Olympic nepo babies: These are all the Paris 2024 athletes who got a leg up from mum and dad

Guys, nowhere is safe from nepo babies – not even the Olympics. There’s no doubt that each and every Olympian at Paris 2024 worked for their spot, but those with athlete parents or even better, Olympian parents, are definitely getting some insider knowledge to boost their game. It’s got to help to have an extra leg up from mum and dad – so here are all the 2024 Olympic nepo babies currently competing in Paris.

Mondo Duplantis

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A post shared by Mondo Duplantis (@mondo_duplantis)

As an Olympic gold winner and nine (!) time world record holder, Mondo Duplantis is the one to beat on pole vault. But interestingly, both of Mondo’s parents were athletes, and his dad was actually a pole vaulter too.

Greg Duplantis set a personal best of 5.80 metres back in his, which isn’t far from Mondo’s 6.25 metre jump which bagged him the gold. He now works as a pole vaulting coach nowadays and has undoubtedly helped mould Mondo into the world class athlete he is.

Mondo’s mother, Helena Duplantis, is also part of something of a sporting dynasty. Her father, Lars-Ake Hedlund, was a former national pole vaulter who competed until the age of 80. Helena also competed internationally for Sweden in the heptathlon – so it’s safe to say Mondo is in good hands.

Katharine Berkoff

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Olympic swimmer Katharine Berkoff competed for Team USA at the Paris 2024 games, bringing home a gold in the 4x100m medley and a bronze in the 100m backstroke.

She is the daughter of David Berkoff, a former swimmer who won four medals at the Summer Olympics in 1984 and 1988.

Ralf Rienks

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Dutch rower Ralf Rienks made his international debut for the Netherlands in 2021, going on to win a silver medal in the men’s eight at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

His father, Nico Rienks won gold at the 1988 and 1996 Olympic Games, whilst his mother, Harriet van Ettekoven, won bronze at the 1984 Olympic Games. And guess what – his brother, Rik, is also a rower. He was literally born to be an Olympian.

Jessica Fox

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French-born Australian Olympian, Jessica, made her Olympic debut at 18 years of age in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, where she won a silver medal. Since then, she’s gone on to win a load of titles at the Olympics. Her six Olympic medals make her the most decorated canoe slalom paddler, male or female, in Olympic history.

She’s the daughter of Myriam Fox-Jerusalmi, a former French slalom canoeist who competed at the international level from 1979 to 1996, and Richard Fox, a British slalom canoeist who competed for Great Britain from the late 1970s to the mid-1990s.

Her sister, Noémie, is also an Olympic canoeist.

Noémie Fox

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Noemie is the younger daughter of Richard and Myriam Fox and recently won the gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics in the women’s slalom kayak cross, becoming the first ever Olympic champion in that event.

Karolien Florijn

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Dutch rower Karolien Florijn won the single sculls event at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympic Games. She’s another athlete who was basically born with the sport in her blood, with her father being an Olympian, also.

Ronald Florijn won gold at the 1988 Summer Olympics in the double sculls and gold at the 1996 Summer Olympics in the eight. One of her brothers is also an Olympic rower.

Finn Florijn

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A post shared by Karolien Florijn (@karolienflorijn)

Sister of Karolien and son of Ronald Florijn, Finn is another rowing nepo baby for sure. After having to withdraw from the 2020 Olympics after contracting Covid, Finn came back stronger than ever at the Paris 2024 games. His team won the gold medal in the men’s quadruple sculls.

Nicholas Rusher

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Representing Team USA at the 2024 games, Nicholas on a bronze medal in the men’s eight, with a time of 5:25.28. He’s another Olympic love child, with his parents rowing in the 1988 and 1992 summer Olympics and actually meeting whilst on the national team.

His sister, Alison, is also an Olympian and you guessed it – is also a rower.

Alison Rusher

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Alison is also daughter of Jack Rusher and Cynthia Eckert and is the older sister of Nicholas. She competed in the women’s quadruple sculls event at the 2020 Summer Olympics.

Mykolas Alekna

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Men’s discus thrower, Mykolas Alekna. is the current world record holder of the event with a 74.35 metres (243 ft 11 in) throw.

Competing for Team Lithuania, Mykolas is the son of double Olympic discus throw champion Virgilijus Alekna. His brother, Martynas Alekna, is also a discus thrower.

Kim Won-ho

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A post shared by 김원호 WON HO_KIM (@wonho_2829)

Korean badminton player, Kim Won-ho, won a silver medal in the men’s mixed doubles at Paris 2024. His mother, Gil Young-ah, won three Olympic medals across the 1992 and 1996 Olympic games.

Kai Taylor

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Australian swimmer, Kai, competed in the men’s 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay at the 2024 Summer Olympics, where he won a silver medal. His mother, Hayley Jane Lewis, is an Australian former competitive swimmer best known for winning five gold medals and one bronze medal at the 1990 Commonwealth Games when she was only 15. She is also a former host of The Biggest Loser.

Tatsuru Saito

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22-year-old Tatsuru Saito is a Japanese judoka who won the All-Japan Judo Championships back in 2022. His father, Hitoshi Saito, was an Olympic champion, winning two consecutive gold medals at the Olympic games in 1984 and 1988.

Gianina van Groningen

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A post shared by Gianina van Groningen (@gianina.beleaga)

Gianina van Groningen won a silver medal in the women’s lightweight double sculls at Paris 2024. This is her second Olympic games after competing at Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 and she’s still bringing those medals home for Team Romania.

She is also the daughter in law of Valeria Răcilă, a retired Romanian rower who competed in the double and quadruple sculls, winning bronze medals at the 1980 Olympics and 1979 and 1981 world championships. She then changed to single sculls and won an Olympic gold medal in 1984 and silver medals at the world championships in 1982 and 1985. So, she was a pretty impressive athlete.