Three Blue Raiders qualify for Paris 2024 Olympics

Track and Field at Paris 2024 Olympics (7-18-24)

7/18/2024 11:18:00 AM | Men's Cross Country and Track & Field, Women's Cross Country and Track & Field, Track & Field/Cross Country

By: Jake Freelund, MTSU Athletic Communications

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Three Blue Raiders have qualified to represent their countries in the 2024 Paris Olympics. 2023 Middle Tennessee graduate Alaba Akintola will be representing Nigeria, sophomore sprinter John Sherman will be representing Liberia, and recent graduate Leonie Beu will be representing Papua New Guinea.

Akintola will be competing in the men's 4 x 100-meter relay for Nigeria. This marks the first time in 16 years that the Nigerian men have qualified for the Olympics in the 4 x 100-meter relay, last happening in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. During his senior season, Akintola was honored with Second Team All-America honors for the 2023 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field season. The Ondo, Nigeria, native finished 13^th in the 100-meter with a time of 10.07 seconds and 16^th in the 200-meter with a time of 20.46 seconds. This achievement also marked consecutive years he has been named to All-America teams both in the indoor and outdoor seasons.

Sherman is headed to the Olympics to compete in the men's 4 x 100-meter relay, representing the nation of Liberia. Sherman finished up a spectacular freshman season at the Music City Challenge where he finished eighth in the 200-meter final with a 21.28s personal best. He also finished fourth in the 100-meter finals with a PR of 10.28s to rank top-10 in Conference USA. Sherman was part of the Liberian squad that set a national record at the 2023 African Games in the 4 x 100-meter relay.

Beu will be competing in the women's 100-meter race for Papua New Guinea. The sprinter established herself as the fastest woman in PNG after setting the new 100-meter national record at 11.68 seconds earlier this year. This past weekend, Beu competed in the American Track League where she placed third in the 200-meter race with a time of 23.76 seconds and clocked a time of 11.73 seconds in the 100-meter race.

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