WKAR’s Melorie Begay sat down with Current Sports reporter Al Martin to learn more.
Full Transcript
Melorie Begay: Can you give us a breakdown of who will be headed to Paris and how they're connected to Mid-Michigan?
Al Martin: Yes, so Melorie overall 20 athletes from the state of Michigan but focusing on the ones that have those Mid-Michigan ties. From Michigan State University you have former MSU triple jumper Tory Franklin, who was a triple jumper at Michigan State from 2012 to 2015. This will be her second Olympics appearance. Shay Colley MSU women's basketball player from 2017 to 2020. She'll be competing on the Canadian Women's National Basketball team and Heath Baldwin, MSU grad student who's competing in the decathlon. Also, Adam Coon is a wrestler from Fowlerville and Jayci Simon, who will be competing in badminton from St. John's.
Begay: Wow. Yeah, that's a lot of connections in Mid-Michigan. That's exciting. I want to focus a little bit on Tori Franklin. This is going to be her second Olympics competing in the triple jump, and she's the only American to have ever won a medal for the event at the World Championships in 2022. She recently won bronze for her event at the Olympic qualifiers with that resume, what's the possibility that she might come away with some hardware in Paris?
Martin: Well, there's always a chance Melorie, I always say that's the nature of sports. But I tell you what, you mentioned as the only American woman to secure a medal at a World Championships in this event. I think that naturally sets the expectations high Melorie. Now you look at what happened in Tokyo, right? Venezuela, Portugal, and Spain are the ones that took home gold, silver and bronze. So even though Tori Franklin is really, really good. It's still so hard to metal in this event, historically for those from our great nation.
Begay: Now, Heath Baldwin, another athlete with MSU ties is also headed to Paris, but he's competing in the decathlon. He recently won gold at the Olympic trials in Oregon. Do you have any idea of how far he might go?
Martin: Yeah, as you mentioned, Melorie, he did win gold at the decathlon at the trials are out in Eugene. The first Spartan to qualify for the Olympic decathlon since Paul Terek did it way back in 2004. Baldwin, actually he opted out of the 2024 NCAA outdoor championships earlier this month to prepare for the trials. He totaled a personal best 8,625 points to finish first in that 19-athlete field.
Now this is the key: his score is the sixth best in the world this year and third all-time on the all-time collegiate list. So, if you're talking about his chances of possibly getting a gold, silver or bronze medal, his is pretty high. I think when you compare his numbers to the world rankings.
I have to bring up the 2020 results though, you look at what happened out in Tokyo, Canada, France and Australia were the countries that metal in that event. Garrett Scantling of United States he was just on the outside looking in finishing fourth place, but again, Heath’s numbers were so good and the trials Melorie that I think he has a great shot of medal-ing here in Paris.
Begay: Of course, Franklin and Baldwin will both be representing Team USA. But we also have an athlete who will be representing our neighbor to the north, Team Canada. Can you tell us more about Shay Colley.
Martin: Yes, I remember covering Shay when she was a player for Suzy Merchant's MSU Women's Basketball team and she was always one of the most consistent players on that team. But yes, in her Olympic debut out in Tokyo, she was in the starting five for each of Canada's three games, scored 21 points as the team finished ninth that year. Also, Colley was a part that fourth-place finish at the 2022 FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup, which was their best result at the competition dating all the way back to 1986. Now she played those three years at Michigan State, her last season coming during the 2019-2020 campaign. She averaged a little over 12 points and four rebounds per game during her time there.
And I tell you what, it's just going to be fun to watch her but also just women's basketball in general at the Olympics because the rise of popularity when it comes to women's basketball right now in America is skyrocketing. I mean, with of course the influx of rookies like Angel Reese, Caitlin Clark, more eyeballs are on the sport, more than any other time this sport has existed Melorie and that's exciting in itself.
Begay: I agree there's definitely going to be a lot of stories coming out of Paris this summer. Al Martin is WKAR's Current Sports reporter. Thanks for joining me today, Al.
Martin: Melorie, it’s been my pleasure. Enjoy Paris. It's going to be fun.
