12 Celebrities You Didn't Know Competed In The Olympics Or Almost Did

Several actors, singers, models and other stars have chased their Olympic dreams.

The Paris Olympics 2024 has already churned out several breakout stars, from gymnast Stephen Nedoroscik to South Korean sharpshooter Kim Ye-ji.

But while most Olympians shoot to global fame after participating in the Games, some athletes who made their teams or tried to qualify for the international event were already big names or made their mark in an entirely different field.

Read on to learn about 12 celebrities who competed in or almost qualified for the Olympics.

1. Cody Simpson

Cody Simpson halted his music career for five years to focus on training and realizing his childhood dream of becoming an Olympic swimmer.

However, the multi-talented singer and actor, 27, failed to make Australia's Olympic swim team both for the Tokyo Olympics 2020 and the Paris Olympics 2024.

Simpson finished fifth in the 100-meter butterfly final at Australia's selection trials last month, missing the qualification time by just half a second.

Following the trials, Simpson -- who has won several medals while representing his country at other international swimming competitions -- said in a statement that he was ready to close the door on his Olympic dream and focus on music again.

Despite this failure to make the Olympic Games, Simpson made it clear that he has no regrets.

"I did what I could do, and that's all you can do. I've come a lot further in the last four years than perhaps I could have bargained for," Simpson said, according to Olympics.com.

2. Jason Statham

Another star who almost competed in the Olympics was Jason Statham.

Statham, now 57, began training as a diver at age 11 and represented the U.K. and England in international competitions when he was a teenager.

However, he failed to qualify for the U.K. men's diving team for the 1988 Seoul Olympics and the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona.

While he's since gone on to star in several hit movies, Statham admitted to the Press Association in 2016 that not having reached the Olympics remains "a bit of a sore point" for him.

3. Hillary Wolf

Hillary Wolf represented the United States as a judoka, or judo practitioner, in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and the 2000 Sydney Olympics, according to her Olympics profile.

Before taking to the world stage at the Olympics, Wolf had already made a name for herself as an actress, appearing in the first two "Home Alone" films as Megan McCallister and the 1991 movie "Big Girls Don't Cry... They Get Even."

But after 1992's "Home Alone 2: Lost in New York," Wolf stopped acting and focused on her sports career.

She won the U.S. national championship in 1991, 1992, 1993, and 1995 and represented the nation in international competitions in the next five years.

4. Liam Payne

Before becoming one-fifth of one of the biggest boy bands in music history, Liam Payne hoped to become an Olympic runner and was once even "tipped to be a national star," according to Express & Star.

However, this dream was cut short when he "narrowly missed out" on making the England schools athletics team.

Payne, then 14, decided to audition for "The X Factor," where he ended up forming One Direction with Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik and Louis Tomlinson.

5. Bella Hadid

Bella Hadid was already a rising model when she decided to ramp up her equestrian training in the hopes of competing in the 2016 Rio Olympics.

An award-winning, nationally-ranked equestrian, the then-18-year-old told Porter magazine in 2015 that she inherited her passion for horseback riding from her mom, Yolanda Hadid, and that she'd "been riding since [she] could walk."

However, Yolanda later revealed that her supermodel daughter, now 27, was forced to "give up her lifelong dream of having a professional riding career and a shot at the Olympics" due to chronic Lyme disease.

6. Geena Davis

Geena Davis fell in love with archery when she watched the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, where Justin Huish won two gold medals for the U.S.

Then 41, the Oscar-winning actress "became utterly obsessed" with the sport and trained "five hours a day, six days a week," for the next two years, she told People in 2020.

After winning a series of local, national and international tournaments, she participated in the U.S. Olympic archery trials for the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

But while she came close, finishing 24th out of 300, Davis ultimately failed to make the cut.

7. Noel Harrison

Noel Harrison was part of the British Olympic skiing team in the '50s before pursuing his acting and singing career.

Harrison participated in the 1952 Winter Olympics in Oslo, Norway, and the 1956 Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy.

Harrison -- whose father was Oscar-winning actor Sir Rex Harrison -- then turned to movies and music in the '60s, starring in films such as "The Girl from U.N.C.L.E." (1966), "The Thomas Crown Affair" (1968) and "The Citadel" (1960). He also released the U.K. chart-topping song, "The Windmills of Your Mind."

Harrison passed away at age 79 in 2013 after suffering a heart attack.

8. Jackson Wang

GOT7 member Jackson Wang once hoped to follow in his Olympian parents' footsteps. He was a member of the Hong Kong national fencing team and trained to compete in the 2012 London Olympics.

However, Wang traded one dream for another when he decided to walk away from fencing and sign with JYP Entertainment, where he debuted as a member of K-pop group GOT7 in 2014.

9. Vera Wang

Before becoming one of the most recognizable names in fashion, Vera Wang was a dedicated figure skater who had trained since she was 8 and dreamed of making it to the Olympics.

However, she and pairs skating partner James Stuart fell short of qualifying for the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble, France.

Following the failure, she gave up her figure skating career and found another passion: fashion.

10. Bob Anderson

While perhaps not the most famous among the names on the list, Bob Anderson was part of one of the biggest movie franchises of all time, "Star Wars."

He served as the stunt double for Darth Vader in his iconic lightsaber battles in "Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi" (1983) and "Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back" (1980).

Before becoming a top Hollywood sword-fighting choreographer and coach, Anderson -- who passed away in 2012 -- used his mastery of the blade to represent the U.K. as a saber fencer in the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, where his team tied for fifth, according to the Washington Post.

11. Harold Sakata

Harold Sakata was one of the few actors who reached the Olympic stage and even fewer who actually went home with a medal.

He won silver for the U.S. in weightlifting at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London.

More than a decade later, Sakata made his acting debut as the villain Oddjob in the 1964 James Bond movie "Goldfinger."

He died of liver cancer at age 62 in July 1982.

12. Johnny Weissmuller

While "Tarzan" star Johnny Weissmuller's acting career spanned decades, his athletic achievements far outshined his film work.

Weissmuller was a member of the U.S. swimming and water polo player teams for both the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris and the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics.

Hailed in his Olympics profile as "swimming's first superstar," Weissmuller won five Olympic gold medals for swimming across two Games and set 28 world records, including one for the 100-yard freestyle that remained unbeaten for 17 years.

He also took home a bronze medal for water polo in Paris.

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Olympics