Iowa State has seen a high amount of strong performances at Olympic Qualifier events along with players being named to Olympic teams, and last weekend was no different. Bridget Carleton and Ariana Orrego will be performing at the Olympics, while George Conditt IV shined at a qualifying tournament.

Bridget Carleton

Former Iowa State women’s basketball player Carleton has been selected to play for the Canadian national team during the Tokyo Olympics.

Carleton has had tremendous success over her career, currently playing in her third professional season with the Minnesota Lynx. Playing over 15 games during the 2021 season, Carleton has averaged 4.2 points per game while averaging 18.9 minutes.

Canada qualified for the Olympics thanks to a 3-0 record at the International Basketball Federation Olympic Qualifying Tournament. Carleton played an important role for this team, averaging 5.3 points and 4.3 rebounds over the three games.

During an interview with John Walters of Cyclones.tv, Carleton mentioned this has been a goal of hers for a very long time.

“I have always said playing for my national team has always been my number one goal and priority,” Carleton said. “Obviously, my dream was to play at the Olympics one day, so it is kind of cool that it is actually going to happen this summer.”

Ariana Orrego

Iowa State all-around gymnast Orrego has been selected to compete in the Tokyo Olympics with her home country Peru.

Orrego will enter the Olympics with prior experience at this stage, as she competed with Peru during the 2016 Rio De Janeiro Olympics. At the young age of 17, Orrego became the first gymnast to compete for Peru at the Olympics.

After becoming the first female gymnastics Olympian to compete for Peru, Orrego will now become the first to do it for Iowa State. She became a redshirt after missing the 2020 collegiate season in order to prepare for the planned 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Due to the pandemic, the Olympics were postponed, but a year later, Orrego will have another chance to compete starting July 25.

George Conditt IV

Although Conditt and the Puerto Rican National Team did not qualify for the men’s basketball Olympic games, the Cyclone senior did not disappoint during the qualifying tournament.

Conditt’s first standout performance came in a 90-83 loss against Italy. He recorded 9 points and four rebounds in 20 minutes of play.

Puerto Rico eventually advanced to the semifinals of the qualifying tournament, setting the stage for Conditt’s best performance. During the game, Conditt recorded 20 points on 9-10 shooting, including a pair of makes from the 3-point line.

Conditt expressed his enjoyment of spending time on the national team through a social media post Saturday.