The 2024 summer Olympics will host hundreds of athletes from dozens of countries. While they won’t be wearing maroon, one current and one former Saluki will be representing their own countries. 

Former SIU thrower DeAnna Price is set to compete in her third Olympic games, while according to @HiSportsTV on X, swimmer Celia Pulido will make her Olympic debut. 

Pulido, who will be representing Mexico, recently qualified for the Olympics during the CCCAN Swimming Championships and will compete in the 100 meter backstroke.

Her time of 1:00:60 currently ranks her 69th in the world, and it also was a Mexican national record as the fastest women’s 100 meter backstroke time.

Pulido also broke the national record in the women’s 50 meter backstroke at the CCCAN Swimming Championships, though she fell short of the Olympic qualifying time. 

Heats of the women’s 100 meter backstroke will begin at 5 a.m. Central Time on July 29. If Pulido qualifies, she will swim in semifinals, which will take place between 2:30 and 4:30 p.m. on July 29. If Pulido were to make the finals, she would swim between 2:30 and 4:30 p.m. on July 30. All events will be on Peacock, and finals will be televised on NBC.

Price, 2016 graduate and a 2021 Saluki Hall of Famer, will compete in the hammer throw. She holds the American record, and is the number two women’s hammer thrower in history, having recorded an 80.31 meter throw in 2021.

Price, 31, is looking to improve upon her last Olympic appearance in 2021, where she finished eighth. In her last international competition, the 2023 Pan American games, she finished first, tossing the hammer 72.34 meters. 

Price will first compete in Paris on August 4 at 3:20 a.m. CT in the hammer throw prelims. If she makes the finals, she’ll throw again on August 6 at 12:50 p.m. CT. Both events will be televised on the streaming service Peacock.

Sports reporter Ryan Grieser can be reached at [email protected]. To stay up to date on all your southern Illinois news, be sure to follow The Daily Egyptian on Facebook and on X @dailyegyptian.

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