Minnesota’s Favorite Summer Olympian of All-Time Isn’t Even From Minnesota

The 2024 Summer Olympics are in full swing in Paris right now. There are some amazing Minnesotans who are competing this year and it's so cool to see!

However, when a study was done to find Minnesota's favorite summer Olympian, past or present, the most popular wasn't someone from the Land of 10,000 Lakes. This totally surprised me!

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Before we talk about Minnesota's favorite summer Olympian, let's highlight the Minnesota Olympians who are competing this year.

Minnesotans Competing in the 2024 Summer Olympics

A total of 18 Minnesotans are competing in the Olympics/Paralympics this year in Paris.

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These amazing athletes include:

Chuck Aoki - Wheelchair Rugby - Minneapolis

Josie Aslakson - Wheelchair Basketball - Jordan

Abby Bauleke - Wheelchair Basketball - Savage

Skylar Dahl - Para-Rowing - Minneapolis

Lara Dallman-Weiss - Sailing - Shoreview

Rose Hollermann - Wheelchair Basketball - Elysian

Suni Lee - Gymnastics - St. Paul

Dakotah Lindwurm - Track and Field - St. Francis

Payton Otterdahl - Track and Field - Rosemount

Aaron Pike - Para Nordic Skiing and Para Track and Field - Park Rapids

Summer Schmit - Para Swimming - Stillwater

Ian Seidenfeld - Para Table Tennis - Lakeville

Natalie Sims - Para Swimming - Edina

Regan Smith - Swimming - Lakeville

Jordan Thompson - Volleyball - Edina

Mallory Weggemann - Para Swimming - Eagan

Matthew Wilkinson - Track and Field - Greenwood

Alise Willoughby - Cycling - St. Cloud

Minnesota's Favorite Summer Olympian of All-Time

I had a few guesses for who Minnesota's favorite summer Olympian could be. I was thinking Suni Lee since she's from here and it seems that everyone knows about her. Or maybe Shawn Johnson because she's from Iowa and I always heard about her when she was competing. Or even Michael Phelps because of his incredible feats as a swimmer.

But none of those are correct. This person is a gymnast, though, which isn't surprising. Gymnastics seems to be the favorite of the summer Olympic sports.

According to Bleacher Report, NBC Sports data, and Google Trends data, Minnesota's favorite Olympian is someone who competed with Shawn Johnson, and that would be Nastia Liukin.

I definitely remember seeing Nastia compete, and she's incredible! I'm just surprised our favorite isn't someone closer to home. Nastia was born in Russia but moved to New Orleans when she was 2 years old and then eventually her family settled down in Texas.

There are many Minnesotans who have represented Team USA in past summer Olympics. Check them out below!