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Six Utes Preparing for Start of XXXIII Olympiad in Paris
7/25/2024 1:43 PM | General, Women's Basketball, Cross Country, Track & Field, Women's Swimming & Diving
Nilsson Garip, Eriksen, Plourde, Plouffe, Crozon and Gaucher
SALT LAKE CITY – Six current or former Utah Utes are getting set to compete in the XXXIII Olympiad in Paris, which will get underway with the opening ceremonies on Friday.
Utah swim and dive's Emilia Nilsson Garip is preparing to represent her home country of Sweden in the 3m springboard, Norway's Josefine Eriksen and Canada's Simone Plourde from the Utah track and field squad will each be competing in one event, Erikson in the 4x400m, Plourde in the 1500m, and Utah women's basketball alums Michelle Plouffe, Paige Crozon and Kim (Smith) Gaucher will be representing Canada in 3x3 basketball.
Gaucher serves as head coach of the team with Plouffe and Crozon competing on the court. The former Utes are joined on the court by Plouffe's twin sister Katherine Plouffe and Kacie Bosch.
While at Utah, Gaucher led Utah to three Mountain West regular season titles as well as a Mountain West tournament title. She is a four-time WBCA All-American as well as a four-time Mountain West Player of the Year. Gaucher currently stands as the Utes' all-time leading scorer with 2,281 points. After her time as a Ute, Gaucher was drafted by the Sacramento Monarchs in the first round as the 13th overall pick where she played for three seasons.
Plouffe was a three-time AP All-American and a three-time All-Conference selection in both the Mountain West and Pac-12 conferences. She was also named Mountain West Freshman of the Year and currently holds the record for most career rebounds at 1,171. Plouffe was also drafted into the WNBA by the Seattle Storm in the second round.
Crozon was an All-Pac-12 selection in her time at Utah and a 1,000 point scorer. She was ranked in the top-five in the conference in free throw percentage (.827) and wrapped up her career shooting 83.8-percent from the charity stripe to rank No. 3 all-time in the Ute's career records. Crozon posted double digit scoring in 48 games. After her collegiate career, Crozon went on to play overseas professionally with Saarlouis in Germany for one season and currently serves as an assistant coach at the University of Lethbridge in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada.
Team Canada's pool play schedule is set and will go as follows:
Tuesday, July 30 - 10 a.m. (MT)
Wednesday, July 31 - 10 a.m. (MT)
Thursday, Aug. 1 - 1:30 p.m. (MT)
Friday, Aug. 2 - 10 a.m. (MT)
Friday, Aug. 2 - 1 p.m. (MT)
Saturday, Aug. 3 - 9:30 a.m (MT)
Plourde, who spent two seasons at Utah (2021-23), closed her career as a three-time All-American, a Pac-12 Champion (outdoor), a USTFCCCA All-Region recipient (XC) and a two-time All-Pac-12 honoree in cross country. In addition, her marks are still ranked in the top-10 of eight events both indoor and outdoor – including five school records. She was also a stalwart in the classroom, garnering three USTFCCCA All-Academic honors and was a four-time All-Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll recipient.
The Montreal, Canada, product is still the program leader in the indoor 3000m (8:43.95) and DMR while holding top marks in the outdoor 1500m (4:06.47), 5000m (15:21.19) and 4x1600m relay.
Just a year removed since turning pro with Union Athletics, Plourde has proven herself on the professional circuit. She currently owns the second-fastest marks this outdoor season by any Canadian, running lifetime best marks in the 1500m (4:05.92) and 5000m (15:13.57) while those marks are also good for 20th and 15th-best all-time by a Canadian.
Eriksen, a 2024 graduate at the U, will compete for her country as a member of the 4x400m relay team at the Olympics after helping the Norwegians set back-to-back lifetime best marks – first at the World Athletic Relays and then again at the European Championships.
The Stavern, Norway, native has left an indelible mark on the Utah record books, owning five indoor records and six outdoor records to go with top-10 marks in five other events between the two seasons at Utah. Of the 11 records that she set individually or part of, eight of them set this past season.
Additionally, Eriksen also broke the Norwegian indoor record in the 600m event back in Feb. of 2022 when she posted a sprint of 1:28.27 (aa) in Albuquerque. Not only has she been a part of the 4x400m relay team that broke the national record twice this season, she was also a member of the Norwegian 4x400m mixed relay team that broke the national record last year in June of 2023.
She finished her career at Utah a three-time USTFCCCA All-Academic honoree, a four-time Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll recipient and earned USTFCCCA All-America Honorable Mention in 2022.
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Nilsson Garip will be competing in the 3m springboard, which will begin with the preliminary round on the morning of August 7. The top 18 competitors will then advance to the semifinals a day later, followed by the 3m final, scheduled for August 9 at 7 a.m. CT.
The list of accomplishments that earned Nilsson Garip a spot in Paris includes collecting a pair of medals at the European Aquatics Championships in June, as well as two top 10 finishes at the World Championships in Qatar in March. Her achievements at Utah include becoming the first Ute to ever capture two Pac-12 Championships, taking home first place in the 1m and the 3m. She accomplished that feat at the 2024 Pac-12 Women's Swimming and Diving Championships and Nilsson Garip also left that competition as diver of the meet. At the 2024 NCAA Championships, she achieved All-American honors with a ninth-place finish in the women's 1m, the highest ever by a Ute in that event. Nilsson Garip also owns the highest scores in program history in the 1m and 3m.
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Utah swim and dive's Emilia Nilsson Garip is preparing to represent her home country of Sweden in the 3m springboard, Norway's Josefine Eriksen and Canada's Simone Plourde from the Utah track and field squad will each be competing in one event, Erikson in the 4x400m, Plourde in the 1500m, and Utah women's basketball alums Michelle Plouffe, Paige Crozon and Kim (Smith) Gaucher will be representing Canada in 3x3 basketball.
Gaucher serves as head coach of the team with Plouffe and Crozon competing on the court. The former Utes are joined on the court by Plouffe's twin sister Katherine Plouffe and Kacie Bosch.
While at Utah, Gaucher led Utah to three Mountain West regular season titles as well as a Mountain West tournament title. She is a four-time WBCA All-American as well as a four-time Mountain West Player of the Year. Gaucher currently stands as the Utes' all-time leading scorer with 2,281 points. After her time as a Ute, Gaucher was drafted by the Sacramento Monarchs in the first round as the 13th overall pick where she played for three seasons.
Plouffe was a three-time AP All-American and a three-time All-Conference selection in both the Mountain West and Pac-12 conferences. She was also named Mountain West Freshman of the Year and currently holds the record for most career rebounds at 1,171. Plouffe was also drafted into the WNBA by the Seattle Storm in the second round.
Crozon was an All-Pac-12 selection in her time at Utah and a 1,000 point scorer. She was ranked in the top-five in the conference in free throw percentage (.827) and wrapped up her career shooting 83.8-percent from the charity stripe to rank No. 3 all-time in the Ute's career records. Crozon posted double digit scoring in 48 games. After her collegiate career, Crozon went on to play overseas professionally with Saarlouis in Germany for one season and currently serves as an assistant coach at the University of Lethbridge in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada.
Team Canada's pool play schedule is set and will go as follows:
Tuesday, July 30 - 10 a.m. (MT)
Wednesday, July 31 - 10 a.m. (MT)
Thursday, Aug. 1 - 1:30 p.m. (MT)
Friday, Aug. 2 - 10 a.m. (MT)
Friday, Aug. 2 - 1 p.m. (MT)
Saturday, Aug. 3 - 9:30 a.m (MT)
Plourde, who spent two seasons at Utah (2021-23), closed her career as a three-time All-American, a Pac-12 Champion (outdoor), a USTFCCCA All-Region recipient (XC) and a two-time All-Pac-12 honoree in cross country. In addition, her marks are still ranked in the top-10 of eight events both indoor and outdoor – including five school records. She was also a stalwart in the classroom, garnering three USTFCCCA All-Academic honors and was a four-time All-Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll recipient.
The Montreal, Canada, product is still the program leader in the indoor 3000m (8:43.95) and DMR while holding top marks in the outdoor 1500m (4:06.47), 5000m (15:21.19) and 4x1600m relay.
Just a year removed since turning pro with Union Athletics, Plourde has proven herself on the professional circuit. She currently owns the second-fastest marks this outdoor season by any Canadian, running lifetime best marks in the 1500m (4:05.92) and 5000m (15:13.57) while those marks are also good for 20th and 15th-best all-time by a Canadian.
Eriksen, a 2024 graduate at the U, will compete for her country as a member of the 4x400m relay team at the Olympics after helping the Norwegians set back-to-back lifetime best marks – first at the World Athletic Relays and then again at the European Championships.
The Stavern, Norway, native has left an indelible mark on the Utah record books, owning five indoor records and six outdoor records to go with top-10 marks in five other events between the two seasons at Utah. Of the 11 records that she set individually or part of, eight of them set this past season.
Additionally, Eriksen also broke the Norwegian indoor record in the 600m event back in Feb. of 2022 when she posted a sprint of 1:28.27 (aa) in Albuquerque. Not only has she been a part of the 4x400m relay team that broke the national record twice this season, she was also a member of the Norwegian 4x400m mixed relay team that broke the national record last year in June of 2023.
She finished her career at Utah a three-time USTFCCCA All-Academic honoree, a four-time Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll recipient and earned USTFCCCA All-America Honorable Mention in 2022.
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
| Date | Athlete | Event | Round | Time (MDT) | TV Info |
| August 6 | Simone Plourde | 1500m | Round 1 | 2:05 a.m. | Peacock |
| August 7 | Simone Plourde | 1500m | Repechage | 4:45 a.m. | N/A |
| August 8 | Simone Plourde | 1500m | Semifinal | 11:35 a.m. | NBC / Peacock |
| August 9 | Josefine Eriksen | 4x400m Relay | Round 1 | 2:40 a.m. | USA |
| August 10 | Simone Plourde | 1500m | Finals | 12:25 p.m. | NBC / Peacock |
| August 10 | Josefine Eriksen | 4x400m Relays | Finals | 1:22 p.m. | NBC / Peacock |
Nilsson Garip will be competing in the 3m springboard, which will begin with the preliminary round on the morning of August 7. The top 18 competitors will then advance to the semifinals a day later, followed by the 3m final, scheduled for August 9 at 7 a.m. CT.
The list of accomplishments that earned Nilsson Garip a spot in Paris includes collecting a pair of medals at the European Aquatics Championships in June, as well as two top 10 finishes at the World Championships in Qatar in March. Her achievements at Utah include becoming the first Ute to ever capture two Pac-12 Championships, taking home first place in the 1m and the 3m. She accomplished that feat at the 2024 Pac-12 Women's Swimming and Diving Championships and Nilsson Garip also left that competition as diver of the meet. At the 2024 NCAA Championships, she achieved All-American honors with a ninth-place finish in the women's 1m, the highest ever by a Ute in that event. Nilsson Garip also owns the highest scores in program history in the 1m and 3m.
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
| Date | Athlete | Event | Round | Time (MDT) | TV Info |
| August 7 | Emilia Nilsson Garip | 3m | Preliminary | 7:00 a.m. | E! / Peacock |
| August 8 | Emilia Nilsson Garip | 3m | Semifinals | 2:00 a.m. | E! / Peacock |
| August 9 | Emilia Nilsson Garip | 3m | Final | 7:00 a.m. | NBC / Peacock |
Players Mentioned
Sprints
/ Track & Field
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
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