COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — The list of Olympic gold medalists with Ohio roots is long and dates to when Dayton’s Charles Daniels won his first of eight medals at the 1904 Games in St. Louis.

From Cincinnati’s own Gary Hall Jr. making a splash in the pool at the 1996 Atlanta and 2000 Sydney Games to Cleveland’s Lee Kiefer taking gold in fencing’s individual foil event at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, there’s plenty of athletic success that traces back to the Buckeye State.

As the Paris 2024 Games approach, here’s a look back at five notable Olympians with ties to the state.

LeBron James

By now, the legend of LeBron James is well known in Ohio sports history. Even though the Akron native and 2003 first-overall draft pick is known for his accomplishments with the Cleveland Cavaliers (as well as the Miami Heat and Los Angeles Lakers), the four-time NBA champion played a pivotal role in turning Team USA around after a disappointing bronze medal in Athens in 2004.

Helping the “Redeem Team” get back to the top of the podium four years later in Beijing, James reprised his key role in London to win gold in 2012. Now, after sitting out the Rio and Tokyo Games, James is back for his fourth and likely final Olympics, teaming up with fellow NBA stars including Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and Jayson Tatum, in a bid to capture Team USA’s fifth consecutive Olympic title. And fans of the Americans have reason to believe he can get it done. The United States is 36-0 when James is in uniform during international play.

Kyle Snyder

While the 28-year-old hails from Woodbine, Maryland, Kyle Snyder is a proud Buckeye after wrestling for Ohio State for four seasons, graduating in 2018 with three NCAA titles. He won gold in the 97-kilogram weight class in freestyle wrestling at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games, becoming the only athlete to win an Olympic gold, a world title, and a NCAA wrestling championship in the same year.

Snyder, who was 20 at the time of the Rio Games, is also the youngest Olympic champion in U.S. wrestling history. He earned bronze five years later in Tokyo and looks to become only the fourth U.S. wrestler to win two gold medals when he competes this summer in Paris.

Katie Smith

A native of Logan, Ohio, Katie Smith was part of three Olympic gold medal-winning teams in women’s basketball, making the top of the podium at Sydney 2000, Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008. But before her Olympic success, Smith was a student-athlete at Ohio State, scoring 2,578 career points and helping the Buckeyes make two NCAA tournaments, including the 1993 national championship game.

Smith also found success in the WNBA, winning titles twice with the Detroit Shock. She is now an assistant coach for the Minnesota Lynx.

Kayla Harrison

Born and raised in Middletown, Kayla Harrison became the first American judoka to win back-to-back Olympic judo gold medals, first striking gold at the London 2012 Games before repeating as Olympic champion in Rio four years later.

Since her Olympic triumphs, Harrison moved into mixed martial arts and now fights professionally in the women’s bantamweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. She also helped open a martial arts studio in her hometown in 2019.

Jesse Owens

Born in Oakville, Alabama, Jesse Owens moved to Cleveland at age 9. After finding success as a high school track athlete, which included three straight state championships, Owens started taking classes at Ohio State in the fall of 1933. Less than two years later, Owens set three world records and tied a fourth at the Big Ten championships in Ann Arbor, Michigan, earning the nickname “The Buckeye Bullet.” And it’s that performance that led to his most memorable success a year later at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

Overcoming racial barriers and in the face of a rising Nazi regime in Germany, Owens became the first American track and field athlete to win four gold medals at a single Olympics. He shattered Hitler’s myth of Aryan superiority with victories in the 100-meter and 200-meter dashes, the broad jump and as a member of the 4×100-meter relay team.

While Owens died in 1980, his legacy lives on with his name featured on campus at the 10,000-seat Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium, home of Ohio State track and field as well as the school’s soccer teams.

NBC4 Paris Olympics Previews