They’ll race in boats on the track and up walls. They’ll wield sticks, sabers, bows and oars and compete individually and on teams. There will be quite a few athletes with Massachusetts ties wearing red, white and blue in Friday’s Olympic Opening Ceremonies and in competition over the next two weeks in France.
To make this list, someone had to live in Massachusetts now or in the past and be competing in the 2024 Olympics. That includes going to college here and playing professional sports here.
Here’s who they are and what they’re doing:
Women’s Archery
From left archers Casey Kaufhold, Jennifer Mucino-Fernandez and Mackenzie Brown of the United States reacts during the women’s team competition against Russian Olympic Committee’s team at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Sunday, July 25, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)AP
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Jennifer Mucino-Fernandez — In 2016, the Brockton native watched Olympic archery from the Olympics in London on TV and set her sights on getting there herself. Twelve years later she’s set for her second trip to the games.
Women’s cycling
Kristen Faulkner — Faulkner, a native of Homer, Alaska who went to Phillips Andover, was a Harvard rower but turned to cycling upon graduation. She currently works in finance when she’s not on her bike representing her country.
Men’s Fencing
U.S. Eli Dershwitz celebrates after beating France’s Sebastien Patrice during the men’s team Sabre Bronze medal final at the Fencing World Championships in Milan, Italy, Friday, July 28, 2023. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)AP
Eli Dershwitz — Will three times be the charm for this Harvard alum from Sherborn to win a medal? He’ll compete in men’s saber individual and team in his third Olympics.
Colin Heathcock — This Harvard freshman, who was born in China, will compete in saber.
Mitchell Saron — This Harvard alum took up fencing after seeing “Revenge of the Sith” and fencing was the closest he could get to light saber duels, which are not yet an Olympic event.
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Filip Dolegiewicz — This Illinois native is also from Harvard and is competing in his first Olympics.
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Women’s Fencing
Elizabeth Tartakovsky — This Harvard alum from New Jersey moved from ballet dancing to fencing.
Lauren Scruggs — This Queens, New York native and current Harvard senior will compete in foil in Paris.
Women’s Field Hockey
Alexandra Hammel of the United States, left, and Chile’s Manuela Urroz vie for the ball during a women’s field hockey semifinal match at the Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile, Thursday, Nov. 2, 2023. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)AP
Ally Hammel — After the Americans missed the 2020 games, Team USA field hockey is back in the Olympics, partially due to the performance of Hammel, a Duxbury native and former Boston University star.
Men’s gymnastics
FILE – Fred Richard performs on the rings during the U.S. Gymnastics Championships, Saturday, Aug. 20, 2022, in Tampa, Fla. Simone Biles is bringing back her Gold Over America Tour this fall, with a twist. This time, the guys are invited too. (AP Photo/Mike Carlson, File)AP
Frederick Richard — Sports Illustrated picked this social media sensation from Stoughton to win the bronze medal in the men’s all-around.
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Stephen Nedoroscik — The Worcester native and pommel horse specialist is headed to his first Olympics.
Women’s Rowing
Margaret Hedeman — After winning a silver medal in the 2023 Worlds, this Concord native and Yale alum will try to bring home a medal in the women’s eight.
Daisy Mazzio-Manson — This Yale alum from Wellesley, who won a silver in the 2023 World Championships, is headed to her first Olympics.
Regina Salmons – This Methuen native from Penn, who writes poetry in her spare time, will compete in the women’s eight.
Kristi Wagner — This 31-year-old native of Weston will make her second Olympic appearance in double sculls.
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Olivia Coffey — The Harvard alum from Walkins Glen, New York will compete in her second Olympics, in the women’s eight. Her father Calvin Coffey, was a silver medalist in rowing in 1976 in Montreal.
Men’s Rowing
Henry Hollingsworth — The Dover native, who starred at Brown will be making his Olympic debut in the men’s eight.
Jacob Plihal — At 6-foot-10, he’s one of the tallest non-basketball players in the games. The 2018 Northeastern alum will row in single sculls. After appearing in the 2022 World Championships, this is his first Olympics.
Christian Tabash —The 2022 Harvard alum should be popular in the Olympic Village. When he’s not competing in the men’s eight, he’s conversational in five languages.
Clark Dean — The recent Harvard alum is headed to his second Olympics as part of the men’s eight.
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Liam Corrigan — Not quite as tall as Plihal, Corrigan is a muscle machine at 6-foot-7. The Harvard alum from Old Lyme, Connecticut will row in the men’s four.
Pieter Quinton — The Portland, Oregon native who went to Harvard has been part of the U.S. National Team five times, but this is his first Olympics. He‘ll compete in the men’s eight.
Men’s Rugby
United States’ Madison Hughes passes the ball to teammate United States’ Make Unufe during the men’s Rugby Sevens Pool C match between the United States and Uruguay at the 2024 Summer Olympics, in the Stade de France, Thursday, July 25, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)AP
Madison Hughes — This 31-year-old Lancaster native lived part of his childhood in England before starring for Dartmouth. This will be his third Olympics as he’s chasing his first medal.
Women’s Rugby
Kristi Kirshe of the United States is tackled by Japan’s Haruka Hirotsu, in their women’s rugby sevens match at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Thursday, July 29, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama)AP
Kristi Kirshe — This is Olympics number two for Kirshe, a Franklin native. She played soccer at Williams College before transitioning to rugby where she’s been a key part of Team USA.
Men’s Sailing
David Liebenberg — The 32-year-old Californian who went to Tufts, is headed to his first Olympics despite considerable previous international experience.
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Stu McNay — This will be Olympics No. 5 for McNay, who is still chasing his first medal. The 42-year-old, who’ll compete in dinghy, was born in Boston, grew up in Brookline and lives in Rhode Island.
Women’s Sailing
Erika Reineke — After four failed bids to make the Olympics, the 2017 Boston College graduate from Ft. Lauderdale qualified for Paris. She’ll compete in dinghy.
Shooting
Ada Korkhin — This could be the first of many Olympics for the 19-year-old Brookline, who goes to Ohio State. She’ll compete in the 25-meter air pistol.
Men’s Soccer
United States’ Miles Robinson (12) reacts during the men’s Group A soccer match between France and the United States at the Velodrome stadium, during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Wednesday, July 24, 2024, in Marseille, France. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)AP
Miles Robinson — The 27-year-old from Arlington, who is likely to be on the USA World Cup roster in 2026 is one of the older leaders on the Olympic squad.
Women’s Soccer
Sam Coffey — Coffey stretches the Massachusetts connection a bit. The New York City native began her college career at Boston College but transferred to Penn State. Her father and sister are both sportswriters.
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Men’s Sport Climbing
Jesse Grupper of the United States holds a United States flag after winning the gold medal of the men’s boulder lead climbing of the Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile, Monday, Oct. 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)AP
Jesse Grupper — The New Jersey native, who graduated from Tufts in 2019, won gold at the Pan Am Games in 2023.
Women’s Artistic Swimming
Ruby Remati — A native of Andover and student at Ohio State, Remati is just 21 as she heads to her first Olympics.
Men’s Track and Field
Graham Blanks — If someone is from Athens, albeit Athens, Georgia, the Olympics has to be part of their destiny right? The Harvard track star will compete in the 5,000 meters.
Women’s Track and Field
Gabby Thomas wins a heat in the women’s 200-meter run during the U.S. Olympic track and field trials on Thursday, June 27, 2024, in Eugene. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)AP
Gabby Thomas — The Harvard alum from Northampton has a chance to be one of the faces of this Olympics for Team USA. She has silver and bronze medals from 2020 already and is favored to win gold in the 200 meters.
Women’s Triathlon
Kirsten Kasper — The former running and swimming star at North Andover made the natural leap into triathlon. Now 32, she’s in her first Olympics after winning medals in the World Championships in 2016, 2017 and 2018.
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Men’s Basketball (5-on-5)
Jayson Tatum,Jrue Holiday and Derek White — Can this Celtics trio earn rings and medals in the same summer? They’re favored to do so. This is White’s first Olympics and the second for both Tatum and Holiday. They’ll open Olympic play on Saturday morning against Serbia.
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When the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) denied voters the ability to support a popular tax cut this November, it was more than a temporary loss for residents of one of America’s most overtaxed states. Barely a generation removed from its “Taxachusetts” moniker, the Commonwealth’s competitiveness suffered a setback with long-lasting implications.
That is why even if this battle is over, the broader fight must go on.
Recent polling from the Mass Opportunity Alliance (MOA), a nonprofit advocating for state competitiveness, found that 82% of voters supported lowering the state income tax rate from 5% to 4%. Even a poll from the Boston Globe/Suffolk University released days before the SJC decision showed 66% supporting the tax cut.
Terrified by the threat to the status quo, entrenched special interests spearheaded a legal challenge not based on the merits of the tax cut or fiscal policy whatsoever. The issue was a technicality in summary of the question written by the Attorney General. As a retired SJC justice explained, “neither logic nor law” supported removing the tax cut from the ballot.
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The Court’s ruling does not change the underlying issue. The same Suffolk survey showed a majority (54%) of respondents had considered leaving the state in the last year. Nearly six in ten cited taxes and high cost of living.
This trend is well underway. Following the Commonwealth’s last tax hike in 2022, roughly 30,000 more people exited Massachusetts than arrived the following year — one of the country’s highest population exoduses. The outflow took $4.2 billion dollars’ worth of taxable income with them.
It’s no mystery as to why we’re losing residents. Survey research from MOA showed high taxes were a key driver. Not coincidentally, the top two states welcoming Massachusetts expatriates, Florida and New Hampshire, both have no income tax.
By contrast, Massachusetts has the second highest effective tax rate in the country. The Commonwealth is ranked in the bottom 10 for competitiveness.
The impact of this tax burden extends far and wide. Businesses are choosing to leave or relocate elsewhere. Iconic brands like Cape Cod Potato Chips have had enough, announcing the closing of their Hyannis facility earlier this year. Even international soccer players are not safe, learning that 90 minutes of participation in this year’s World Cup can subject them to crushing Beacon Hill tax policies.
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Massachusetts is not alone in the blue state exodus. Frustrated by high taxes, endless regulation and overall unaffordability, families and businesses are fleeing California, Illinois and New York for friendlier terrain.
What are the consequences of fewer residents? For starters, less people to tax. Smaller tax bases means less resources for schools, roads and public safety – investments that tax hike advocates typically claim to care about.
Smaller populations also mean less national influence. In 2010, the congressional delegation shrank from 10 to 9 members, and only narrowly avoided losing another member in 2020. It’s anyone’s guess what the end of this decade will bring, but current trends are not encouraging.
So what’s next?
Fortunately, a second common sense tax proposal remains on track for the ballot this fall. By reforming the state tax revenue limit, the initiative would put the brakes on spendthrift politicians and return money to the taxpayers who earned it.
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To be clear, the court’s ruling does not excuse the role of the legislators. Their constituents were denied the right to make their voices heard. As their elected representatives, members of the Massachusetts legislature should be fighting for families struggling with high taxes and some of the highest costs in the nation.
“Affordability” cannot just be a political buzz word; it must be a governing principle.
Two hundred fifty years ago, Massachusetts started a revolution against an oppressive government that led to the founding of our nation. That spirit lives on today, and so does the need for change. That starts by continuing the fight for common sense tax relief by every available avenue to keep the Commonwealth competitive for the next 250 years and beyond.
Colin Reed is a senior advisor to the Mass Opportunity Alliance
BOSTON (WHDH) – Just over one week after Massachusetts lawmakers announced a new, statewide initiative to combat wrong-way driving and improve roadway safety, law enforcement responded to another deadly wrong-way crash in Northboro Wednesday night.
With all of the recent tragedies, including the death of Massachusetts State Police trooper Kevin Trainor in Lynnfield last month, officials said they have pinpointed 100 locations to put on the priority list to make important safety changes as quickly as possible.
The $75-million detection and prevention program includes advanced detection technology, enhanced roadway signage, infrastructure improvements, and targeted safety upgrades across Massachusetts.
“They’ve been demonstrated to work in other places where they’ve been implemented, and even in Massachusetts the ones that are already in place, there is plenty of documented evidence showing people realizing they’re going the wrong way when those systems are activated,” said Mark Schieldrop of Triple A.
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In Barnstable, those changes have already been implemented along Route 6. State Representative Steven Xiarhos said the area can be tricky to navigate.
“Lots of moving parts, a college right down the road, and someone could make the wrong move when they’re confused, and that’s one of those interactions that could be confusing,” Xiarhos said.
Schieldrop said there are many reasons for wrong-way driving, but one stands out above the rest.
“When we look at the typical wrong-way driver who’s causing these crashes, by and large alcohol impairment is a factor in the vast majority of them,” Schieldrop said.
Xiarhos said the prorgam is worth every penny if it will save lives.
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“It’s frustrating when a horrible thing happens, you can’t turn back the clock,” he said. “So as an elected offical now, as a former police officer, let’s do everything we can to prevent this.”
The safety installations around the state will continue into 2027.
(Copyright (c) 2026 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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