There are a dozen former, current or future NC State athletes expected to compete in this year’s Olympics in Tokyo, where the opening ceremony was being performed Friday morning. That list does not even include second-year volleyball head coach Luka Slabe, who will serve as an assistant for the United State’s women’s volleyball team.

Here is a rundown of who to watch from the Wolfpack in Tokyo.

• Former NC State swimmer Simonas Bilis will swim on the relays for the Lithuania and will participate in his second Olympics. He is the national record holder in both the 50 and 100-freestyle and finished eighth in the former event in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro.

• Former Wolfpack track star Gabriele Cunningham will race in the 100-meter hurdles, becoming just the second former NC State track athlete to compete in the Olympics (Joan Benoit Samuelson won the gold medal in the marathon in 1984). Cunningham was a three-time All-American at NC State.

• Former softball player Tatyana Forbes is playing for Team Mexico. Softball is making its Olympics return in 2021 after being left out of the past two Games. Forbes played two seasons at NC State (2019-20) and holds the school record for highest career batting average (.423).

Mexico thus far is 0-2 in the Olympics and will face the United States Saturday morning.

• Swimmer Sophie Hansson is coming off NCAA titles in the 100 and 200 breaststroke races at NC State and will represent Sweden in both versions of the event. This is Hansson’s second Olympic games, and she is considered a legitimate medal contender, especially in the 100.

• Former swimmer and NCAA title winner Anton Ipsen will represent his native Denmark in both the 800 and 1500 freestyle distance races. In 2016, Ipsen finished 20th in the 400 and 18th in the 1500 in Rio. He won the national title in the mile at NC State in 2018.

• Swimmer Nyls Korstanje used an Olympic redshirt this past year at NC State to focus on representing his country, Netherlands. Korstanje will compete in the 100 butterfly, where he holds the national record.

Korstanje was the 2019 ACC Men’s Freshman of the Year and won conference titles in the 50 and 100 free in 2020.

• Former rifle star Lucas Kozeniesky will be making his second straight Olympics performance, and he will compete in the air rifle.

• Like Korstanje, swimmer Alexander Norgaard from Denmark focused on the Olympics this year rather than compete for NC State. Norgaard was expected to be a top freshman on the team this past year.

He already owns the Danish national record over Ipsen in the 1500 meter free, and like Ipsen will swim in both the 800 and 1500 at the Olympics. He is considered a potential finalist contender in the latter.

• Swimmer Andrea Podmanikova was part of a strong group of female breaststroke performers for NC State this year, earning All-American in both the 100 and 200. She will represent Slovakia in each race.

• Among the headliners of a huge 2021 men’s swimming recruiting class is Noe Ponti from Switzerland. The 20-year old owns the national records in both the 100 and 200 butterfly races he will compete in at Tokyo and is considered a potential finalist (top eight) in each race.

• Swimmer Kacper Stokowski nearly won the 100 backstroke at the 2021 NCAA championship, coming in second in his debut season with NC State after transferring in from Florida. Stokowski will swim in the 100 meter back at the Olympics, representing Poland. He holds the national record in that race.

• Former two-time 200 butterfly national champion Andreas Vazaios will be participating in his third Olympics for Greece, swimming in the 200 IM. He holds the national record in that event plus the 200 freestyle and was 11th, just missing reaching the finals, in the 200 IM in 2016.

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