Vashti Cunningham - High Jump

Cunningham is heading to her second Olympics and is on the verge of becoming Las Vegas athletic royalty.

She finished 13th at the 2016 games as an 18-year-old and has since ascended to the top of the ranks, with her jump of 6 feet, 7 ½ inches standing as the best mark in the world this year. And last month, she took first place at the U.S. track and field trials with a leap of 6 feet, 5 inches, so she is primed for a potential gold-medal showing in Tokyo.

“I do plan on peaking at the Olympics,” Cunningham told USA Today.

Cunningham is coached by her father, former NFL quarterback and UNLV legend Randall Cunningham. That made her win at the U.S. trials all the more meaningful, as the event was held on Father’s Day.

“The feeling is just amazing,” Cunningham said. “I was looking at pictures of us over the years. I sent them to him, and I was like, ‘Happy Father’s Day.’ I know that making him happy makes me feel so good. I was blessed to have my family here and my dad. I’m happy it was on Father’s Day.”

Connor Fields - BMX

Fields grew up racing on the BMX track at Nellis Meadows Park, and all that pedaling paid off in 2016, when the Henderson native won a gold medal for the United States at the Rio Olympics.

In Rio, Fields had to beat out a field that included two-time BMX gold medalist Maris Strombergs (the only winner since BMX became an Olympic event in 2008), and now Fields will try to replicate that feat with back-to-back gold runs.

Though the pandemic made it difficult to train in 2020, Fields maintained his fitness by taking up hiking and mountain biking. He has since resumed his normal routine and believes American BMX riders will have a leg up due to the country’s relatively quick recovery from COVID-19.

“We’ve been very lucky in America. We were one of the first countries that got back to racing, so I’ve had plenty of gate drops,” Fields told Reuters. “From November through May of this year, I’ve raced just as much as I’d typically race, which I think is a huge advantage for us.”

Fields has said this will likely be his final Olympics.

Danielle Kang - Golf

The U.S. failed to put a women’s golfer on the medal podium in 2016, but Kang could change that in Tokyo. She has emerged as a top pro since then, winning the Women’s PGA Championship in 2017 and recording two top-15 finishes in three majors so far in 2021. A Southern California native, Kang currently resides in Las Vegas.

Lexi Lagan - Shooting

Lagan came agonizingly close to making the Olympic team in 2016, as she earned an alternate spot but ultimately did not join the Team USA squad in Rio. Since then, the 28-year-old Boulder City native has only gotten more accurate with her shot.

She won gold at the 2017 National Championships in sport pistol and took gold in air pistol at the 2018 National Championships, making her perhaps the country’s best bet for a medal in a discipline that has proven difficult for Team USA in recent years. No U.S. women’s athlete has medaled in an Olympic pistol event since the 1984 games.

According to reports, Lagan will be the first Boulder City athlete to compete at the Olympics.

Collin Morikawa - Golf

There couldn’t be a better time for the United States’ Morikawa to make a run at a gold medal—the Las Vegas resident is coming off a sensational win at last week’s British Open. That was his second major championship in the past two years, and his fifth tournament victory on the PGA Tour since turning pro in the summer of 2019.

If anyone is poised to tear up Tokyo’s venerable Kasumigaseki course, it’s the red-hot Morikawa.

Ike Nwamu - Basketball

Nwamu was one of college basketball’s most celebrated dunkers during his lone season at UNLV (2014-15), and he has expanded his game since then, using his time in the G-League as well as Greek and Russian pro leagues to become a well-rounded player.

Nwamu helped lead his Nigeria squad to a stunning recent exhibition upset over Team USA in Las Vegas, posting 13 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists in a 90-87 victory.

Inbee Park - Golf

Park was born in South Korea but graduated from Bishop Gorman and even enrolled at UNLV for a short stint before turning pro in 2006. She has since become one of the LPGA’s most dominant performers, racking up seven major championships and four separate runs as the world’s No. 1-ranked golfer.

Competing for South Korea, Park took gold in women’s golf at the Rio Olympics in 2016 and will be a favorite to defend her crown in Tokyo.

Yarisel Ramirez - Boxing

Ramirez punched her ticket to Tokyo through sheer perseverance. She earned a silver medal at the 2015 Junior World Championships and has performed steadily in the lead-up to the 2021 Olympics, taking silver at the 2019 Pan American Games.

That helped Ramirez secure the 10th and final spot on Team USA. “Through hard work, perseverance and faith, you can live your dreams,” Ramirez told the USA Boxing website.

Ramirez, 21, will compete in the featherweight division; the Tokyo games will mark the first time women boxers will compete in that weight class on the Olympic stage.

Ben Stevenson - Water Polo

Stevenson is a native of Reno but moved to Las Vegas as a high schooler to join a water polo club team, so we can claim the Team USA member as one of our own.

A first-time Olympian, he was a three-time All-American at Pacific and credits his time in Las Vegas as well as his Sacramento-area club team for his early development. “I trained with Team Vegas, and that helped me a lot,” he told Nevada Sports Net. “Both Sacramento water polo and Team Vegas-Henderson were really crucial to my success and where I am today.”

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