The DMV shined bright during the Paris Olympics, with many local athletes making a major contribution to the United States’ success – garnering the most gold and total medals.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) gave congratulations to the 11 gold medals won by Marylanders shortly after the games concluded.
Basketball superstar Kevin Durant won his fourth gold medal, the most of any men’s player in Olympic history. He also secured his status as the all-time leading scorer for the U.S. Olympic team, ahead of Hall of Famer Lisa Leslie, with 518 points across his 28 games played.
In the 98-87 victory over France, Durant scored 15 points.
“It’s going to be a long time before somebody breaks that record,” said Team USA center Bam Adebayo. “I’m happy for him. Proud of him. He keeps the main thing the main thing. He continues to play basketball the right way.”
Both Durant and NBA all-time leading scorer LeBron James are both interested in, but not fully committed to, joining the 2028 Olympic squad in Los Angeles.
The youngest American male track and field Olympian ever, Quincy Wilson, a Bullis High School student, placed gold in the 4×400-meter relay. Shortly after winning gold, and donning his gold medal in a photo, Quincy, 16, took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to lament his post-Olympic plans.
“Dang, I really got school in [two] and a half weeks,” he wrote on the social media site.
Noah Lyles, who grew up in Alexandria, won gold in the 100-meter dash and placed bronze in the 200-meter dash despite suffering from COVID.
“I have asthma, allergies, dyslexia, ADD, anxiety, and depression. But I will tell you that what you have does not define what you can become,” said Lyles in an X post on Aug. 4.
Potomac native Masai Russell, who set the NCAA record for the fastest 100-meter hurdle, also won a gold medal in Paris.
“OLYMPIC CHAMP,” she wrote as a caption on Instagram, featuring a slideshow of photos of her during the race and big win. “The glory goes all to God! This is just the beginning.”