BREAKING NEWS: Kentucky basketball is full of newcomers. These two are making a big leap in competition.

Log In|Subscribe Home Customer Service Stay Connected Read today’s Edition Best of Lexington News Sports Dining & Entertainment Opinion Obituaries Sports Betting Shopping/Reviews Press Releases Sponsored Content Classifieds Place an Ad – Celebrations Search Jobs Search Legal Notices Advertising MARK STORY You just lived through one of the great moments in Kentucky Wildcats sports history BY MARK STORY AUGUST 12, 2024 3:15 PM Freshman Sydney McLaughlin came to Kentucky with Olympic experience and a world record already beside her name. In her time with the Wildcats, she looks to refine her talent with the help of coach Edrick Floréal. BY CAITLYN STROH When Kentucky Wildcats athletes, current and former, combined three years ago to win 10 medals in the Tokyo Olympics, it stood as one of the proudest moments in University of Kentucky sports history. With that very high bar to clear entering the 2024 Paris Olympics, ex-Cats sports stars went to France and did something exceptional: They topped their medal count from Tokyo. In Paris, former Kentucky Wildcats athletes combined to win 11 medals — and matched the seven gold medals that UK sports figures won in Tokyo. For those adding at home, athletes who rocked Kentucky blue in college have now combined to win 21 Olympics medals, 14 of them gold, over the past two Summer Games. (In my “UK medal count,” I am not including the two gold medals won in foil fencing in Paris nor the one gold claimed in Tokyo by University of Kentucky medical school student Lee Kiefer. The reason is the Paul Laurence Dunbar alumna competed as a collegiate fencer for Notre Dame, where she won four NCAA championships. UK does not offer fencing as a varsity sport. In Paris, Kiefer joined Manual High School alumnus Yared Nuguse, who took the bronze medal in the men’s 1,500-meter run, as state of Kentucky products who won Olympic medals). Interestingly, it is the recruiting of two former Kentucky head coaches — ex-Wildcats track and field coach Edrick Floreal (now at Texas) and ex-Cats men’s hoops coach John Calipari (now at Arkansas) — which deserves ample credit for launching UK’s gold rush over the past two Olympics. What ex-Cats are doing in Olympics women’s hurdles races can only be described as astounding. When former Kentucky hurdlers Masai Russell (100 meters) and Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone (400 meters) swept gold in the women’s hurdles events in Paris, it marked the second straight Olympics in which UK products won both Olympic women’s hurdles races. Former Kentucky Wildcats track and field star Masai Russell celebrated on the podium after receiving the Olympic gold medal for winning the women’s 100-meter hurdles in Paris, France. Al Bello TNS In Tokyo, it was ex-Cats stars McLaughlin-Levrone (400) and Jasmine Camacho-Quinn (100) who swept the hurdles gold. This year, Camacho-Quinn ran third in the 100 meters hurdles behind Russell. Three years ago, it was former Kentucky stars Camacho-Quinn and Kendra Harrison who ran 1-2 in the Olympic 100 hurdles. Add in the silver medal that ex-Kentucky star Daniel Roberts won in the men’s 110-meter hurdles in Paris, and former UK hurdlers have won seven Olympic medals combined in the past two Summer Games. In France, McLaughlin-Levrone and ex-UK star Alexis Holmes combined to form one half of Team USA’s gold medal-winning 4-by-400 relay team. That quartet, which also included Gabby Thomas and Shamier Little, set an American record (3:15.27) while crushing the competition in “Secretariat wins the Belmont” fashion. Former Kentucky track and field stars Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, second from left, and Alexis Holmes, third from the left, joined with Shamier Little, right, and Gabrielle Thomas, left, to set an American record in winning the women’s 4-by-400-meter relay at the Paris Olympics. Kirby Lee USA TODAY NETWORK Former Kentucky stars Bam Adebayo, Devin Booker and Anthony Davis were on Team USA’s gold medal-claiming men’s basketball roster. All three made meaningful contributions as the Americans, led by Steph Curry’s torrid outside shooting and LeBron James’ stat-stuffing all-around play, won a tense gold medal game 98-87 over host France. Quietly, Booker was Team USA’s second-leading scorer, 15 points, and contributed six rebounds and three assists to the win over the French. Afterward, Steve Kerr, the Team USA head coach, ended his news conference by saying “Devin Booker is an incredible basketball player. Nobody asked about him. He was our unsung MVP. I just wanted to say that.” Former Kentucky guard Devin Booker (15) celebrated after he scored 15 points to help Team USA win the men’s basketball gold medal at the Paris Olympics with a 98-87 win over France. Rob Schumacher USA TODAY NETWORK Davis, too, was a huge factor in Team USA staving off France. In a high-energy 20 minutes of game time, the ex-UK big man had eight points, nine rebounds, four blocks and two steals. Adebayo logged nine minutes of clock in the gold medal game and had two points and one board while providing physical, active defense. It was the second straight Olympics in which a gold medal-winning U.S. men’s basketball roster boasted three former Kentucky players. Keldon Johnson joined Booker and Adebayo on Team USA in Tokyo. All-time, 13 players who played men’s college basketball for UK have combined to win 16 Olympic gold medals while hooping for the red, white and blue. Even with that, the biggest disappointment in Paris from the Kentucky perspective came in men’s hoops when a talented Team Canada roster — featuring ex-Wildcats Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jamal Murray and Trey Lyles — failed to medal. In France, two of the premier athletes to perform for Kentucky in the 21st century added Olympic medals to their resumes. Avery Skinner, one of the stars of UK volleyball’s 2020 NCAA champions, earned a silver medal as part of Team USA’s indoor women’s squad. Former Kentucky women’s basketball star Rhyne Howard won a bronze medal in Paris as part of Team USA’s 3-on-3 squad. Former Kentucky star Rhyne Howard (10) shot the ball against Canada’s Katherine Plouffe (2) in the women’s 3-on-3 basketball bronze medal game during the Paris 2024 Olympic Summer Games. Michael Madrid USA TODAY NETWORK This past Saturday, when six ex-Cats — Russell (100 hurdles); McLaughlin-Levrone and Holmes (4-by-400 relay); and Adebayo, Booker and Davis (men’s hoops) — combined to claim six gold medals within hours of each other was an especially “golden” day for UK sports. During a year when Kentucky Athletics has vacated a 10-win football season (from 2021) due to NCAA rules violations and is facing a lawsuit making distressing allegations of sexual harassment during the tenure of a former UK swim coach, the feel-good vibes created by the ex-Cats in Paris came at a most-welcome time. READ NEXT MARK STORY NCAA probation tarnishes the UK legacies of both Mark Stoops and Mitch Barnhart AUGUST 02, 2024 7:17 PM READ NEXT MARK STORY One big way that Mark Pope’s coaching will differ from John Calipari’s MAY 16, 2024 1:55 PM READ NEXT MARK STORY Two teams ruined John Calipari’s tenure at UK. They were not Saint Peter’s and Oakland. MAY 23, 2024 12:46 PM READ NEXT MARK STORY In the unending war between Calipari and Pitino, Ricky P. has won the latest battle APRIL 18, 2024 1:47 PM READ NEXT MARK STORY After leg amputation, an ex-UK men’s basketball player confronts a changed life JULY 24, 2024 7:02 AM READ NEXT MARK STORY Jason Booher keeps alive the memories of those lost in Carrollton bus crash by marathoning MAY 13, 2024 1:34 PM READ NEXT MARK STORY The one name Kentucky football fans will have to get to know AUGUST 08, 2024 6:30 AM RELATED STORIES FROM LEXINGTON HERALD LEADER OLYMPICS Lexington’s Lee Kiefer has put herself on an elite list in Kentucky sports history JULY 29, 2024 4:48 PM MARK STORY At Paris Olympics, can former UK athletes match their impressive Tokyo medal haul? JULY 27, 2024 6:00 AM MARK STORY LEXINGTON HERALD-LEADER 859-444-4731 Mark Story has worked in the Lexington Herald-Leader sports department since Aug. 27, 1990, and has been a Herald-Leader sports columnist since 2001. I have covered every Kentucky-Louisville football game since 1994, every UK-U of L basketball game but three since 1996-97 and every Kentucky Derby since 1994. Support my work with a digital subscription Take Us With You Real-time updates and all local stories you want right in the palm of your hand. LEXINGTON HERALD LEADER APP VIEW NEWSLETTERS SUBSCRIPTIONS Start a Subscription Customer Service Edition Herald-Leader Now Vacation Hold Pay Your Bill LEARN MORE About Us Contact Us Newsletters Archives Sports Betting Personal Finance ADVERTISING McClatchy Advertising Place an Ad Place a Classified Ad Place an Ad – Celebrations Place an Obituary Staffing Solutions Political | Advocacy Advertising Part of the McClatchy Media Network COPYRIGHT PRIVACY POLICY YOUR PRIVACY CHOICES COOKIE PREFERENCES TERMS OF SERVICE

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