Team USA’s roster brings accomplished Catholic athletes to the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad. Here are six who will be competing in Paris.

Most Decorated

In Paris, gymnast Simone Biles is on her third quest for Olympic gold. From the Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro (2016), and Tokyo (2021), she has four gold, one silver, and two bronze medals.

Biles, 27, from Spring, Texas, lived in foster care as a child but was adopted by her grandfather, Ron Biles, and his wife, Nellie. They raised her Catholic.

“My mom, Nellie, got me a rosary at church,” she said in a National Catholic Register article. “I don’t use it to pray before a competition. I’ll just pray normally to myself, but it’s there just in case.”

Her duffel bag also contained a small statue of St. Sebastian — the patron saint of athletes.

In Tokyo, however, she had a stress-induced condition that spurred mid-air disorientation. She stepped away without a gold medal to go with her bronze and silver medals from Tokyo.

Biles subsequently sought mental health counseling and arrived in Paris with the distinction of being the most decorated gymnast in history.

In Good Hands

At the Paris Olympics, swimmer Katie Ledecky is looking to add more weight to her awards cabinet.

She already has awards for scores of national records, plus seven gold and three silver medals from the Games in London (2012), Rio de Janeiro, and Tokyo.

Multiple observers have dubbed her the greatest female swimmer of all time and one of the greatest Olympians ever.

Ledecky, 27, was raised Catholic in Bethesda, Maryland. She set numerous national records swimming for Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart and Stanford University.

Still, Ledecky is widely praised for her humility and faith. In an interview with the National Catholic Register, Ledecky said she often prays the Hail Mary before races.

“More than anything, praying just helps me to concentrate,” she said. “It gives me peace knowing I’m in good hands.”

Wonder Woman

Karissa Schweizer is a focused distance runner, said her grandfather, Frank Schweizer, a retired cross-country coach. He said she is so focused that she tunes out the presence of everyone around her.

Still, the Catholic community in Schweizer’s hometown of Urbandale, Iowa, showers her with support. Her qualifying for the Summer Games in Paris follows her first Olympics in Tokyo.

Mike Schweizer, her dad, praised the runner’s Urbandale fan base in an interview with the Diocese of Des Moines’ news website. He said that in 2021, friends from St. Pius X Parish and Schweizer’s alma mater, Dowling Catholic High School, packed “watch” parties at 5 a.m., despite the 14-hour time difference with Tokyo.

Katie Schweizer, 28, ran cross country and track at the University of Missouri, where she won three national titles. She qualified for the Paris Olympics despite calf and Achilles injuries.

“For her to fight through all of the barriers, I kind of see her as Wonder Woman,” her mother, Kathy, said.

Secretariat

Kenny Bednarek, 25, a sprinter from Rice Lake, Wisconsin, is making his second Olympic appearance, having won the silver medal in the men’s 200-meter race in Tokyo.

His mother, Mary Bednarek, has described how she adopted the sprinter and his three siblings, and raised them Catholic. They received sacraments at St. Joseph’s Parish in Rice Lake.

At Rice Lake High School, Bednarek won several state titles in the 100-, 200-, and 400-meter sprints, and the 4×400 relay. He went on to Indian Hills Community College in Ottumwa, Iowa, where he excelled in the indoor 200-meter.

His mother calls him “My Secretariat,” a reference to the legendary racehorse.

Bednarek planned to compete for a university, but he said, “Obviously, God (had) a different plan.” He went pro in July 2019.

His mother told The Catholic Herald of the Diocese of Superior that God is at the center of his life, and despite his training schedule, he attends Mass often.

Team TKN

Kristen Nuss is nearly one foot shorter than her teammate Taryn Kloth — an unusual pairing for women’s beach volleyball. But “Team TKN,” as they are known, shares one thing in common — a Catholic education.

Nuss, 26, attended the all-girls Mount Carmel Academy in New Orleans, La., where she lettered in basketball, indoor volleyball, and track.

Kloth, also 26, was an indoor volleyball standout at Bishop O’Gorman High School in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. She later became a standout at Jesuit-run Creighton University in Omaha, Neb.

Next, she entered grad school at LSU in Baton Rouge, La., where she joined Nuss on the beach volleyball team. They went pro and qualified to compete in Paris. It is their first trip to the Olympics.

Fans include the Catholic League Sports of New Orleans, which promotes Catholic school athletics. The organization wished them well on social media as they “eye Olympic Beach Volleyball gold in Paris!”