With the Paris Olympics approaching, anticipation is growing for the world’s top athletes to take the global stage once again. From track and field to swimming, gymnastics to tennis, these sportspeople have captured headlines and inspired millions.
Armand Duplantis
Breaking a world record once is daunting, but Armand Duplantis has done it eight times. Since 2020, when he surpassed Renaud Lavillenie’s 6.16m mark, Duplantis has repeatedly broken his own record, most recently clearing 6.24m at the Xiamen Diamond League in April 2024. At just 21, the Swedish athlete won his first Olympic gold at the Tokyo Games and followed up with World Championship golds in 2022 and 2023. Now 24, Duplantis aims for his second Olympic gold in Paris and hopes to set another world record.
Noah Lyles
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Noah Lyles aims to win four gold medals on the track in Paris, hoping to replicate his 2023 World Championship form in the 100m, 200m, and 4x100m relay: the first man to do so since Usain Bolt in 2015. Since winning bronze in the 200m at the Tokyo Olympics, Lyles has excelled, breaking Michael Johnson’s American 200m record of 19.32 by 0.01 seconds at the 2022 World Athletics Championships. While the 200m remains his favorite event, Lyles also dreams of winning an Olympic gold in the 4x400m relay.
Katie Ledecky
Katie Ledecky, a legend in long-distance swimming, has an impressive record with seven Olympic golds and 21 World titles. She won her first Olympic gold at 15 in the 800m freestyle at the 2012 London Games and has since added nine more Olympic medals. Ledecky holds the record for the most individual titles (200m, 400m, and 800m freestyle) and won gold in the 4x200m freestyle relay at the 2016 Rio Olympics. In Paris, Ledecky aims to increase her gold medal count, needing two more to surpass Jenny Thompson for the most Olympic golds by a female swimmer. She also aims to become the most decorated female Olympic swimmer, needing three more medals. If her performance in Paris matches her success in the 800m and 1500m freestyle events at the Tokyo Olympics, Ledecky will likely achieve these goals.
Simone Biles
Debuting at the 2016 Rio Games, Simone Biles won four gold medals—team, all-around, vault, and floor exercise—and a bronze on the balance beam. Her performance was historic, marked by sheer dominance and a 2.100-point lead over her closest competitor, Aly Raisman. A strong advocate for mental health, Biles withdrew from several events at the Tokyo Olympics due to her struggles with the twisties, a kind of mental block.
After a two-year break, Biles returned to compete at the 2023 World Championship, becoming the only gymnast since Kohei Uchimura to win the all-around title six times and surpassing Vitaly Scherbo as the most successful gymnast of all time at the Olympics and Worlds. In Paris, Biles is expected to dominate, especially in her signature events — the all-around and vault.
Tom Daley
At 14, Tom Daley made headlines as the youngest British diver in Olympic history. Four years later, he won his first medal, a bronze in the 10m platform at the London Olympics. Since then, he has become one of the world’s top divers, excelling in both individual and synchronized events. Daley’s success continued with World Championship medals and a long-awaited Olympic gold in the synchronized 10m platform event with Matty Lee at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The 34-year-old Brit also added an individual bronze to his medal tally. As he looks ahead to Paris, Daley is eager to further enhance his achievements.
Ma Long
Ma Long, nicknamed “The Dragon,” is widely regarded as one of the greatest table tennis players of all time. The Chinese paddler has earned this reputation by becoming the first male player to win two singles gold medals at the Olympics. A 14-time world champion, Ma Long, now 35, has also clinched team golds at all his previous Games and secured consecutive men’s singles titles in Rio and Tokyo. This remarkable feat solidified his status as the most successful Olympic table tennis player in history. Although he won’t be able to pursue a third consecutive singles title at his fourth Summer Games, he still has the chance to compete for a sixth Olympic gold medal in the team event in Paris.
Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal, the iconic Spanish tennis star, has made a lasting impact on the Olympic Games over the past decade. His journey began at the 2004 Athens Games, where he competed alongside Tommy Robredo in doubles. At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, while he didn’t secure a medal in doubles, he won gold in the singles event, defeating Chile’s Fernando Gonzalez in the final.
Nadal missed the 2012 London Games due to a knee injury but returned in Rio 2016, overcoming a wrist injury to win gold in doubles with Marc Lopez. Although he opted out of the Tokyo Olympics for health reasons, Nadal aims to secure his third Olympic gold in Paris, teaming up with Carlos Alcaraz.
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone (left) made her Olympic debut at the 2016 Rio Games as the youngest athlete to qualify for the American track and field team since Carol Lewis and Denean Howard did so for the Moscow Olympics in 1980. Though she didn’t make the finals in Rio, she finished second at the 2019 World Championships, behind Dalilah Muhammad. In 2021, she triumphed over Muhammad at the Tokyo Olympics, setting a world record of 51.46 to claim gold. Since then, McLaughlin-Levrone has continued to dominate, breaking her own records, most recently achieving a new world record of 50.65 at the United States Olympic Trials. At 24, she has secured her spot in Paris.
Viktor Axelsen
Viktor Axelsen made his Olympic debut at the 2016 Rio Olympics, where he won a bronze medal in men’s singles by defeating two-time Olympic champion Lin Dan. This achievement made him the first European player in 20 years to earn an Olympic medal in the discipline. However, the pinnacle of his career came five years after his first Olympic medal when he secured the men’s singles gold at the Tokyo Olympics. The Dane defeated the defending champion Chen Long from China, avenging his semifinal loss from Rio. Currently ranked second in the world by BWF, Axelsen aims to improve his ranking and add to his medal tally in Paris.
Kim Woojin
Kim Woojin made headlines during the 2016 Rio Olympics when he set a new world record in the ranking round of the men’s individual archery event, scoring 700 out of 720 points. He became the first archer to achieve this score under the new 72-arrow ranking round format. The record has since been broken by Brady Ellison, who once called Woojin “the greatest of all time” in an interview, according to World Archery. However, Woojin faced a shocking second-round defeat to Indonesia’s Riau Ega Agatha in Rio. Despite this setback, he, along with Ku Bonchan and Lee Seungyun, secured the men’s team gold, a feat he repeated in Tokyo with Oh Jin Hyek and Kim Je Deok. Woojin will compete in Paris for his third Olympic team gold and first individual medal.