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As the Paris Olympics begin this Friday, here are ten American athletes to watch during the games.
SIMONE BILES / Artistic Gymnastics
Simone Biles was born in Columbus, Ohio, and raised in Spring, Texas. She is one of the most celebrated athletes of all time and the most decorated U.S. gymnast in history. She is the GOAT. At the Olympic Games Rio 2016, she earned an unprecedented four gold medals in the floor exercise, vault, all-around and team segments. She became the first woman to achieve such a feat since 1974.
Biles is known for performing the Yurchenko double pike, the most difficult vault in women’s gymnastics. It consists of a roundoff onto the takeoff board followed by a back handspring onto the table. Bile also performs a triple-double in floor exercise. The triple-double consists of a roundoff into a back handspring, leaping into the air off the landing leading to a twist climbing 12 feet off the ground.
COCO GAUFF / Tennis
Coco Gauff is the top-ranked American tennis player at No. 2 in the world. She won the U.S. Open win in 2023. At age 20, Gauff is the top American player in Paris, and she plans to compete for the gold in doubles with partner Jessica Pegula. “The goal is to medal and hopefully come home with gold. But I really want to enjoy the experience and not make it so much pressure like other tournaments,” Gauff said earlier this year.
JAHMAL HARVEY / Boxing
Jahmal Harvey grew up playing football and was introduced to boxing by his football coach. He is 21 years old and from Oxon Hill, Maryland. Harvey began boxing at age 13. Harvey won a world boxing title in 2021 at age 18. He qualified for the Olympic Games Paris 2024 by winning gold at the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile.
ASHLEIGH JOHNSON / Water Polo
At age 29, Ashleigh Johnson is known as the best women’s water polo goalkeeper in the sport. She has already won two Olympic gold medals with the dominant U.S. team, as well as four world titles. The U.S. is a favorite for women’s water polo gold in the pool, and Johnson is one of the big reasons why. This will be Johnson’s third Olympics having competed in 2016 and 2020.
NOAH LYLES / Sprinter, Track and Field
Sprinter Noah Lyles has said he is “coming after all the medals” in Paris after his amazing feat at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary. There, he became the first runner since Jamaican star Usain Bolt to complete a treble, winning gold in the 100- and 200-meter sprints and 4x100 relay.
Florida-born Lyles will go for gold in two events after winning the 100- and 200-meter dashes at the Olympic Trials. Lyles, who will be 27 at the start of the Olympics, has also declared his intention to run the 4x400 relay.
SIMONE MANUEL / Swimming
Simone Manuel is a 27-year-old, two-time Olympian; five-time Olympic medalist in swimming. She has won two gold, two silver and one bronze. Manuel hometown is Sugar Land, Texas.
During the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, Manuel won bronze in the 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay and finished 11th in the 50m Freestyle.
During the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Manuel won gold in the 100m Freestyle, the 4 x 100m Medley Relay and won silver in the 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay and 50m Freestyle.
Manuel was a member of the Stanford University swim team, where she helped the Cardinal win two NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships in 2017 and 2018 respectively.
CJ NICKOLAS / Taekwondo
CJ Nickolas is from Brentwood, California. He started taekwondo at age three with his whole family and began competing at age six. He became serious about the sport around age 11. Nickolas currently trains in Colorado Springs. He credits his mother as his biggest inspiration. Nickolas won silver at the 2023 World Taekwondo Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan, the first U.S. taekwondo medal at worlds since 2009.
FRED RICHARD / Gymnastics
Fred Richard started the sport of gymnastics because he liked to run on the floor and tumble when picking up his sister from gymnastics. His favorite event is the high bar and his favorite thing about gymnastics is overcoming challenges and getting better.
In 2023, Richard won a bronze medal at the World Championships in the Individual All-Around competition and with the team. He finished 8th in the floor exercise, 12th in parallel bars, 15th in pommel horse, 45th in rings and 108th in horizontal bar.
He is the 2023 U.S. Championships high bar champion and third-place finisher in the all-around. Richard is also the 2023 NCAA all-around, parallel bars and high bar champion, and team and floor exercise silver medalist for the University of Michigan. He is the 2023 Winter Cup all-around silver medalist and a 2022 U.S. high bar silver medalist and floor exercise bronze medalist. In 2022, Richard was a U.S. high bar silver medalist and floor exercise bronze medalist.
SHA’CARRI RICHARDSON / Sprinter, Track and Field
Sha’Carri Richardson is an American track and field sprinter, specializing in the 100-meter and 200-meter events. Richardson was raised in Dallas, Texas, by her grandmother and aunt. Her rise to fame began during her freshman year at Louisiana State University, where she clocked 10.75 seconds in the 100m sprint at the 2019 NCAA Division Championships.
In 2021, Richardson went on to record an even faster time of 10.72 seconds in the 100m, making her the sixth-fastest woman of all time and the fourth-fastest in American history. At the 2023 world championships in Budapest, she secured gold in the 100m and 4x100m relay and a bronze in the 200m.
TRINITY RODMAN / Soccer
22-year-old Trinity Rodman earned one of the forward spots for the U.S. Women’s National Team’s Olympic squad.
She is the daughter of Basketball Hall of Famer Dennis Rodman, began playing soccer at age four and won multiple youth national championships. She became the then-youngest draft selection in National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) history in 2021 at age 18 and helped the Washington Spirit win the league championship as a rookie.
With seven goals in 38 career appearances for the United States Women’s National Team (USWNT) as of July 1, Rodman is considered one of the club’s next great stars.
