11 Minnesotans Representing Team USA at the Rio Olympics

The 2016 Summer Olympic Games are just around the corner. The games will run from August 5 through August 21 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and feature more than 10,000 athletes from more than 200 nations. There are 28 sports represented this time around.

With only a week or so to go, the teams are all pretty much set. Team USA will, as usual, be expected to bring home a lot of medals and hope to have several champions crowned in a wide variety of sporting events. These athletes are from states across the country, and 11 of them are from Minnesota.

The 11 Minnesota men and women representing our country in the world’s foremost sporting event participate in a wide range of sports, from rugby to rhythmic gymnastics and swimming to basketball.

Track and field is one of the most featured sports at the Games. And Minnesotan Ben Blankenship will be participating in the 1,500 meter run. Minnesotans feature on both the men’s and women’s rugby teams, while David Plummer will be the lone swimmer from the “Land of 10,000 Lakes,” having qualified for the Olympics in the 100 meter backstroke.

Probably the most famous Minnesota Olympian on the team this time around would be Lindsay Whalen. No stranger to championships, Whalen will be hoping to help lead Team USA’s women’s basketball team to gold medal glory.

California tops all states in Olympic representatives with 125 athletes having qualified for the Games. Several states have one lone athlete participating, including Alabama, Oklahoma and Maine. You can meet all the athletes of Team USA on their website.