JULY 26, 2024 – When New Orleans native Kristen Nuss was presented with the Allstate Sugar Bowl's Corbett Award as the top amateur athlete in Louisiana in 2021, she commented that her next biggest goal was to compete in the Paris Olympics in 2024.
 
Now her wildest dreams, which even she admits might have been unlikely, have come true. And more. Nuss and her teammate Taryn Kloth are considered medal contenders in beach volleyball at this year's Olympic games.
 
"It definitely is all a dream come true," Kristen Nuss said in a recent Baton Rouge Advocate interview. "I didn't even know when I started on this journey if it was actually a reality. I think over the past 2-3 years it was something in my head that I could see us being able to accomplish.
 
"Now, I think we can go bring a gold medal back home to the United States, back home to Louisiana. It's not a far-fetched dream anymore. It's a reality at this very moment, which is very crazy to me. But that's the goal."
 
Nuss is one of four Corbett Award winners who will be in action at the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad, officially branded as Paris 2024 and more commonly known as the Olympic Games. She is joined by high jumper JuVaughn Harrison (Corbett Award 2021), sprinter Aleia Hobbs (Corbett Award 2018), and pole vaulter Armand Duplantis (Corbett Award 2018). Nuss and Hobbs were also honored twice by the Sugar Bowl as its top female amateur athlete from New Orleans.
 
The Corbett Award was created in 1967 and named in honor of the late James J. Corbett to commemorate his many contributions to intercollegiate athletics and specifically to the Sugar Bowl. At the time of his death, Mr. Corbett was the Athletic Director at Louisiana State University. It has a rich history in the Olympics as its list of honorees includes 12 Olympians, including eight gold medal winners.
 
The first Corbett Award winner to advance to the Olympics was Southern University's Rodney Milburn. The 1971 honoree earned the gold medal in the 110-meter hurdles at the 1972 Olympics in Munich. Other Corbett Award winners to win Olympic gold include Kim Mulkey (Corbett Award 1984), Teresa Weatherspoon (Corbett Award 1988), Shaquille O'Neal (Corbett Award 1991, 1992), and Seimone Augustus (Corbett Award 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006).
 
Considered the most likely gold medal winner from the list of Corbett honorees is Armand Duplantis. Known as "Mondo," Duplantis is just 24-years old and already a legend in track and field. He is the reigning world and Olympic champion and has broken the world record eight times already in his career.
 
Duplantis was just the second high school athlete in history to win the Corbett Award (after football star Leonard Fournette). He earned the statewide honor after breaking the world junior record with a leap of 19 feet, 5 1/2 inches to win the LHSAA state title.
 
"I hope to continue to improve," Duplantis said at the time. "I want to break the world record and I hope to win Olympic Gold Medals as well as world championships."
 
Mission accomplished.
 
Harrison has been ranked as high as No. 1 in the world in the high jump. He struggled by his standards at the U.S. Olympic Trials but is still considered a potential gold medal winner. Nicknamed "Mr. Jumps," he qualified for both the high jump and the long jump at the Tokyo Olympics, finishing seventh and fifth, respectively. He earned a silver medal in the high jump at the 2023 World Championships in Budapest.
 
Hobbs, a New Orleans product and a graduate of McMain High School, earned a silver medal in the 4x100-meter relay at the Tokyo Olympics. One of the fastest women in the world, she narrowly missed qualifying for Team USA in the individual 100-meter dash due to the tremendous depth amongst American sprinters. But she will again be a key to the 4x100 relay squad.
 
Nuss, meanwhile, will continue the amazing journey that began at Mount Carmel High School. As a senior in 2016, she was named the MVP of the state title match in volleyball and the state championship game in basketball as she wrapped up her career with five state titles (three volleyball, two basketball). She was named the Gatorade State Player of the Year in volleyball after leading the Cubs to a 40-5 record and the Division I state championship. While she went to LSU on a beach volleyball scholarship, many in the area said that even at just 5-6, her hard-nosed work-ethic and leadership qualities would have made her an impact player on the powerhouse LSU women's basketball team.
 
Instead, she stuck with beach volleyball. And ensured LSU would become a national powerhouse in that sport as well.
 
Corbett Award Winners Olympic Schedule:
Kristen Nuss – Nuss and teammate Taryn Kloth will have their first pool play match against a Canadian duo at 3 p.m. Central on Saturday, July 27.
 
Armand Duplantis – Pole vault qualification begins on Saturday, August 3.
 
JuVaughn Harrison – High jump qualification begins on Wednesday, August 7.
 
Aleia Hobbs – Round one of the 4x100 relay is on Thursday, August 8.