This Week in 'Cats in the Olympics

After having to postpone due to the COVID-19 outbreak, it is finally that time. Yes, you guessed it. It’s Olympics time.

This year, there are a record 20 Wildcats competing in Tokyo, representing 10 different countries in five different sports.

When we say #OlympiansMadeHere we really mean Olympians are made here at the @universityofky

A school-record 20 Wildcats will compete at the @Olympics | #WeAreUK x #TokyoOlympics #Tokyo2020 #BBN https://t.co/rOs1YOnezm

— Kentucky Athletics (@UKAthletics) July 21, 2021

Already this morning, two Wildcats secured gold medals for Team USA – Will Shaner in air rifle and Lee Kiefer in fencing. Kiefer graduated from Paul Lawrence Dunbar before heading to Notre Dame for undergrad. Now, she is back in Lexington in UK’s College of Medicine.

This year’s games are a little difficult to watch live considering the huge time difference (Tokyo is 13 hours ahead of us here in Lexington). Still, most will be broadcast live on NBC. Here are just some of the Wildcats you can watch for this week:

MONDAY, JULY 26:

– Softball @ 1:30 a.m. – Alexia Lacatena will enroll at UK in August. Currently, she is representing Italy’s softball team in the Olympics. She helped Italy win the 2021 European Softball Championship and is the No. 37 player in the nation in the class of 2021.

– Softball @ 7:00 a.m. – Brittany Cervantes attended played softball at UK from 2009-2012. In her time at UK, she racked up the second all-time most career home0runs with 48. She is now representing Mexico’s softball team.

TUESDAY, JULY 27:

– Softball bronze medal game @ 12 a.m. and gold medal game at 7 a.m. – make sure to watch for Lacatena and Cervantes here.

– Women’s gymnastics team final @ 6:45 a.m. – no former Wildcats competing here…but Simone Biles is pretty incredible regardless so watch this.

– Women’s basketball @ 8:00 a.m. – former UK Hoops point guard Jennifer O’Neill is representing Puerto Rico in Tokyo this year. O’Neill twice voted the SEC Sixth Player of the Year, played for Matthew Mitchell from 2011 to 2015. She hit 197 three-pointers during her career at UK, which ranks fourth on the school’s all-time list.

– Shooting mixed team air rifle (final) @ 2:15 a.m. – not sure if you’ve realized by now or not, but UK’s rifle team is pretty darn good. As such, they have three athletes competing in this year’s Olympics – two for Team USA and one for Norway. If you want to wake up at 2:15 on Tuesday morning, you can watch Will Shaner and Mary Tucker compete in the mixed team air rifle final. Both have won championships at UK.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 28:

– Men’s basketball (group play) vs. Iran @ 12:40 a.m. – Of course we have several of Coach Cal’s former greats in this year’s games, as well. Bam Adebayo, Devin Booker, and Keldon Johnson are all representing Team USA this year.

THURSDAY, JULY 29:

– Women’s 100m Round 1 @ 10:40 p.m. – Javianne Oliver will be representing Team USA in the 100m dash. She finished second at the Olympic Trials.

FRIDAY, JULY 30:

– Women’s 400m hurdles (round 1) @ 8:00 p.m. – UK might be known as a basketball school, but we have more Olympians competing in track and field than any other sport this year – nine of them, to be exact. Sydney McLaughlin will compete in the first round of the 400m hurdles. She set the world-record time of 51.90 seconds at the Olympic Trials, making her the first female under 52 seconds. Leah Nugent will also be running in her second Olympic appearance for Jamaica.

– Women’s 100m hurdles (round 1) @ 9:45 p.m. – a little later, former Wildcat Keni Harrison will be competing in the women’s 100m hurdles qualifying round for Team USA. Harrison is the world record holder in the event. She was elected to the UK Athletics Hall of Fame in 2021. Former ‘Cat Jasmine Camacho-Quinn will be running in the event for Puerto Rico as well.

SATURDAY, JULY 31:

– Men’s basketball vs. the Czech Republic @ 8 a.m.

SUNDAY, AUGUST 1:

– Women’s 100m hurdles (semifinals) @ 6:45 a.m. – Keni Harrison (USA), Jasmine Camacho-Quinn (Puerto Rico), and Devynne Charlton (Bahamas) could all be competing here. Hopefully, they’ll also be competing in the finals, which will take place at 10:50 p.m.

To keep up with our ‘Cats live, make sure to follow @UKAthletics on Twitter.

Go ‘Cats and go Team USA!