The Paris 2024 Summer Olympics are here. As the world’s top athletes arrive at the French capital in search of glory, let’s take a look at the Argentines competing and who has a chance of bringing a medal. 

U-23 football

The team led by Javier Mascherano earned their spot in February, finishing second in the CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament, and are one of the biggest candidates for gold.

With the leadership of Qatar 2022 winners Nicolás Otamendi, Julián Álvarez and Gerónimo Rulli, the team adds the quality 2023 MLS Young Player of the Year Thiago Almada, Boca Juniors star Kevin Zenón and new Manchester City Claudio Echeverri.

Argentina, France and Spain are the favorites, while Israel will hope to make a similar impact to what they did in the U-20 World Cup in 2023.

The Albiceleste is part of Group B, alongside Morocco, Iraq and Ukraine. The Albiceleste will debut on Wednesday against Morocco at 10 a.m. 

Rugby Sevens

The Pumas arrive as arguably the best Rugby Sevens team in the world, after winning the 2023–24 SVNS Men’s Series. However, their 19-5 loss in the Grand Finals in Madrid against France casts doubt over that.

The tournament will be played in two stages: a group phase with three groups of four and then a knockout stage. Twelve teams make it to the knockout stage: the two best teams of each group and the highest-scoring runners-up.

Argentina is part of Pool B, with Australia, Samoa and Kenya. Other candidates include Madrid winners France and SVNS league runner-up, Ireland. 

The Pumas play their first match on Wednesday against Kenya at 11 a.m., then face Samoa at 2:30 p.m.

Hockey

The only sport where Argentina is represented in the men’s and women’s tournaments, teams will be divided into two groups of six teams each. The best four go onto the quarterfinals.

Argentina vies for gold in the women’s tournament after clinching silver at Tokyo 2020 and coming in second at the 2022 World Cup. Las Leonas is part of Group B with Australia, Great Britain, Spain, United States, and South Africa. 

Team captain Rocío Sánchez Moccia will be one of the flag bearers for the Argentine delegation during the opening ceremony.

Favorites include The Netherlands, which won the 2022 World Cup, and Australia, which placed third.  Germany is also one to look out for, currently second on the International Hockey Federation ranking. Argentina debuts against the USA on Saturday at 2:45 p.m.

The men’s team wants to repeat the gold medal they achieved at Rio 2016, the only time they reached the podium. They share group B with Belgium, India, Australia, New Zealand and Ireland.

Top-ranked FIH The Netherlands, world cup winners Germany and Great Britain with many of England’s 2023 European runners-up stand in Argentina’s way. Los Leones debut against Australia on Saturday at 08:15 a.m.

Volleyball

Argentina’s national volleyball team secured a bronze medal in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, a historic result as they repeated their Seoul ‘88 success and they will look to build up from it in Paris. For 2024, the format will feature three groups with four teams each. The two top-placed teams and the best two third-placed teams advanced to the knockout stage.

Argentina is part of Group C, along with Japan, USA and Germany. It will debut on Saturday at 4 p.m. Team captain Luciano De Cecco will join Sánchez Moccia as flagbearer during the opening ceremony.

The main candidates for the gold are Tokyo 2020 gold medallists France, World Cup winners Italy, and perennial powerhouse Brazil.

Tennis

The Legion Argentina will have four representatives in the men’s singles draw, Sebastián Báez, Mariano Navone, Francisco Cerúndolo, and Tomás Etcheverry, as well as two in the women’s singles in Nadia Podoroska and Lourdes Carlé, and two more in the men’s doubles with Andrés Molteni and Máximo González. 

The tournament will be hosted at the Roland Garros Tennis Complex and played on clay. The first round will be played on Saturday and Sunday, with the brackets yet to be determined.

The main favorites for the men’s draw include ATP singles number one Italian Jannik Sinner, Wimbledon and Roland Garros champion Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz and all-time Grand Slam wins record-holder Serbian Novak Djokovic. 

For the women’s singles, four-time Roland Garros winner Poland’s Iga Swiatek, currently on a 21-game unbeaten streak at the venue, is the clear favorite.

Other sports

Swimmer Macarena Ceballos will compete in her first Summer Olympics on Sunday at 6 a.m. after securing a bronze medal in the 100-meter breaststroke in the 2023 Pan American Games. 

Mateo Majdalani and Eugenia Bosco won gold at the 2023 Pan American Games in the Nacra 17 class in sailing. They’ll debut on August 3.

Taekwondo athlete Lucas Guzmán has three Pan American games medals, including silver in 2023, and will look to improve on his fourth place at Tokyo 2020. One of the later sports on the Olympic calendar, he has his first match on August 7.

Who else is competing at Paris 2024?

The Argentine team has 136 athletes (103 men and 33 women), who will participate in 25 disciplines.

Athletics
Belén Casetta (3000m steeplechase)
Florencia Borelli and Daiana Ocampo (Marathon)
Elián Larregina (400m)
Nazareno Sasia (shot put)
Joaquín Gómez (Hammer throw)

Cycling
José Torres (BMX Freestyle)
Gonzalo Molina (BMX Racing)
Eduardo Sepúlveda (Road)

Canoeing
Agustín Vernice (Men’s K1)
Brenda Rojas (Women’s K1)

Equestrian
José María Larocca (Individual jump)

Fencing
Pascual Di Tella (Individual Sabre)

Golf
Emiliano Grillo
Alejandro Tosti

Men’s Handball
Leonel Maciel y Juan Bar (Goalkeepers); Ignacio Pizarro, Federico Fernández y Santiago Baronetto (Wings); Nicolás Bonanno, Federico Pizarro y Andrés Moyano (Fullbacks); Diego Simonet, Nicolás Bono, Pablo Simonet y Pedro Martínez Cami (Centerback); y Gastón Mouriño and Lucas Moscariello (Pivots)

Judo
Sofía Fiora

Swimming
Agostina Hein
Ulises Saravia

Pentathlon
Franco Serrano

Rowing
Sonia Baluzzo and Evelyn Silvestro
Alejandro Colomino and Pedro Dickson

Skateboarding
Matías Dell Olio
Mauro Iglesias

Table tennis
Santiago Lorenzo

Shooting
Fernanda Russo
Julián Gutiérrez
Federico Gil

Archery
Mario Damián Jajarabilla

Triathlon
Romina Biagioli

Sailing
Lucía Falasca (ILCA 6)
Catalina Turienzo (Formula Kite)
Francisco Saubidet (IQ Foil)
Chiara Ferretti (IQ Foil)
Francisco Guaragna (ILCA 7)

All times shown are for Argentina local time (GMT-3). For local times, check the Paris 2024 Olympics site