10 Memorable Performances By Team USA Men In Summer Sports In 2023

You never know when a Team USA athlete is going to step up with an incredible performance, and American men had their share of them in Olympic and Paralympic summer sports in 2023.

You can follow along on their journeys throughout the year at TeamUSA.com, but to celebrate the end of this year and the start of the new Olympic and Paralympic tear, here are 10 of the most impressive performances by U.S. men in summer sports from 2023:

Chuck Aoki, Wheelchair Rugby

The Americans faced a stiff test in October when they traveled to Paris for the inaugural International Wheelchair Rugby World Cup, a competition featuring the eight highest-ranked teams in the world. Co-captain Aoki, a three-time Paralympic medalist from Minneapolis, led the U.S in scoring in each of the five games as the team placed sixth. A few weeks later, Aoki and Co. headed to Santiago, Chile, for the 2023 Parapan American Games. This time no one was stopping Team USA, as Aoki’s team-high 28 points led the Americans past Canada in the gold-medal game to secure the championship and a spot in next summer’s Paralympic Games.

B-boy Victor, Breaking

The world has been buzzing about next year’s Olympic debut of breaking. Victor Montalvo, the American breaker known as B-boy Victor, secured his place in that historic field with his win at the world championships in September in Belgium. Breaking, also known as breakdancing, began in New York City and eventually evolved into a sport. It’s little surprise Victor will be at the forefront in Paris. The Kissimmee, Florida, native also won a world title in 2021.

Ryan Crouser, Track & Field

Amazingly, Crouser’s incredible resume as the world’s most dominant shot putter only grew stronger in 2023. Already a two-time Olympic gold medalist and the defending world champion, Crouser, of Boring, Oregon, shattered his own world record in May with a throw of 23.56 meters. Then he nearly did it again while defending his world title in August in Hungary. This time Crouser merely settled for the second-best throw in history at 23.51 meters. And he did so despite having two blood clots in his left leg that limited his training and briefly threatened to keep him home. Using his signature “Crouser Slide” technique, he believes he could someday break the 24-meter mark.

Eli Dershwitz, Fencing

Dershwitz’s long rise through the sport culminated with his first world title in July in Milan. He secured it by completing a dramatic comeback win over the three-time reigning Olympic champ in the semifinals and then dominating the world’s top-ranked men’s saber fencer in the final. The win made Dershwitz only the second U.S. man to earn an individual fencing world title, and the first to do so in saber. The Boston native, who has competed in two Olympics, will now look to become the first U.S. man to win an Olympic fencing gold medal since 1904 (when all three competitors were from the United States).

Ezra Frech, Para Track & Field

American athletes earned 39 medals, including 10 gold, at July’s Para track and field championships in Paris. Rising U.S. star Frech secured his first with a world record performance in the men’s high jump T63. The 18-year-old from Los Angeles actually eclipsed the previous record twice, ending at 1.95 meters. The performance came days after his coach and mentor Roderick Townsend won the T47 event with a world record of his own. Frech, who made his Paralympic debut in 2021 in Tokyo, also finished fourth in the long jump and sixth in the 100-meter.

Noah Jaffe, Para Swimming

Jaffe proved to be a star U.S. performer at the Para swimming world championships, coming home with five medals from the August meet in Manchester, England. The 20-year-old from Carlsbad, California, earned a gold medal in the 100-meter freestyle S8 event, to go with a silver and two bronze medals. The medal haul was tops among U.S. men. Jaffe now plans to take a year off from his studies at Cal to prepare for what would be his first Paralympic Games in Paris.

Noah Lyles, Track & Field

If you want to talk about being a world champion, Lyles is ready to chat. The star American sprinter followed up a huge 2022 with an even bigger 2023, culminating with world titles in the 100-, 200- and 4x100-meter events. Winning the 200 was nothing new for Lyles — the native of Alexandria, Virginia, already had two world titles, plus an Olympic bronze medal and, for good measure, a Youth Olympic Games gold medal in the event. But this year he truly added the 100-meter to his repertoire, and then delivered on the biggest stage. The outspoken star has already set out big goals for 2024, which include another triple in Paris and maybe, just maybe, breaking Usain Bolt’s iconic world records. Lyles is only 0.12 seconds away in the 200.

Ryan Murphy, Swimming

Since winning the 100-meter and 200-meter backstroke events at his Olympic debut in Rio, Murphy has practically been a lock to make the podium in his signature events. That continued at this year’s world championships in July in Japan, as the U.S. co-captain won the 100 back and took second in the 200. He also helped the U.S. win gold in the men’s 4x100 medley and bronze in the 4x100 mixed medley. In a sport that’s constantly churning out elite young talent, nine U.S. men combined to win 14 individual medals in Japan. The well-rounded squad also won a gold, silver and bronze in the three men’s relays. And yet Murphy, the 28-year-old from Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, continues to be a stalwart for Team USA.

David Taylor, Wrestling

The magic continued in 2023 as Taylor secured another freestyle wrestling championship. The former Penn State star known as “The Magic Man” pinned rival Hassan Yazdani of Iran to win his second straight world title in the men’s 86 kg. class. Including his Olympic gold medal from Tokyo, Taylor now has four global championships since 2018. The only blemish on his resume was a loss to Yazdani in the final at 2021 worlds. Should he reach the Paris Games, Taylor will attempt to become only the third U.S. wrestler to successfully defend an Olympic title.

Jake Williams, Wheelchair Basketball

How about a world title and a ticket to the 2024 Paralympics? The veteran Williams played a key role in securing both this past year. A two-time Paralympian from Milwaukee, Williams paced the team with 15.7 points per game at the world championships in June in Dubai, UAE. Then, in November, he did it again at the Parapan American Games in Chile. That included 24 points in the 81-45 win over Colombia in the final that officially clinched Team USA’s spot in Paris next year. Williams and longtime teammate Steve Serio are expected to lead the charge for a Paralympic threepeat.

Chrös McDougall has covered the Olympic and Paralympic Movement for TeamUSA.org since 2009 on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc. He is based in Minneapolis-St. Paul.