Favorite Olympian? Olympic sport? Marlins weigh in

This story was excerpted from Christina De Nicola’s Marlins Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

MIAMI – The Summer Olympics in Paris have captivated international audiences, and the Marlins are no exception. I decided to poll some of the players about their all-time favorite Olympians and what sport they would love to compete in.

Xavier Edwards (USA)
Favorite Olympian: Michael Phelps
Olympic sport: Table tennis
Edwards hasn’t fared well in the Marlins’ annual Spring Training tournament, exiting in the first round in 2023 and having to withdraw in ’24 due to his foot infection.

“I'm a good ping-pong player. Last year, I didn't practice at all. I didn't play at all. This year, I found the backhand but ...”

Declan Cronin (USA)
Favorite Olympians: Michael Phelps, Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings
Olympic sport: Tennis or Water polo
“Water polo seems absolutely electric, and we just won in a shootout over Australia, so that's cool.”

Sandy Alcantara (Dominican Republic)
Favorite Olympian: None
Alcantara doesn’t have a favorite Olympian, but he proudly watched Marileidy Paulino win her semifinal heat in the 400 meters on Wednesday. Paulino captured the silver medal in that event at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, becoming the first woman from the Dominican Republic to earn an individual Olympic medal in athletics.

Olympic sport: Javelin
The 2022 National League Cy Young Award winner has thrown the spear, which is over eight feet in length, back home in the Dominican Republic before.

Jonah Bride (USA)
Favorite Olympian: Michael Phelps
Olympic sport: Beach volleyball
“I love playing beach volleyball. We did that during COVID a lot. A super athletic sport, unreal cardio. I enjoyed it a lot. I wouldn't say I was good, but we had a good time doing it.”

Andrew Nardi (USA)
Favorite Olympian: Shaun White
Olympic sport: Surfing
Nardi, who is from southern California, estimates the tallest wave he has caught was eight feet. This year’s event is being held in the French Polynesian island of Tahiti, where Teahupoo is known for having some of the world’s deadliest and heaviest waves.

“I would have died.”

Anthony Bender (USA)
Favorite Olympian: Michael Phelps
Olympic sport: Snowboard
Bender grew up about a three-hour drive from Lake Tahoe, where he would go snowboarding in high school. He calls it his long-lost love since he can’t do it anymore while playing professional baseball.

“I don't know if I was really doing tricks, more just riding over the jumps, thinking I was getting 10 feet of air. People now doing the halfpipe, it's like every year they're breaking records on how high they're going on the first jump.”

Jake Burger (USA)
Favorite Olympians: Michael Phelps and Katie Ledecky
Olympic sport: Pole vault
“I think it's such an impressive sport. I'm in awe every time I watch it, so I think that's why. To be that meticulous about something and flying through the air, I think it would be really cool to be elite at.”

Jesús Sánchez (Dominican Republic)
Favorite Olympian: Lionel Messi
Messi didn’t compete this summer, but he did win a gold medal with Argentina at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Football fan Sánchez watched Paulino’s race alongside Alcantara.
Olympic sport: Table tennis