Massachusetts
Meet the Massachusetts Olympians competing for Team USA
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Massachusetts
Noah Kahan Backs Massachusetts Bill Limiting Ticket Resale Prices
Following similar legislature in his native Vermont, singer-songwriter supports “The Great Divide Act” combating speculative tickets, resale fees, and more
Noah Kahan has thrown his support behind a new Massachusetts bill aimed at capping ticket resale prices.
Like other states in recent weeks — including Washington, D.C. just a day earlier — Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey has announced “An Act Relative to Closing the Great Divide between Ticket Prices and Affordability” — or “The Great Divide Act,” named in part after Kahan’s latest LP — a bill that would limit ticket resales prices, bar speculative tiket sales, and cut down on some ticket fees.
Kahan, who previously backed a similar bill in his native Vermont and is fresh off four sold-out shows at Boston’s Fenway Stadium, appeared via video at Healey’s press conference Thursday.
“I heard about what you’re announcing today and I just wanted to let you know how excited I am about it,” Kahan said. “The artist community and fans will greatly benefit from limiting ticket scalping and the sales of speculative tickets. I love my fans and want to protect them however I can. Artists alone could not tackle the market manipulation of secondary resellers. So, thank you so much for making this a priority in Massachusetts.”
Under the proposed Great Divide Act, concert tickets on the secondary market would be capped at 110 percent of their original face value, and secondary ticket sites would similarly only be allowed to take a 10 percent cut of resold tickets.
In the aftermath of the World Cup games at Gillette Stadium, where “speculative tickets” — or sellers offering tickets they don’t actually have — resulted in hundreds of people getting turned away from the soccer games, the Great Divide Act will also aim at prohibiting the practice. “Far too many Massachusetts residents have experienced the pain of being excited to buy tickets to see their favorite singer or sports team, only to realize that resale prices and fees have driven up the cost to outrageous levels,” Healey said Thursday.
Massachusetts
Springfield attorney named to 2026 Massachusetts Super Lawyers list
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) – Springfield bankruptcy attorney Andrea M. O’Connor has been named to the 2026 Massachusetts Super Lawyers list.
According to the firm, Andrea M. O’Connor of Shatz, Schwartz and Fentin, P.C., has been named to the 2026 Massachusetts Super Lawyers list in the Bankruptcy: Consumer practice area, marking the fourth consecutive year she has received the recognition.
O’Connor’s practice draws on experience representing both debtors and creditors, serving as a Chapter 7 trustee and clerking for the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Massachusetts. The firm said she develops legal strategies tailored to her clients’ individual needs and goals.
O’Connor graduated magna cum laude from Western New England University School of Law, where she served as editor-in-chief of the Western New England Law Review. She is admitted to practice law in Massachusetts and Connecticut, as well as before the U.S. District Courts for Massachusetts and Connecticut, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
Beyond her legal practice, O’Connor serves as chair of the Bankruptcy Section of the Hampden County Bar Association and is co-chair of both the Western Massachusetts Bankruptcy Conference and the MCLE Bankruptcy Conference. She also serves on committees for the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Massachusetts.
Before earning placement on the Massachusetts Super Lawyers list from 2023 through 2026, O’Connor was recognized as a Super Lawyers Rising Star each year from 2019 through 2022.
Super Lawyers is a peer-reviewed attorney rating service that recognizes lawyers in more than 70 practice areas. The organization says its selection process includes attorney nominations, independent research and peer evaluations.
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Massachusetts
The science behind Massachusetts’ wildfire smoke-darkened skies
Massachusetts’ recent smoky skies and hazy sunsets may look unusual, but experts say what we’re seeing is part of a growing pattern fueled by bigger and longer wildfire seasons.
The strange haze has lingered for two days — so far — thanks to a weather pattern bringing smoke straight from parts of Ontario, Canada, straight to New England.
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“A lot of the fires farther up north are burning longer and more intensely than they have previously, so that’s been a big change and may be why we’re seeing more of the smoke,” said James Urban, an associate professor in the Fire Protection Engineering Department at Massachusetts’ Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
It looks like Boston’s getting a break from the wildfire smoke that’s making the sky hazy enough that you can actually look at the sun, if briefly. But that break may not last. Plus, we’re looking at rain moving in this weekend.
He explained the nuances about how climate chance may play a role in what we’re seeing this summer.
“In general, drier conditions make things more flammable, but also, if you have a period before that of wet winter but not a lot of freezing, you may get a lot of plant growth, and then when it dries out in a drought, you get a lot of fuel that may ignite,” Urban said.
Why does smoke travel cross-country and change the color of the sky?
We went to a museum to find out more about what’s causing the unearthly images in the sky.
“With smoke, it’s driven into the air with the heat and then gets caught in the upper air current, so it travels over the mountains and comes straight across the country,” said Noreen Johnson Smith, president and CEO at Worcester’s EcoTarium.
Mass. or Mars? Photos of the eerie, rusty skies caused by Canadian wildfires
The way the sun looks has to do with how smoke scatters light.
“We’re seeing these bright orange and red suns because the blues aren’t able to reach our eyes at the moment,” said Murphy Florman, an educator at the museum.
How smoke affects air quality
An air quality alert for Massachusetts has been extended through all day on Thursday, with the Department of Environmental Protection saying in a statement, “elevated levels of fine particles [mean that] air quality statewide is expected to be unhealthy for sensitive groups.”
Massachusetts is under an air quality alert due to the Canadian wildfire smoke that’s made the skies dark and hazy and turned the sun into an “orange orb.” Here are the factors making the air hard to breathe for some and what medial professionals say about it.
Tufts Medical Center pulmonologist Dr. Sucharita Kher said that it’s important to be aware of the air quality where you live, especially if you’re going to be spending time outside. The conditions Massachusetts has been experiencing are especially harmful to those with heart or lung disease.
“The symptoms of that can be tightness in the chest, they can experience more wheezing, they can have more swelling in their airways leading them to cough more, produce more phlegm,” she said. “All of that ultimately leading to worsening symptoms of that underlying disease.”
Needham pharmacist Kevin Ryan said certain medications can help with symptoms, such as histamines like Claritin or Zyrtec, as is wearing an N-95 mask.
“If you feel like you’re doing fine outside, that’s great. If you if you don’t feel like you can breathe effectively, then limit your exposure,” he said.
Canadian wildfire, smoke map
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