Meet your local Olympians for the Rio Games

The Olympic Games have arrived, and more than 10,000 athletes will represent more than 200 countries in Rio de Janeiro, where they will compete in 306 events.

That includes a small contingent with ties to the central San Joaquin Valley.

Former Fresno State and current Indiana Pacers star Paul George will aim to help guide the United States men’s basketball team to a 15th Olympic gold medal and third in a row.

On the track, Clovis native Jenna Prandini and former College of Sequoias standout Deajah Stevens will race for Team USA in the women’s 200 meters. Visalia’s Brooke Crain seeks to build off her eighth-place finish from London 2012 in BMX, and Sloane Stephens, who grew up in Fresno, will battle it out in women’s tennis.

Visalia’s Lauren Billys and her horse, Purdy, will wear the Puerto Rican flag in three-day eventing, while former Clovis West and current Harvard standout Nwanneka “Nikki” Okwelogu will try to win a gold medal for Nigeria in the shot put. The Valley will also have two coaches on the U.S. sidelines with Dan Klatt (women’s water polo assistant) and Tim Thackrey (individual coach, taekwondo).

Here’s a rundown on the locals and their events (all times PDT).

Jenna Prandini, track and field 200 meters

• Age: 23 (Nov. 20, 1992)
• Height/Weight: 5-8/130
• Country: United States
• The skinny: The Clovis native qualified after placing third at the Olympic Trials for the final spot in a photo-finish that saw her edge 2012 Olympic gold-medalist Allyson Felix by one-hundredth of a second. Prandini tumbled across the finish line in 22.53 seconds. It’s the first Olympics for Prandini, who just missed the 100 with a fifth-place finish at the Trials. Prandini was the U.S. champion in the 200 in 2015 and went on to finish 13th at the world championships in Beijing, where she won a silver medal as part of the 4x100 relay team. She’ll also be in the mix in Rio for the U.S. relay squad.
• In action: 200m – Aug. 15, Round 1 (six heats starting at 5:35 a.m.); Aug. 16, semifinals (three heats, 6 p.m.); Aug. 17 final (6:30 p.m.). 4x100m relay – Aug. 18, Round 1 (two heats, 7:20 a.m.); Aug. 19 final (6:15 p.m.)
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jenna.prandini
• Twitter: @J_Prandini
• Instagram: @j_prandini

Deajah Stevens, track and field 200 meters

• Age: 21 (May 19, 1995)
• Height/weight: 5-9/142
• Country: United States
• The skinny: The former College of Sequoias star qualified for the Olympics in the 200 after placing second in 22.30 at the Olympic Trials. Stevens, who will enter her junior season at Oregon in the fall, took second in the 200 behind college teammate Ariana Washington in the 2016 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championship. She’s the first active Ducks female track and field athlete to qualify for an Olympics. Stevens competed one season at COS, winning the state championship in the 200 and 400 and finishing second in the long jump. Stevens prepped at Benjamin Cardozo High School in New York.
• In action: Aug. 15, Round 1 (six heats starting at 5:35 a.m.); Aug. 16, semifinals (three heats, 6 p.m.), Aug. 17 final (6:30 p.m.)
• Twitter: @ButDeajahSaid
• Instagram: @deajah.ks

Paul George, basketball

• Age: 26 (May 2, 1990)
• Height/weight: 6-8/218
• Country: United States
• The skinny: The Indiana Pacers forward and former Fresno State star will make his Olympic debut with Team USA in its Group A game against China. George looks to make an impact in Rio, now that he is fully recovered from a broken leg he suffered while training with Team USA in 2014. He missed most of the 2014-15 season because of the injury but returned stronger in 2015-16, averaging 23.1 points and 7.0 rebounds per game to be named to his third All-Star Game. George averaged 15.6 points and 6.8 rebounds over two seasons at Fresno State, leaving for the NBA after his sophomore season when he was selected No. 10 overall in the 2010 draft by the Pacers.
• In action: Saturday vs. China (3 p.m.); Monday vs. Venezuela (3 p.m.), Wednesday vs. Australia (3 p.m.); Friday vs. Serbia (3 p.m.); Aug. 14 vs. France (10:15 a.m.); Aug. 17 quarterfinals; Aug. 19 semifinals; Aug. 21 bronze- and gold-medal games
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ygtrece
• Twitter: @Yg_Trece
• Instagram: @ygtrece

Brooke Crain, cycling BMX

• Age: 23 (April 29, 1993)
• Height/weight: 5-4/121
• Country: United States
• The skinny: The Visalia native seeks redemption from her last Olympics, in which she crashed in her opening run but still finished eighth in the final four years ago. She made the 2012 squad as an alternate, filling in at the last-minute for injured teammate Arielle Martin-Verhaaren, who crashed in her final training run before she was to leave for London. Crain is recovering from a broken fibula suffered during a race when she used her left leg to brace herself from crashing.
• In action: Aug. 17, seeding run (9:30 a.m.); Aug. 19, semifinals and final
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Brooke-Crain-133011810141857
• Twitter: @brookecrain32
• Instagram: @brookecrain32
• Snapchat: @brookecrain32 ​

Nwanneka “Nikki” Okwelogu, shot put

• Age: 21 (May 5, 1995)
• Country: Nigeria
• The skinny: The former Clovis West High star, who is now throwing at Harvard, earned her trip to the Olympics in one of her final collegiate meets of the season when she launched a career-best throw of 17.91 meters at the NCAA Outdoors East Regional on May 11 in Jacksonville, Fla. That effort was her first above the Olympic standard of 17.75 (58 feet, 3 inches). In her three years at Harvard, Okwelogu has won Ivy League outdoor titles in the shot put and discus, earning first-team All-America honors in the shot and second-team honors in the discus. In June, she won the discus and placed second in the shot at the African Championships in Durban, South Africa. Okwelogu is representing the birthplace of her parents, Agnes Akabogu and Bernard Okwelogu.
• In action: Aug. 12, qualifying (6:05 a.m.), final (6 p.m.)
• Instagram: @snicks95

Sloane Stephens, tennis

• Age: 23 (March 20, 1993)
• Height/weight: 5-8/141
• Country: United States
• The skinny: Stephens, who grew up in Fresno, is one of four players representing the United States in the women’s singles tournament, joining Serena Williams, Venus Williams and Madison Keys. It’s the first Olympics for Stephens, who started playing in the senior circuit at age 17. At age 19 in 2013, she made headlines by eliminating Serena Williams in the Australian Open quarterfinals to climb to No. 11 in the WTA rankings. Stephens is having a stellar 2016 WTA season, winning three tournaments – the Volvo Car Open in Charleston, S.C., TELCEL Mexican Open in Acapulco and ASB Classic in New Zealand – to rank No. 22 in the world.
• In action: Saturday (7 a.m.), first round vs. Eugenie Bouchard (Canada); second round Monday, third round Tuesday, quarterfinals Wednesday, semifinals Thursday, bronze- and gold-medal matches Aug. 13
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Sloaneposts/
• Twitter: @SloaneStephens
• Instagram: @sloanestephens

Lauren Billys, equestrian (3-day eventing)

• Age: 28 (May 14, 1988)
• Country: Puerto Rico
• The skinny: The Visalia native and her 14-year-old Irish sport horse, Castle Larchfield Purdy, will compete in the women’s three-day eventing starting Saturday. Billys has had a successful six-year career as a member of the Puerto Rico Equestrian Team – named the 2015 Puerto Rican Female Equestrian Athlete of the Year after she rode Purdy to an 18th-place finish at the Pan American Games in Toronto last summer. Billys graduated from Fresno State in 2013 with degrees in enology and chemistry.
• In action: Saturday, individual dressage Day 1 (6 a.m.); Sunday, individual dressage Day 2 (6 a.m.); Monday, cross-country (6 a.m.); Tuesday, jumping qualifier (6 a.m.), jumping final (10 a.m.)
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LaurenBillysEventing/
• Twitter: @Lauren_Billys
• Instagram: @laurenbillys

Tim Thackrey, taekwondo coach​

• The skinny: Thackrey, who attended Clovis West High, has helped three taekwondo athletes reach the Olympics: Team USA’s Stephen Lambdin (80 kilograms) and New Zealand’s Andrea Kilday (49 kg) and a third who did not want to be named. Thackrey, 36, won a gold medal at the Pan American Games and came close to being an Olympian in 2004 and 2008. He now works with athletes in his online fitness and workout business called The Juice Athlete Compound. He lives in Clovis with wife Carly.
• In action: Kilday – Aug. 17, round of 16 (5 a.m.), quarterfinals, semifinals, repechage; Lambdin – Aug. 19, round of 16 (5:15 a.m.), quarterfinals, semifinals, repechage
• Twitter: @tvstim
• Instagram: @hunets
• Snapchat: @t.thack

Dan Klatt, women’s water polo coach

• The skinny: The Clovis West grad and UC Irvine head water polo coach is making his third trip to the Summer Olympics and second as an assistant coach. Klatt made the 2004 Athens Olympics as an athlete, helping Team USA finish seventh. He made his first trip as an assistant at the London Olympics.
• In action: Preliminary round (Group B) – Tuesday vs. Spain (7:40 a.m.), Thursday vs. China (7:40 a.m.), Saturday vs. Hungary (9 a.m.); Aug. 15, quarterfinals; Aug. 17, semifinals; Aug. 19, bronze- and gold-medal matches

This story was originally published August 5, 2016 at 4:46 PM with the headline "Meet your local Olympians for the Rio Games."