Here are the Charlotte athletes who will compete at the Summer Olympics in Tokyo

The Tokyo Olympics are nearly here, and the Charlotte region will be well-represented at the Summer Games. Here is an alphabetical guide to some of the athletes with Charlotte connections who will participate in the Summer Olympics, which run from July 23-Aug. 8 in Japan.

Erika Brown, swimmer

▪ Country: USA

▪ Events: 100-meter freestyle; 4x100 relay

▪ Charlotte connection: Brown spent the final two years of high school at Hough High in Cornelius, winning N.C. high school state championships before heading to the University of Tennessee for college and becoming an All-American in multiple events.

▪ Of note: Brown has her college degree from Tennessee as well as a real-estate license and has dabbled in that field already. She will have a shot at two medals in these Games, because her second-place finish at the Olympic Trials means that she also will be a part of the 4x100 relay.

Anna Cockrell, hurdler

▪ Country: USA

▪ Event: 400-meter hurdles

▪ Charlotte connection: Cockrell went to high school at Providence Day, where she starred as a hurdler and was part of an athletic family. Her older brother, Ross Cockrell, is an NFL cornerback who started 11 games for the Panthers in 2019, then moved onto Tampa Bay and won a Super Bowl this past season with the Buccaneers.

Of note: Cockrell, now a star track athlete at Southern Cal, finished third in the U.S. Trials in the 400 hurdles to qualify for the final American spot in the event. To medal, she will likely have to improve on her career-best time of 53.70 seconds, which she posted at Trials.

Gabriele Cunningham, hurdler

▪ Country: USA

▪ Event: 100-meter hurdles

▪ Charlotte connection: Cunningham was a track star at Mallard Creek High, then went to N.C. State, where she became an All-American.

▪ Of note: Cunningham originally had missed the Olympics by an eyelash in June, finishing fourth in the 100 hurdles at Olympic Trials (the top three make it). But she earned her way onto the team when second-place finisher Brianna McNeal, who had been allowed to compete at Trials despite a five-year ban from the sport that was pending appeal at the time. When McNeal’s appeal was denied, Cunningham was headed to Tokyo.

Felix Duchampt, triathlon

▪ Country: Romania

▪ Event: Triathlon

▪ Charlotte connection: Duchampt graduated from Queens in 2015 and was named conference Runner of the Year three times during his stay in the Queen City.

▪ Of note: Duchampt is a native Frenchman, and only began competing for Romania after acquiring dual citizenship in March 2020. In an interview with Endurance Sportswire, Duchampt said he’s hoping to inspire “the young people in the future in Romania” to try the triathlon.

Anabel Knoll, triathlon

▪ Country: Germany

▪ Event: Triathlon

▪ Charlotte connection: Knoll graduated from Queens University of Charlotte in 2019 and was a member of three of Division II national champion triathlon teams for Queens, including the 2019 Mixed Team Relay squad where she was the anchor leg. By qualifying for Tokyo, she became the first varsity women’s triathlete to qualify for the Olympics since it was made an official NCAA sport in 2019.

▪ Of note: In order to claim the final spot on Germany’s triathlon team, Knoll went all-out, winning the Deutschland Triathlon outright and securing her place on the plane to Japan.

Marius Kusch, swimming

▪ Country: Germany

▪ Event: 100-meter butterfly

▪ Charlotte connection: Kusch also graduated from Queens University in 2019, alongside his countrywoman Knoll. During his time in Charlotte, Kusch won 16 NCAA Championships in various swimming events at the Division II level.

▪ Of note: Kusch is no stranger to international competition, having won a gold medal in the 100-meter butterfly in the 2019 European Short Course Championships in Glasgow, Scotland. When Germany updated its qualification requirements earlier this year, Kusch automatically made the Tokyo-bound team.

Evy Leibfarth, whitewater

▪ Country: USA

▪ Events: Kayak slalom, canoe slalom

▪ Charlotte connection: Leibfarth is a Bryson City, N.C., native, but her family has been living since March in an Airbnb near Mountain Island Lake in order to be close to the training facility at the U.S. National Whitewater Center in Charlotte.

▪ Of note: Only 17 years old, Leibfarth will be one of the youngest paddlers at the Summer Games and one of the younger U.S. Olympians in general. She is coached by her father, Lee Leibfarth. Her first name rhymes with “heavy.”

Zachary Lokken, whitewater

▪ Country: USA

▪ Event: Canoe slalom

▪ Charlotte connection: Lokken, 27, moved to the Charlotte area after high school to train at the U.S. National Whitewater Center.

▪ Of note: Lokken’s nickname is “Bug.” He is a first-time Olympian who is originally from Colorado.

Michal Smolen, whitewater

▪ Country: USA

▪ Event: Single kayak

▪ Charlotte connection: Like Lokken and Leibfarth, Smolen has also made a home in Charlotte so he can train at the U.S. National Whitewater Center.

▪ Of note: Originally from Poland, Smolen also made the Olympics in 2016, finishing 12th in the single kayak (K1) in Rio.

Caine Wilkes, weightlifter

▪ Country: USA

▪ Event: Weightlifting (109+ kg, which means the weightlifters weigh at least 241 pounds themselves with no upper limit)

▪ Charlotte connection: Wilkes moved to Charlotte in 2015 to join a now-defunct weightlifting team and never left. He lives in Indian Trail and trains at the Charlotte Strength gym.

▪ Of note: At 34, Wilkes has been dreaming of an Olympic spot for years. He is also an aspiring artist who likes to draw and paint and is nicknamed “The Dragon.” On his Instagram page, he says he has “some of the best hair in weightlifting.”

This story was originally published July 7, 2021 at 9:39 AM.