — fifth</p>
<p><strong>Phoebe Bacon (Chevy Chase, Maryland) — Swimming</strong></p>
<p><strong>Notable facts:</strong> Bacon, 18, has quite a bit in common with her swimming mentor and fellow Olympian Katie Ledecky — both graduated from Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart, and now both can say they were teenage Olympians. Bacon&#8217;s second-place finish in the 200 meter backstroke earned her a spot in her first Summer Games, and again like Ledecky, it&#8217;s probably the beginning of a long, successful Olympic career.</p>
<p><strong>Competition:</strong> 200 meter backstroke — July 31</p>
<p><strong>Results</strong>: fifth</p>
<p><strong>Matthew Centrowitz (Beltsville, Maryland) — Track and Field</strong></p>
<p><strong>Notable facts:</strong> Centrowitz, <a href="https://wtop.com/olympics/2016/08/centrowitz-follows-fathers-footsteps-as-he-looks-to-forge-golden-legacy/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">who was profiled by WTOP in 2016</a>, is making his third trip to the Summer Games and is a second-generation Olympian (his father is two-time Olympian Matt Centrowitz Sr.).</p>
<p>The younger Centrowitz took home a gold medal in the 1,500 meters in Rio five years ago, the first American to do so since 1908. He also came a fraction of a second from a medal in the same race in London in 2012.</p>
<p><strong>Competition:</strong> Men&#8217;s 1,500 — Aug. 7</p>
<p><strong>Christina Clemons (Waldorf, Maryland) — Track and Field</strong></p>
<p><strong>Notable facts:</strong> The Westlake High School grad went on to have a record-setting collegiate career at Ohio State, where she won two NCAA championships and 10 Big Ten conference championships. Now, <a href="https://www.nbcsports.com/washington/five-things-know-about-olympic-track-and-field-star-christina-clemons" target="_blank" rel="noopener">after overcoming several obstacles</a>, she&#8217;s headed to Tokyo for her first Olympics. Oh, by the way … her husband, Kyle Clemons, brought home gold from the Summer Games in Rio, winning the 4&#215;400 meter relay.</p>
<p><strong>Competition:</strong> 100-meter hurdles —  July 31-Aug. 2</p>
<p><strong>Results:</strong> fourth in Aug. 1 semifinal</p>
<p><strong>Kevin Durant (Suitland, Maryland) — Basketball</strong></p>
<p><strong>Notable facts:</strong> Does he really need introduction? Durant is perhaps the biggest basketball star to come out of the D.C. area since Elgin Baylor. Durant — an 11-time All-Star, four-time scoring champion and two-time NBA Finals MVP, just to name a few honors — is playing in his third Olympics and has yet to lose a game in international competition.</p>
<p><strong>Competition:</strong> July 25 — Aug. 7</p>
<p><strong>Jerami Grant (Hyattsville, Maryland) — Basketball</strong></p>
<p><strong>Notable facts:</strong> The former four-star recruit from sports powerhouse DeMatha Catholic High School went on to star at Syracuse and was drafted in the second round of the 2014 NBA draft. Grant, who is playing for his fourth NBA team, is the son of former Bullets forward Harvey Grant.</p>
<p><strong>Competition:</strong> July 25 — Aug. 7</p>
<p><strong>Farrah Hall (Annapolis, Maryland) — Windsurfing</strong></p>
<p><strong>Notable facts:</strong> Hall is competing in her second Olympics after a disappointing finish in 2012, but told WTOP that this time around, &#8220;I&#8217;m really, really happy with how I&#8217;m sailing right now and I really don&#8217;t think I&#8217;ve sailed better than right now.&#8221;</p>
<p>Hall, who found windsurfing as a youth along the Magothy River in Cape St. Claire, is confident in a good result in Tokyo because she&#8217;s refined her technique in the nine years since the London Olympics and &#8220;I&#8217;m an experienced athlete now. I was more on the rookie side in 2012.&#8221;</p>
<p><strong>Competition:</strong> Women&#8217;s RS: X — July 26-31</p>
<p><strong>Results</strong>: 15th place</p>
<p><em>Read more about Hall <a href="https://wtop.com/news/2012/07/locals-in-london-area-athletes-go-for-gold/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">from 2012</a> and <a href="https://wtop.com/olympics/2021/07/2020-olympic-profile-farrah-hall-makes-olympic-return/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the upcoming 2020 Summer Games</a>.</em></p>
<p><strong>Kat Holmes (D.C.) — Fencing </strong></p>
<p><strong>Notable facts:</strong> <a href="https://wtop.com/olympics/2016/08/kat-holmes-dcs-swashbuckling-surgeon/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Holmes was profiled by WTOP</a> before competing in the 2016 Olympics, where she placed fifth with the U.S. Women’s Epee Team and 25th individually at the Summer Games in Rio. Holmes made history in 2018 by anchoring Team USA to a gold medal, the first U.S. Women’s Epee Team to medal at the Senior World Championships.</p>
<p><strong>Competition:</strong> Women&#8217;s Epee Team — July 23-24</p>
<p><strong>Results:</strong> fifth</p>
<p><strong>Torri Huske (Arlington, Virginia) — Swimming</strong></p>
<p><strong>Notable facts:</strong> Huske could be the latest in a long line of D.C.-area swimming greats. The 18-year-old Yorktown High School grad is fresh off setting <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyepYeHHL3s" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the American women&#8217;s record for 100-meter butterfly</a> — twice. She&#8217;s also the first freshman swimmer, male or female, to be awarded The Washington Post All-Met Swimmer of the Year.</p>
<p><strong>Competition:</strong> 100 butterfly — July 24</p>
<p><strong>Results</strong>: fourth</p>
<p><strong>Troy Isley (Alexandria, Virginia) — Boxing</strong></p>
<p><strong>Notable facts: </strong>Isley seeks to become the first middleweight boxer to win gold for the United States since 2004. The Alexandria City High School (formerly T.C. Williams High School) graduate enters his first Summer Games with bronze medals in the 2019 Pan Am Games and the 2017 World Championships.</p>
<p><strong>Competition: </strong>Men&#8217;s middleweight — July 29-Aug. 1</p>
<p><strong>Results</strong>: Isley lost to Russian Gleb Bakshi via split decision in the Round of 16.</p>
<p><strong>Lucas Kozeniesky (Colorado Springs, Colo.; Robinson Secondary School (Fairfax, Va.) — Shooting</strong></p>
<p><strong>Notable facts: </strong>Kozeniesky is a 2013 graduate of Robinson Secondary in Fairfax, where he led the Rams rifle team to a 2012 national championship.</p>
<div class="athlete-profile-field">
<p><span class="athlete-profile-field-label">Olympic Experience</span></p>
<ul>
<li>Two-time Olympian (2016, 2020)</li>
<li>Olympic Games Tokyo 2020</li>
<li>Olympic Games Rio 2016, 21st (10 air rifle)</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="athlete-profile-field">
<p><span class="athlete-profile-field-label">World Championship Experience</span></p>
<ul>
<li>Most recent: 2018 — silver (50 team rifle prone), 15th (50 rifle prone), 18th (mixed team 10 air rifle), 27th (50 rifle three-position), 57th (10 air rifle)</li>
<li>Years of participation: 2014, 2018</li>
<li>Medals: 1 (1 silver)</li>
<li>Silver — 2018 (50 team rifle prone)</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="athlete-profile-field">
<p><span class="athlete-profile-field-label">Other Career Highlights</span></p>
<ul>
<li>2019 Pan American Games, 1st (10-meter air rifle), 2nd (mixed team air)</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Competition</strong>: Men&#8217;s 10m Air Rifle, Mixed 10m Air Rifle</p>
<p><strong>Results</strong>: Mixed 10m Air Rifle — silver</p>
<p>Men&#8217;s 10m Air Rifle — sixth</p>
</div>
<p><strong>Noah Lyles (Alexandria, Virginia) — Track and Field</strong></p>
<p><strong>Notable facts</strong>: The Alexandria City High School (formerly T.C. Williams High School) graduate fell short of the 2016 Olympics but won a pair of gold medals in the Under 20 Championships that year. Lyles also brought home gold in the 2019 World Athletic Championships, in both the 200- meter event and the 4&#215;100 relay. His <a href="https://ftw.usatoday.com/lists/olympics-track-noah-lyles-team-usa-tokyo" target="_blank" rel="noopener">varied interests off the track</a> make him a potential star in the making.</p>
<p>Keep an eye out for his younger brother, Josephus, as well — he&#8217;s an award-winning sprinter in his own right.</p>
<p><strong>Competition:</strong> Men&#8217;s 200-meter — Aug. 3-4</p>
<p><strong>Results</strong>: Men&#8217;s 200-meter — Bronze</p>
<p><strong>Helen Maroulis (Rockville, Maryland) — Wrestling</strong></p>
<p><strong>Notable facts:</strong> In 2016, Maroulis became the first U.S. woman to win an Olympic wrestling gold medal, beating Saori Yoshida — a three-time gold medalist for Japan and a 13-time world champion considered the most dominant wrestler of all-time. Now, the 29-year-old is attempting another storybook Olympic moment; her wrestling career was derailed by a 2018 concussion <a href="https://www.sportstravelmagazine.com/helen-maroulis-the-inspiring-olympics-comeback-story-of-a-wrestling-pioneer/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">severe enough to prompt Maroulis to consider retirement</a>.</p>
<p><strong>Competition:</strong> Women&#8217;s 57-kilogram — competes for Bronze medal Aug. 5</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>Andrew Seliskar (McLean, Virginia) — Swimming</strong></p>
<p><strong>Notable facts:</strong> At age 24, Seliskar heads to his first Olympics as a highly decorated swimmer, earning 2019 NCAA Male Swimmer of the Year honors after a year in which he won an NCAA title in the 200 freestyle as a senior at the University of California, one of his four championships for the Golden Bears. Seliskar, a Thomas Jefferson High School graduate, earned his spot in Tokyo with his fourth-place finish in 200-meter freestyle at the Olympic Trials.</p>
<p><strong>Competition:</strong> 4×200 freestyle relay — July 28</p>
<p><strong>Result:</strong> fourth in trials</p>
<p><strong>Kyle Snyder (Woodbine, Maryland) — Wrestling</strong></p>
<p><strong>Notable facts:</strong> The man known as &#8220;Captain America&#8221; has a wrestling resume that reads a lot like the fictional super soldier. After going undefeated in 179 high school matches at Our Lady of Good Counsel, Snyder went on to earn a gold medal in the 2016 Summer Games in Rio, becoming the youngest wrestler to win the NCAA, World and Olympic titles in the same year. He&#8217;s also the first Olympic gold medalist to return to college to win an NCAA title, earning two more championships at Ohio State. (<a href="https://olympics.com/en/featured-news/five-interesting-facts-wrestling-olympic-champion-kyle-snyder" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Click here to read more about Snyder</a>.)</p>
<p><strong>Competition: </strong>Men&#8217;s freestyle wrestling — Aug. 6</p>
<p><strong>Trevor Stewart (Lorton, Virginia) — Track and Field</strong></p>
<p><strong>Notable facts:</strong> Stewart, a South County High School graduate, is headed to his first Olympics after finishing fourth in the 400-meter event at the Olympic Team Trials. He also runs the 400 for North Carolina A&amp;T — an HBCU in Greensboro, North Carolina — where he finished second in the 2019 NCAA Championships and fourth in the 2021 NCAA Championships.</p>
<p><strong>Competition:</strong> Men&#8217;s 4 x 400 relay — Aug. 6</p>
<p><strong>Frances Tiafoe (Hyattsville, Maryland) — Tennis</strong></p>
<p><strong>Notable facts:</strong> Tiafoe, 23, is considered a tennis prodigy; he only turned pro six years ago yet he&#8217;s currently ranked fifth in the United States and 53rd in the world, topping out at a 29th world ranking in 2019 — the year he made a run to the Australian Open quarterfinals. A 17-year-old Tiafoe was the youngest American in the main French Open draw since Michael Chang in 1989.</p>
<p><strong>Competition: </strong>Men&#8217;s doubles, Men&#8217;s singles — play begins July 24</p>
<p><strong>Results</strong>: Men&#8217;s doubles — second round</p>
<p>Men&#8217;s singles — second round</p>
<p><strong>Andrew Wilson (Bethesda, Maryland) — Swimming</strong></p>
<p><strong>Notable facts:</strong> Not to be confused with the older brother of actors Luke and Owen Wilson, this Andrew Wilson made a name for himself at the U.S. Olympic trials with his historic second-place finish in the 100-meter breaststroke. The Emory University graduate is believed to be the first former Division III swimmer to earn a spot on the U.S. Olympic swim team.</p>
<p><strong>Competition:</strong> 100 breaststroke, 200 breaststroke — July 26-29</p>
<p><strong>Results</strong>: Men&#8217;s 100 breaststroke — sixth</p>
<p><strong>Nicole Yeargin (Forestville, Maryland) — Track and Field </strong></p>
<p><strong>Notable facts:</strong> Yeargin, a graduate of Bishop McNamara High School, will run for Great Britain (her mother is Scottish) in the 2020 Olympics. She qualified with a personal best 50.96 in the 400 m and is one of 15 track and field athletes from USC to compete in the Summer Games in Tokyo.</p>
<p><strong>Competition:</strong> Women&#8217;s 400 m — Aug. 6</p>
<p><strong>Katie Zaferes (Hampstead, Maryland) — Triathlon</strong></p>
<p><strong>Competition:</strong> Women&#8217;s Triathlon</p>
<p><strong>Result</strong>: Zaferes placed third in the women&#8217;s triathlon to claim the bronze medal, posting a time of 1:57:03.</p>
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