The 2024 Paris Olympic Games have officially come and gone.

From a headless army of Marie Antoinettes and a surprise Celine Dion performance at the rain-drenched opening ceremony to Tom Cruise, Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre and Billie Eillish at the closing ceremony, the past two weeks gave a lot of us a respite from an intense, whiplash-inducing political news cycle. How is Simone Biles that good? Who knew handball was so compelling?  And can we talk about "Pommel Horse Guy," aka Stephen Nedoroscik, who went viral and who trains at Evo Gymnastics right here in town?!

In addition to Nedoroscik, who won a bronze medal in the pommel horse and in the men's all-around events, several local athletes who grew up near here and began their sports careers in Sarasota and Manatee counties participated in the Paris games, too. Let's take a look at how they fared.

Clark Dean

Dean won bronze with the men's eight rowing team in Paris. A Sarasota native who attended Pine View School and graduated from Harvard, he began rowing with Sarasota Crew in middle school.

Mary Tucker

Tucker, a Sarasota native who has become an advocate for athletes prioritizing their mental health, wrote in an Instagram post on July 28 that her gun malfunctioned during one of her events. She wound up finishing 13th in the 10-meter mixed-team air rifle, 25th in the women's 50-meter rifle and 32nd in the women's 10-meter air rifle.

Emma Weyant

Weyant took bronze in the 400-meter individual relay. She is also an aspiring fashion designer and inked Sarasota County's first-ever name, image and license deal earlier this summer.

Nelly Korda

Bradenton native Korda, the No. 1 ranked women's golfer in the world, struggled in Paris after winning gold in Tokyo, missing out on a medal and finishing with a final round of four-over par.