Going for Gold: 25 Olympians From Illinois

The Olympics began in 1896, and since then, the U.S. has taken home a total of 980 gold medals in the Summer Games alone. Plenty of Olympic Illinoisans have contributed to that hefty pile of gold medallions.

In 2016, the jam-packed U.S. roster of 554 athletes has 17 Illinois Olympians, according to the Team USA athletes list. Already, they are among some of the best in the world. Will they win enough gold to tip the United States’ total over 1,000 Olympic gold medals?

Here's a list of Illinoisans competing in the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, as well as eight previous Olympic gold medalists from the Land of Lincoln.

We’ll update this daily as final standings occur, so be sure to check back to see how our state's Olympians are doing.

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