COLBY, Kan. - 11 former Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference student-athletes are competing in the 33rd summer Olympic games, taking place July 24 - August 11 in Paris, France.

Among the 11 former KJCCC student-athletes, five schools have at least one alumni competing with Barton Community College leading the way with three former student-athletes while Butler, Coffeyville, Cloud County, and Fort Hays Tech Northwest all have two alumni each competing. Nine of the 11 alumni will be competing in various track and field events with Fort Hays Tech Northwest having one alumni competing in the marathon and one in men's basketball. A breakdown of each alumni for the five schools and the events that they are competing in is below. 

Butler Community College: 

Two Grizzly alumni will represent Liberia in the 4x100 meter relay in track and field with Emmanuel Matadi (2010-11) and Akeem Sirleaf (2017 alumni) both having helped the Liberian relay team qualify. 

Barton Community College:

All three former Cougars are making their Olympic debut with Joveinny Mota (Venezuela), Jhonny Renteria (Columbia), and Ana Da Silva (Brazil) all representing their home countries in track events. Renteria, who holds the current Columbia national record in the 100 meters to qualify for the games in Paris, will be the first of the three Barton alumni to compete when he takes part in the 100-meter dash on Friday, August 3rd while Mota is competing in the 100-meter hurdles which will take place on August 7th after setting the current Barton record in the 60-meter hurdles as a Cougar during the 2019-2020 seasons. Da Silva will compete in the shot put on August 8th after finishing as a two-time NJCAA shot put National Champion during the 2019-2021 seasons. 

Cloud County:

Representing Papua New Guinea and Jamaica, Cloud County alumni Leonie Beu will be the first of two T-Bird athletes to take the world stage at the games by competing in the 100-meter dash for her home country after competing for CCCC during the 2021-22 season where she was an eight-time NJCAA All-American while currently holding the Papua New Guinea national record in the 100-meter dash. Campbell was part of the Cloud County men's track and field team during the 2016-17 seasons while setting the school record in the discus and indoor and outdoor shot put. Campbell was the 2017 Men's Field Athlete of the Year at the NJCAA Region VI Indoor Track and Field Championships. 

Coffeyville:

Arguably the most recognizable KJCCC alumni to compete in the Paris Olympics this year, reigning men's 200-meter gold medalist Andre De Grasse is a six-time Olympic medalist to become the first Canadian Olympic Gold Medalist in track in 25 years and the first in the 200 meters in 93 years. De Grasse competed for Coffeyville during the 2013-14 seasons and is joined alongside another Red Raven alumni and Canadian Olympian Duan Asemota who will compete in both the 100-meter dash and 4x100-meter relay after competing for Coffeyville from 2014-2016. 

Fort Hays Tech Northwest:

The lone KJCCC school with multiple Olympians to compete in two different sports, Fort Hays Tech Northwest (formerly Northwest Kansas Technical College) will have Zouhair Talbi (2019-20) alumni represent Morocco in the men's marathon race while Gian Clavell (2012-2014) will represent Puerto Rico in men's basketball. Talbi finished fifth in the 2024 Boston Marathon and was an NJCAA 1/2 Marathon Champion for the Mavericks while finishing NJCAA Runner-Up in Cross Country, and the 5,000 meters during the indoor track and field season. Clavell led the Mavericks in scoring in each of his two seasons, scoring in double figures in 26 of his 30 games as a freshman along with 28 of 32 games as a sophomore to earn All-Region honors before going on to Colorado State University to continue his basketball career.