SIOUX FALLS S.D. (KELO) — With the 2024 Paris Olympics in full swing, Olympians with South Dakota ties are showing their talents on the world stage; here’s an update on their current standings.
Taryn Kloth a Sioux Falls native, competed with her partner Kristen Nuss in Women’s Beach Volleyball at the 2024 Paris Games. The duo went 3-1 going undefeated in pool play — defeating China, Australia and Canada. They would go on to lose in a knockout match against Canada in a Round of 16 match.
Kloth and Nuss have won 8 medals since their professional debut in 2021 from both AVP, the premier U.S. professional volleyball league and Beach Pro Tour, an annual international beach volleyball circuit.
In a post on social media both Kloth and Nuss said “Oh it’s not over. We will continue to #rewritethescript together.”
Chris Nilsen a University of South Dakota alum, who competed for Team USA in Men’s Pole Vaulting, achieved 11th place in Group B with a height of 5.40 meters (17.71 feet). He did not advance to the pole vault finals.
In a social media post, he said “I don’t really have the words for this one. I don’t really know how to process the emotions of it either. All I can say is this. I’m sorry. I’ll be better next time. Hope I can make it up to everyone, some day.”
Nilsen won a silver medal in pole vault in 2021 for the 2020 Olympics. He’s also a four-time medalist on the world stage, achieving a bronze medal from the 2022 World Indoor Championships, a silver medal from the 2022 World Championships as well as another bronze from the 2023 World Championships.
Denilson Cyprianos a current SDSU student, competed in the 200 meter backstroke representing his home country of Zimbabwe. He finished 6th in heat one with a time of 2 minutes and 01.91 seconds, while setting a new personal best for the swimmer he fell short of making it to the semi-finals.
Cyprianos previously achieved a gold medal in the Men’s 200 meter backstroke and a silver medal in the 100 meter backstroke in the African games.
Dakotah Lindwurm, a Northern State University alum, competing for Team USA and Meritxell Soler, a former Augustana University athlete competing for Spain, will both compete in the Women’s Marathon on Sunday, August 11 at 1 a.m. (CT).
All Olympic events will be streamed on Peacock and a full schedule of all Olympic events can be found here.
