On Friday, an unprecedented opening ceremony alongside the Seine will kick off the Paris Olympics. The Video games will showcase round 10,500 athletes, together with many stars you will keep in mind — and a few you will wish to know. Listed below are 30 U.S. Olympians to observe this yr:
Simone Biles, gymnastics
Biles, 27, has received each all-around competitors she has entered in additional than a decade. That streak is likely never to be repeated. She’s a nine-time nationwide champion, a six-time world champ and the 2016 Olympic all-around gold medalist. However after pulling out of the team and all-around finals in Tokyo with the twisties, Biles heads to Paris looking for redemption and will turn into the primary gymnast to win Olympic gold in nonconsecutive Video games.
One factor to know: Biles took two years off after the Tokyo Olympics and returned to elite competitors final fall an excellent higher gymnast. This yr, she’s been outstanding and added a fifth eponymous ability to her repertoire: the Yurchenko double pike (YDP), probably the most tough vault in ladies’s gymnastics, is now referred to as the Biles II. Biles has acquired standing ovations each time she competes the YDP — for good motive — so anticipate the identical at Bercy Enviornment.
One factor to observe: There is no such thing as a higher present in gymnastics than a Simone Biles ground routine. Take it in. She’s going to compete two of her own moves on ground as effectively, the Biles I (double structure with a half-twist) and the Biles II (triple-twisting double-back). Cue: standing ovation. — Alyssa Roenigk
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We’ll by no means cease watching Simone Biles in gradual movement. 🔁 #USAGTrials24 pic.twitter.com/ahXM8Cp96c
— NBC Sports activities (@NBCSports) July 1, 2024
Suni Lee, gymnastics
Lee, 21, completed second to Biles at Olympic trials for the second time, however little else about this Olympic season has resembled 2021. Final yr, Lee was diagnosed with two kidney diseases that made coaching almost unimaginable many days, and for some time, she did not know whether or not she’d return to the game. Now in remission, Lee and her coaches paced her return completely, and she or he’s eyeing spots within the all-around, beam and bars finals in Paris.
One factor to know: Lee is the reigning Olympic all-around champion however struggled with confidence points after the Video games. She was the primary Olympic gold medalist to compete in NCAA gymnastics, at Auburn, the place she says competing on a weekly foundation helped her to regain her religion in herself.
One factor to observe: Lee, the Tokyo bronze medalist on uneven bars, competes one of many hardest bars routines on this planet and is a favourite to earn one other medal on the equipment. However she says it is a beam medal that she’s actually eyeing. “I actually need a beam gold,” she says. “I want a beam gold.” — Roenigk
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Suni Lee placing on a CLINIC on beam. 🫡#XfinityChamps | 📺 NBC & @peacock pic.twitter.com/eHZ2FbMjwj
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) June 3, 2024
Fred Richard, gymnastics
Richard was spectacular at Olympic trials, winning the all-around and high bar and incomes the one computerized berth onto the Paris workforce. The 20-year-old’s mission whereas he is there: assist the workforce earn its first Olympic medal in 16 years, make the all-around ultimate and get U.S. sports activities followers speaking about males’s gymnastics.
One factor to know: Final fall, Richard earned bronze within the all-around at 2023 world championships and have become solely the fourth U.S. man, and the youngest, to earn a medal on the occasion. Even higher: He was a part of the five-man U.S. workforce that took bronze at worlds, the primary medal for the lads’s program in main worldwide competitors in almost a decade. In Paris, the workforce is seeking to improve.
One factor to observe: On social media, the place Richard is called Frederick Flips, his viral movies, which frequently function athletes from different sports activities, are as entertaining as his gymnastics. In Paris, he plans to workforce up along with his Olympic buddies, together with sprinter Noah Lyles, and get inventive. “A lot of the enjoyable stuff will come after I am carried out competing,” he says. — Roenigk
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Sha’Carri Richardson, monitor and subject
Richardson, a two-time world champion, is making her Olympic debut. She certified within the 100 meters in a blistering 10.71 seconds at U.S. trials in June. Three years in the past, her Olympics bid ended prematurely on the U.S. trials after a post-qualifying suspension for a constructive marijuana check.
One factor to know: Along with representing the U.S. in the 100 meters, Richardson, 24, is predicted to be a part of the ladies’s 4×100 relay workforce. On the world championships in Budapest, Hungary, final August, she ran the relay’s anchor leg, propelling the Individuals to a dramatic win over rival Jamaica. Richardson and the remainder of the relay workforce will attempt to repeat that feat on the Olympics.
One factor to observe: Richardson is in line to doubtlessly match her personal-best 100-meter time of 10.65 seconds. She ran it in her gold medal-winning end eventually yr’s world championship, the excessive mark of a season that included 10 different sub-10.90-second finishes. She has gone beneath the time in every of the 4 100-meter races she has competed on this yr. Control how low Richardson goes in Paris whereas dealing with Jamaican sprinters Shericka Jackson and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce. — Coley Harvey
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Sha’Carri Richardson runs the quickest 100m on this planet this yr to qualify for the #ParisOlympics! pic.twitter.com/ke9xz7EZ7H
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) June 23, 2024
Noah Lyles, monitor and subject
Lyles, 26, is a assured six-time world champion who stands likelihood of gathering a minimum of three medals on the Olympics. Along with probably taking part on the lads’s 4×100 relay workforce, he additionally qualified in the 100 and 200 meters with a pair of wins at U.S. trials.
One factor to know: Lyles is seeking to turn into solely the fifth man to ever earn the elusive “dash triple” in an Olympics. It is the unofficial nickname recognizing athletes who win gold medals in three particular races (the 100, 200 and 4×100-meter relay) at a single Video games. Jesse Owens (1936), Bobby Morrow (1956), Carl Lewis (1984) and Usain Bolt (2008, 2012, 2016) are the one males to have carried out it in fashionable Olympic historical past.
Lyles’ 19.53-second 200-meter time, set at U.S. trials, is the world’s quickest this yr. His 9.83-second 100-meter end on the trials is the fourth quickest. Which means gold medals in these two occasions — with the added expectation of an improved 4×100 relay workforce — are attainable for him.
One factor to observe: Whether or not it is the colour of his nails or his selection of necklace stones, Lyles has a approach of utilizing his apparel to seize consideration. Ever the showman, Lyles is somebody you will wish to watch throughout race introductions. On the U.S. trials, he made it a behavior of unveiling from his race swimsuit a special card from his coveted Yu-Gi-Oh Exodia set. It is not but clear what he may do to show heads as he enters the blocks for his Olympic races, however no matter it’s ought to have folks in Paris and again house speaking. — Harvey
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Noah Lyles with one other Yu-Gi-Oh card earlier than he races 🔥
He nearly has all 5 items of Exodia 😂 pic.twitter.com/4TCHqzP4V4
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) June 28, 2024
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, monitor and subject
Though she’ll be turning 25 in the midst of the Video games, McLaughlin-Levrone is already a three-time Olympic veteran, and she or he owns a pair of gold medals from Tokyo in 2021.
One factor to know: When the yr started, it appeared attainable that McLaughlin-Levrone wouldn’t solely attempt to defend her gold medal within the ladies’s 400-meter hurdles however would additionally attempt to compete in flat-ground 400-meter races in Paris, too. A blistering 48.75-second displaying in a flat-ground 400-meter dash in New York in June had the monitor world buzzing.
However shortly after the spectacular victory, she and coach Bobby Kersee confirmed McLaughlin-Levrone would have a singular focus on the U.S. trials and Olympics: the 400 hurdles. It is probably she’ll be on the ladies’s 4×400 relay workforce, as she was in Tokyo, however the 400 hurdles might be her solely alternative for a person medal.
One factor to observe: Make sure you circle Aug. 8 (the day after McLaughlin-Levrone’s birthday) in your calendar. She figures to be within the 400-meter hurdles ultimate that day, going up in opposition to famed Dutch sprinter Femke Bol — and it needs to be one of the vital electrifying competitions of the complete Olympics. Two weeks after McLaughlin-Levrone set her fifth world record with a shocking 50.65-second displaying within the 400 hurdles ultimate at U.S. trials, Bol answered with a European-record 50.95 seconds on the Resisprint Worldwide in Switzerland. Get the popcorn prepared. — Harvey
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World data at Olympic Trials are nothing new for Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone. 😤 pic.twitter.com/hjf0bRGvSD
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) July 10, 2024
Ryan Crouser, monitor and subject
Crouser, 31, is a two-time Olympic gold medalist, and he arrives in Paris with the world’s high rating within the shot put. He is the distinguished face on a stellar workforce of American throwers that’s anticipated to issue into the U.S. medal rely.
One factor to know: Accidents stalled a lot of Crouser’s pre-Olympic coaching, making his U.S. trials throws among the solely ones he has had since March. Crouser had an harm in his throwing elbow that required surgical procedure in April. He additionally tore a pectoral muscle in his chest, additional delaying his return to competitors.
One factor to observe: As soon as Crouser was wholesome sufficient to carry out, he was again to his previous kind. His throw of twenty-two.84 meters received the U.S. trials and went down because the third-longest mark on this planet this yr. He is been surpassed solely by Italy’s Leonardo Fabbri (22.95) and fellow American Joe Kovacs (23.13), who hit these marks at respective meets in Might. Control Crouser within the finals. If he wins, he’ll turn into the primary particular person to win three Olympic gold medals in shot put, including to the highest finishes he had on the 2016 and 2020 Video games. — Harvey
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Are you able to guess what sport he competes in?
(🎥 @RCrouserThrows) pic.twitter.com/wZTqiiMxJ3
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) June 9, 2024
Diana Taurasi, basketball
Taurasi, who turned 42 in June, goes for her sixth gold medal in six Olympic appearances, offering worthwhile expertise for a U.S. squad that has moved on from program stalwarts Sue Chook, Sylvia Fowles and Tina Charles.
One factor to know: Some contemplate Taurasi the WNBA GOAT. On the very least, she’s the best offensive participant the sport has seen. The three-time WNBA champion and 2009 MVP turned the league’s main profession scorer in 2017 and final season turned the primary (and to this point solely) WNBA participant to achieve 10,000 factors.
One factor to observe: Taurasi missed 4 WNBA video games in early July with a decrease leg harm earlier than returning to the Phoenix Mercury on July 14. She has had a a lot more healthy WNBA season than the lead-up to her final Olympics, nevertheless it’s price monitoring how she feels bodily heading into Paris, in addition to how a lot coach Cheryl Reeve leans on her with youthful guards on the squad. — Alexa Philippou
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Let the video games start.
DT hits the primary shot on the brand new Diana Taurasi Court docket.
🇺🇸 #USABWNT pic.twitter.com/kRDzzkeGAY
— USA Basketball (@usabasketball) July 18, 2024
A’ja Wilson, basketball
Wilson, who will flip 28 in early August, has been on high of the basketball world for 2 years as a two-time defending WNBA champion and league MVP (2020, 2022). An Olympic newcomer in Tokyo, the place she was one of many U.S. nationwide workforce’s heirs obvious, Wilson might be a significant fixture of Crew USA in Paris.
One factor to know: Wilson’s different notable accolades as knowledgeable embody 2023 WNBA Finals MVP, WNBA Defensive Participant of the Yr in 2022 and 2023, and MVP at her final main competitors with USA Basketball, the 2022 FIBA World Cup. Oh, and she or he’s getting her personal signature shoe with Nike in 2025.
One factor to observe: Wilson is the clear MVP front-runner this WNBA season and seems inside attain of turning into the fourth participant to win a minimum of three MVP awards. Will her standout play and management translate to assist earn an eighth consecutive gold medal for Crew USA? — Philippou
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The M’VP on the break 🪜
1st in factors
1st in rebounds
1st in blocks✨ @_ajawilson22 ✨ pic.twitter.com/kz3hwgQvhV
— Las Vegas Aces (@LVAces) July 17, 2024
LeBron James, basketball
James is a four-time NBA champion, four-time MVP, four-time NBA Finals MVP, NBA profession scoring chief, and winner of two Olympic golds — one in 2008 in Beijing and one in 2012 in London.
One factor to know: James, 39, is making an attempt to win Olympic medals 20 years aside. He received his first, a bronze, on the 2004 Video games in Athens. That is his fourth Olympics.
One factor to observe: As he has now for many years, James will play all kinds of roles for Crew USA. He’ll begin at energy ahead, and can spend time working the purpose and guarding opposing wings, forwards and even facilities. — Brian Windhorst
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Showstopper. 👑✈️
🇺🇸 #USABMNT x 📺 FS1 pic.twitter.com/K4afLRM0HB
— USA Basketball (@usabasketball) July 17, 2024
Steph Curry, basketball
Curry, 36, has achieved almost every part on this planet of basketball as a four-time NBA champ, two-time NBA MVP, NBA Finals MVP, NBA profession 3-pointers chief and two-time World Cup champion. However that is the primary time he has competed in an Olympic Video games.
One factor to know: The Olympic 3-point line is eighteen inches nearer to the basket than the NBA line within the corners and 39 inches shorter on the high of the important thing. Curry is the best shooter within the historical past of the game.
One factor to observe: Crew USA coach Steve Kerr is planning to maintain Curry within the recreation with LeBron as a lot as attainable. The 2 longtime rivals had never played together, and the plan is to have the one-two punch of Curry’s ground spacing and James’ shot creation create a dominating duo. — Windhorst
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Classic Steph.
🇺🇸 #USABMNT x 📺 FS1 pic.twitter.com/Aj9GtLnEZy
— USA Basketball (@usabasketball) July 17, 2024
Jimmer Fredette, basketball
Fredette, 35, was the unanimous 2011 AP school basketball participant of the yr at BYU, was drafted No. 10 in that yr’s draft and performed six seasons within the NBA with 5 groups. He was named USA Basketball’s 2023 3×3 Male Athlete of the Yr after main Crew USA to a silver within the World Cup.
One factor to know: Fredette did not begin taking part in 3×3 on the worldwide degree till 2022 however has turn into a key member of the workforce shortly, serving to the U.S. to golds on the 2022 AmeriCup and 2023 Pan Am Video games.
One factor to observe: Fredette’s historical past of nice long-range taking pictures is extraordinarily worthwhile within the 3×3 recreation, the place pictures behind the road are price two factors and all pictures inside the road are price only one. — Windhorst
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🤷♂️ Him once more! 🤩
🇺🇸 Jimmer Fredette is your #3x3WTEdmonton MVP! 🔥
#3x3WT pic.twitter.com/XHiWIVImzn
— FIBA 3×3 Basketball (@FIBA3x3) July 8, 2024
Katie Ledecky, swimming
Ledecky, 27, is a 10-time Olympic medalist and has received seven golds. She is a captain for the U.S. swim workforce and largely thought-about the most effective athletes within the sport’s historical past. Paris marks her fourth Olympic look.
One factor to know: Slated to compete in four events in Paris, Ledecky has an opportunity to surpass Jenny Thompson, Natalie Coughlin and Dara Torres (all with 12 medals) as probably the most embellished feminine American Olympian in historical past — and will doubtlessly go Thompson (eight) to take over the document for probably the most gold medals by a lady within the sport.
One factor to observe: Ledecky’s dominance within the pool throughout distances has been effectively documented, nevertheless it’s significantly blatant within the 1500m freestyle, which she typically wins by a full size of the pool. Getting into the Olympics, she owns the highest 19 instances in historical past within the race. On the U.S. Olympic swim trials in June, she held off the remainder of the sector by over 20 seconds. — D’Arcy Maine
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With 19 days till the #ParisOlympics, we’re throwing it again to #SwimTrials24 the place Katie Ledecky formally claimed the 19 quickest instances within the HISTORY of the ladies’s 1500m. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/ySr9f24NHK
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) July 7, 2024
Caeleb Dressel, swimming
Dressel, 27, was a breakout star on the Tokyo Video games after profitable 5 gold medals and turning into simply the third man in historical past to win three particular person swimming golds in a single Olympics.
One factor to know: Dressel withdrew from the 2022 world championships for undisclosed medical causes after which took an eight-month break from the game as he prioritized his psychological well being. He made his return to competitors earlier this yr and might be competing in three occasions in Paris.
One factor to observe: Though Dressel will not be defending his 100-meter freestyle gold, he will have the chance to do just that within the 50-meter freestyle and 100-meter butterfly, in addition to within the 4×100 freestyle, during which he is been a member of the gold medal-winning workforce for the previous two Olympic Video games. — Maine
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SPLASH. AND. DASH.
Caeleb Dressel qualifies for the Olympics within the 50m free at #SwimTrials24.
📺 NBC & @peacock pic.twitter.com/D149KGd20D
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) June 22, 2024
Sophia Smith, soccer
Smith, 23, is a star ahead and might be a key participant for the U.S. workforce through the Olympic match. She received the NWSL’s MVP award in 2022 and the league’s Golden Boot for many objectives scored in 2023, so if the USWNT makes a run in France, Smith will nearly certainly be on the coronary heart of it.
One factor to know: Smith has had a ton of success at a younger age, profitable the NCAA match with Stanford in 2019 and the NWSL league title three years later. She had sturdy moments with the USWNT in final yr’s World Cup, too, scoring two objectives in opposition to Vietnam. However like her teammates, Smith struggled within the knockout loss to Sweden and will be looking for a significant improvement on this match.
One factor to observe: With new coach Emma Hayes main the USWNT in her first main match, it is going to be fascinating to see how the workforce’s assault adjustments from earlier iterations. To date, the early returns are respectable, significantly for Smith: Within the workforce’s penultimate warmup match earlier than the Olympics, she scored her twentieth profession worldwide purpose in a 1-0 win over Mexico. — Sam Borden
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Worldwide Purpose No. 2️⃣0️⃣
Sophia Smith is the eleventh participant in #USWNT historical past to achieve 20 objectives earlier than turning 24 years previous!#USWNT x @VW pic.twitter.com/XdV2ljCy5v
— U.S. Girls’s Nationwide Soccer Crew (@USWNT) July 13, 2024
Naomi Girma, soccer
Girma, 24, is a defender for the USWNT and performs on the middle of the workforce’s again line. She is understood for being dominant in one-on-one conditions and performs with a relaxed when she has the ball that is not typical for defenders.
One factor to know: Girma performed (and received a nationwide title) with Smith at Stanford, and she or he did not take lengthy to make an influence on the nationwide workforce. She was named U.S. Soccer’s female player of the year in 2023 — the primary time a defender received the award — as she led a USWNT protection that allowed simply 0.17 objectives per recreation that yr, a workforce document.
One factor to observe: A few of the most spectacular moments from Girma come when she has area to begin an assault. Girma performed as a midfielder when she was youthful, and it may be harmful for the opposite workforce when these instincts emerge; in a World Cup qualifying recreation in 2022, she pinged a stunning diagonal ball to Smith that led to a purpose that was only one instance of how the workforce’s high defender will be integral in its offense. — Borden
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Anchoring the #USWNT protection to its lowest ever objectives in opposition to common in a calendar yr…@naomi_girma is your 2023 @USSoccer Feminine Participant of the Yr 🏆
Full Launch » https://t.co/ByiS2JnU9r pic.twitter.com/J3AWinFnQi
— U.S. Girls’s Nationwide Soccer Crew (@USWNT) January 11, 2024
Walker Zimmerman, soccer
Zimmerman, 31, is a defender for the U.S. males’s Olympic soccer workforce who additionally performs for Nashville SC in MLS. Zimmerman has made 42 appearances for the U.S. senior males’s nationwide workforce.
One factor to know: The boys’s soccer competitors on the Olympics is an under-23 match, with every nation allowed to carry solely three overage gamers. Zimmerman and Miles Robinson are two of the three American overage gamers picked, and they need to anchor the workforce’s protection. Zimmerman is a likely captain for the Olympic team, as he has sometimes captained the senior nationwide workforce in World Cup qualifiers.
One factor to observe: Zimmerman missed time earlier this yr after a knee process, and with the overwhelming majority of the gamers within the Olympic match being younger, velocity might be a continuing amongst opposing forwards. Zimmerman is called a savvy defender who can learn the sport effectively, and he’ll have to take action in opposition to a slew of spry attackers. — Borden
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Welcome again, Walker Zimmerman! 👊
Nashville rolling early at house. pic.twitter.com/MUKSU463qo
— Main League Soccer (@MLS) May 5, 2024
Tanner Tessmann, soccer
Tessmann, 22, is a midfielder for the U.S. males’s Olympic soccer workforce who at the moment performs for Italian membership workforce Venezia. Tessmann scored seven objectives in 42 matches in all competitions for Venezia, serving to the workforce earn promotion to Serie A.
One factor to know: Though Tessmann has already discovered success in soccer, he almost had a university profession in soccer, too; a godson of Clemson coach Dabo Swinney, he initially dedicated to play for the Tigers as a kicker (along with being on the soccer workforce) earlier than withdrawing to hitch the FC Dallas academy program.
One factor to observe: Though there needs to be lots to observe from Tessmann on the sector in France, there will even be lots of buzz round his membership profession. Tessman helped lead Venezia again to Serie A final season with a career-best marketing campaign. There have been persistent experiences that he could possibly be on the transfer this summer season although, because the midfielder has been linked to a lot of potential strikes away from Venice. — Borden
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Basketball, swimming, boxing, and extra… We’re fortunate to have @frantanjam5 on our 𝐨𝐮𝐫 Olympic squad 🙌
Paris Sure: Tanner Tessmann#OlyMNT pic.twitter.com/7huMSxvH20
— U.S. Soccer YNT (@USYNT) July 15, 2024
Coco Gauff, tennis
Gauff, 20, is the reigning US Open champion and the No. 2-ranked participant on this planet. Regardless of her younger age, Gauff has been seen as one of many sport’s brightest younger superstars since her memorable major draw main debut at Wimbledon in 2019.
One factor to know: Gauff, who was the primary lady to efficiently clinch her spot on the 2024 roster, had been named to the Olympic workforce for Tokyo however was compelled to withdraw after testing constructive for COVID-19 simply days earlier than the match was set to start.
One factor to observe: Though she’s finest recognized for her singles prowess, Gauff will even be taking part in doubles, alongside frequent associate Jessica Pegula, and has stated she want to take part within the blended doubles draw as effectively, doubtlessly along with her longtime buddy Chris Eubanks. She is the previous top-ranked doubles participant on this planet and won the French Open doubles title in June at Roland Garros — the identical website because the Olympic competitors — with defending doubles gold medalist Katerina Siniakova of Czechia (Czech Republic). In January, Gauff instructed reporters profitable a medal — of any colour and in any occasion — was one among her high objectives for the yr. — Maine
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Coco Gauff and Katerina Siniakova dropped only one set all tournament-long en path to their first doubles title collectively on tour 🏆
Catch-up on the highlights from the action-packed ultimate ⬇#RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/LJAzbKoVDo
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 9, 2024
Tommy Paul, tennis
Paul, 27, is ranked No. 13 and is the second-highest-ranked American man, behind Taylor Fritz. He was briefly the top-ranked American man in June earlier than Fritz, now No. 11, reclaimed the excellence.
One factor to know: Paul made his Olympic debut in Tokyo — taking part in solely singles — however was coming off of a foot harm and misplaced within the first spherical. Since then, his profession has skyrocketed. He had his finest main run thus far on the Australian Open in 2023, reaching the semifinals, and has received three ATP titles. He arrives in Paris coming off a quarterfinal look at Wimbledon and the title at Queen’s Club in June.
One factor to observe: Along with taking part in within the singles draw, Paul might be taking part in doubles with Fritz, a detailed buddy since they had been youngsters and battling it out for main junior titles. Paul, who grew up taking part in on inexperienced clay, even defeated Fritz for the French Open boys’ title in 2015. The 2 first teamed up collectively on a giant stage as a wild-card entry in doubles on the 2016 US Open and reached the second spherical. — Maine
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One of many pictures of the yr
Tommy Paul, that’s beautiful 🤌#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/UuXC4v2Jn3
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 9, 2024
Scottie Scheffler, golf
Scheffler rose to No. 1 within the Official World Golf Rating after profitable 4 instances in six begins in 2022, together with his first victory at a significant championship on the Masters. His ballstriking and work across the greens have drawn comparisons to Corridor of Famer Tiger Woods.
One factor to know: Scheffler, 28, added a second inexperienced jacket at Augusta Nationwide Golf Membership in April. By gathering his twelfth PGA Tour win at the Travelers Championship on June 23, Scheffler turned the primary golfer since Arnold Palmer in 1962 to win six instances in a season by July 1. It is his first look within the Olympics; he had beforehand represented the U.S. on two Ryder Cup groups and as soon as within the Presidents Cup. He’ll be an awesome favourite to take house a gold medal.
One factor to observe: Whereas Scheffler has been probably the most dominant participant in males’s golf for a while — and it is not even shut in the mean time — he has a moderately unorthodox swing. His toes transfer greater than Usher’s, which creates some attention-grabbing finishes. “It could look humorous to you all, nevertheless it feels completely regular to me,” Scheffler stated. “I by no means thought twice about it.” — Mark Schlabach
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Fancy toes from Scottie Scheffler. pic.twitter.com/BNt5ctXQzi
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 24, 2020
Nelly Korda, golf
In 2021, Korda turned the primary particular person in males’s or ladies’s golf to win an Olympic gold medal and a significant championship in the identical season. After capturing the KPMG Girls’s PGA Championship, the primary main championship title of her profession, she received the ladies’s particular person Olympic match by one shot over Japan’s Mone Inami and New Zealand’s Lydia Ko in Tokyo. Korda, 25, was the first U.S. woman to seize a gold medal since Margaret Abbott received on the Paris Olympics in 1900. Golf wasn’t included within the Olympics from 1904 to 2012.
One factor to know: Korda is from a sporting household and is not the one member of her household to compete within the Olympics. In Tokyo, Korda’s sister Jessica carded a 7-under 64 for the low rating of the ultimate spherical and tied for fifteenth. Her mom, Regina Rajchrtová, competed in tennis for Czechoslovakia on the 1988 Summer season Olympics in Seoul. Her father, Petr Korda, was ranked as excessive as No. 2 on this planet in tennis and received the 1998 Australian Open. Her brother, Sebastian, can also be knowledgeable tennis participant.
One factor to observe: Korda’s silky-smooth swing has been the envy {of professional} golfers around the globe. She competed with males on the QBE Shootout in Naples, Florida, in December 2022. PGA Tour professional Kevin Kisner referred to as her the “Tiger Woods of the LPGA Tour.” After seeing her swing, Max Homa stated, “I do not know the way she doesn’t win each week.” Later, at an exhibition match, three-time main champion Jordan Spieth instructed his father to “swing it like Nelly.” — Schlabach
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Poetry in movement 🤩
Nelly Korda’s swing is ___________. 👇 pic.twitter.com/pBOajFuvnO
— LPGA (@LPGA) April 21, 2023
Carissa Moore, browsing
Moore, 31, holds the distinctive distinction of being the primary (and to this point solely) lady to win an Olympic gold medal in browsing, as the game made its Olympic debut through the 2020 Video games in Tokyo.
One factor to know: Moore received 5 world titles between 2011 and 2021 and was the youngest-ever world champion, at 18.
One factor to observe: How Moore approaches her final competitors — she announced in January that she’d be stepping away from aggressive browsing after the Olympics. — J.J. Publish
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Carissa Moore stormed to victory at Tokyo 2020, clinching the first-ever Olympic gold medal in browsing, the place the game made its Olympic debut!
Reigning world champion, Moore began her account with a rating of 0.5 and completed with a powerful whole rating of 14.93. 🏄♀️🥇 pic.twitter.com/QnULpZ6wB0
— The Olympic Video games (@Olympics) June 10, 2024
John John Florence, browsing
The present World Surf League No. 1, Florence has been on the circuit for an impressively very long time — he was the youngest surfer to compete in (2005) and win (2011) the Vans Triple Crown of Browsing in Oahu, the place he was born.
One factor to know: Browsing is happening in Teahupo’o, Tahiti, the farthest a medal competitors has ever been held from a bunch metropolis. “I’d say it is one of the vital highly effective waves on this planet,” Florence told People in Might. He’s thought-about the most effective on this planet on the break.
One factor to observe: Florence, 31, injured his ACL twice in three years forward of the final Video games, with the second tear coming simply 2½ months forward of the opening ceremony. This yr, Florence is wholesome and appears to enhance on his ninth-place Tokyo end. — Publish
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The Pipeline Child.
Raised on the sand at Pipeline and placing swells to Tahiti since he was a youngster, at 31, Hawaiian-born 2x World Champion John John Florence is inarguably the most effective surfers ever at Teahupo’o.
In addition to his deep relationship with the neighborhood and… pic.twitter.com/gGoIoWAApL
— World Surf League (@wsl) July 15, 2024
Sunny Choi, breaking
Choi, 35, received gold on the 2023 Pan American Video games and have become the primary American lady to qualify for the Olympic Video games in breaking.
One factor to know: Choi quit her full-time job in corporate America to pursue her Olympic dream when it was introduced in 2020 that breaking could be making its debut on the Paris Video games.
One factor to observe: As a result of the game debuts this yr, she might turn into one of many first opponents to earn an Olympic medal in breaking. — Publish
Publish price seeing:
The primary U.S. B-Lady to qualify for @Paris2024 ☑️@_sunnychoi so {smooth} with it 💨#RoadToParis pic.twitter.com/Y8kVHYinIW
— Crew USA (@TeamUSA) November 19, 2023
Jahmal Harvey, boxing
Harvey, 21, is the primary American since 2007 to win gold on the newbie world championships and is Crew USA’s newest hope to finish the lads’s gold medal drought that extends to Andre Ward in 2004.
One factor to know: Harvey performed in the identical 7-on-7 soccer league with No. 1 NFL draft choose Caleb Williams in Maryland. It was his soccer coach, Darrell Davis, who began a boxing gymnasium that led to the change.
One factor to observe: Like three-division champion Terence Crawford, Harvey is a switch-hitter who can field from the orthodox and southpaw stances. — Mike Coppinger
Publish price seeing:
Reigning featherweight world champion Jahmal Harvey of 🇺🇸 drops 🇪🇪’s Kirill Serikov with a phenomenal slip-uppercut-hook counter. pic.twitter.com/XsQFCxiVWC
— Taylor O’Higgins (@TaylorOnSport) April 14, 2023
Jajaira Gonzalez, boxing
Gonzalez is a 27-year-old light-weight (132 kilos) who certified for the Olympics when she completed third on the 2023 Pan American Video games. After a second-place end within the 2016 Olympic trials, she took a three-year hiatus from boxing to deal with her psychological well being and returned in 2021.
One factor to know: Gonzalez is the youthful sister of featherweight professional boxer Joet Gonzalez, who challenged for a world title on three events, most just lately in September.
One factor to observe: Gonzalez is a fiery fighter, one coach Billy Walsh referred to as “the engine of the workforce.” — Coppinger
Publish price seeing:
Nonetheless so surreal. I am an Olympian! 🇺🇸😍🌟❤️🔥 #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/YP7PV5vGv1
— Jajaira Gonzalez (@JajairaGonzalez) November 15, 2023
Jagger Eaton, skateboarding
Eaton, 23, enters Paris after profitable the 2022 and 2023 X Video games Ventura gold medals in park skateboarding. He is additionally a two-time world champion (2021 in avenue and 2023 in park) and was the Olympic bronze medalist in avenue in Tokyo.
One factor to know: In 2012, at age 11, Eaton became the youngest-ever X Video games competitor. (The document has since been damaged by Gui Khury in 2019, who competed at age 10.)
One factor to observe: Eaton, who’s competing in avenue skateboarding, hopes to carry Crew USA its first gold medal within the sport. — Publish
Publish price seeing:
Strikes like Jagger 🛹
Olympic bronze medalist Jagger Eaton turned the primary skateboarder to win avenue and park world titles over the weekend.
🎥: @Olympics pic.twitter.com/7YbkqDAszw
— Crew USA (@TeamUSA) February 13, 2023
Alise Willoughby, BMX racing
Willoughby has received three world titles in BMX racing and was the youngest lady, at age 15, to win the USA BMX Skilled Sequence.
One factor to know: Willoughby, 33, is married to Australian BMXer Sam Willoughby, the 2012 BMX racing silver medalist who suffered a spinal twine harm in a coaching accident simply 4 weeks after the 2016 Rio Olympics. The couple married in 2019, and Sam is Alise’s coach.
One factor to observe: Willoughby completed second in 2016 and is competing in her fourth Olympics. She’s seeking to rebound from her Tokyo look, which ended with a pair of crashes throughout her three semifinal runs. — Publish
Publish price seeing:
Once you win your third UCI World Champion title on house turf 🇺🇸
Approach to go Alise Willoughby 🥇👏
🌈🌈🌈#RockHill2024 #BMXRacing pic.twitter.com/nbFzZ5hHM4
— UCI BMX Racing (@UCI_BMX_Racing) May 18, 2024
Brooke Raboutou, sport climbing
Raboutou, 23, was the primary American climber to qualify for Tokyo within the sport’s Olympic debut. On the time, she was a sophomore on the College of San Diego.
One factor to know: Raboutou’s mother and father, Didier Raboutou and Robyn Erbesfield-Raboutou, are former world champion climbers, and her brother, Shawn, is knowledgeable climber. Erbesfield-Raboutou received the general World Cup from 1992 to 1995, and now coaches her daughter.
One factor to observe: Raboutou will enter the 2024 Video games with momentum from the qualifying circuit, having captured gold at OQS boulder and lead competitions in Shanghai and Budapest in Might and June, respectively. — Publish
Publish price seeing:
Bear in mind this title: Brooke Raboutou 🇺🇸
The American surprised the group on the #Shanghai2024 #OlympicQualifierSeries on the City Park with a powerful efficiency and gold medal🥇on the Girls’s Boulder Closing!
Make sure that to catch the competitions stay! ➡️ https://t.co/KbgdQl0E3b pic.twitter.com/JyKZsr1ehF
— The Olympic Video games (@Olympics) May 19, 2024
