The track star looking to eclipse Usain Bolt, the Chinese swimmer looking to knock Adam Peaty off his perch, and the 50-year-old US-born skateboarder flying the flag for Team GB – EIGHT athletes to watch out for at Paris 2024

In just three days’ time, the sporting eyes of the world will turn to Paris as the 33rd Summer Olympic Games begins in the French capital.

It is already shaping up to be one of the most memorable games of all time, with an Opening Ceremony which will take place along the River Seine rather than in a stadium.

Team GB will be looking to improve its fourth-placed medal table finish at the 2020 games in Tokyo, which was postponed by one year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Although the Opening Ceremony takes place on Friday 26 July, multiple events will begin one or two days before. 

Here, Mail Sport takes a look at some of the athletes hoping to climb to the top of the podium in Paris.

The Paris Olympics are shaping up to be one of the most memorable in recent times

The Opening Ceremony will take place along the River Seine rather than inside a stadium

Athletes will be looking to carve their names into the annals of Olympic history this summer

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VAHINE FIERRO

Age: 24 – Country: France – Event: Surfing

After a successful debut in Tokyo, surfing returns to the Olympic bill in Paris. However, it will stay in the Eastern Hemisphere after the French Polynesian island of Tahiti was chosen to host the event over France’s mainland.

The host nation is sending four surfers to Tahiti, and Fierro has every reason to believe she can fly Le Tricolore from the top step of the podium. Back in May, the 2017 World Junior Champion won her maiden WSL Championship Tour event on the same waves which will host the Olympics.

She has been surfing since the age of two, having been born on the nearby island of Raiatea, and trains in Teahupo’o – the Tahitian village which will welcome surfers. Fierro is hoping to build on the team silvers she won at the ISA World Surfing Games in the past two years. 

Vahine Fierro will be carrying French hopes in the women’s surfing event at Paris 2024

Fierro trains at Teahupo’o in Tahiti, which will be hosting the competition at the Olympics 

NOAH LYLES

Age: 26 – Country: USA – Event: Athletics (Track)

Heading into his second Olympics, after winning 200m bronze on debut in Tokyo, Lyles will arguably be shouldering the biggest expectations outside of the home favourites.

The Florida-born sprinter has been the world 200m champion since 2019 but added two more titles at last year’s competition in Budapest. He added the 4x100m relay to his collection, along with the 100m title – which is considered by many to be the pinnacle title for sprinters.

He set a personal best time of 9.83 in the event on his way to becoming the first man to win all three events at the same world championships since the legendary Usain Bolt in 2015. 

Speaking to Mail Sport last year, Lyles outlined his ambition to eclipse his hero in Paris by going for gold in the 100m, 200m, 4x100m relay and 4x400m relay. Although Bolt is famous for winning three golds at back-to-back games in London and Rio, he never won four in one. 

Noah Lyles is heading into his second Olympic Games after winning bronze in Tokyo in the 200m

Lyles has been the world champion in 200m since 2019 and added two more titles in Budapest

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JESSICA FOX

Age: 30 – Country: Australia – Event: Canoe Slalom

Despite an over-10,000-mile distance between Paris and New South Wales, the 2024 Olympics could be considered a home games for the Fox family.

Their eldest child was born in Marseille to a French mother and British father. If the surname seems familiar, that’s because father Richard competed for Team GB at Barcelona in 1992, while mother Myriam won bronze for France at Atlanta in 1996 – both as canoeists.

Jessica, however, is no nepo-baby. Competing in her fourth games, she is looking to build on her tally of four medals. This includes defending her C1 title, a category which made its debut for women in Tokyo.

She has also competed in the K1 event, which she has claimed two silvers and a bronze in. An eight-time world champion, she is widely considered the greatest individual paddler ever.

And to really cement the Fox’s paddling heritage, her younger sister Noemi is making her Olympic debut in the new women’s kayak cross event. 

Jessica Fox is competing in her fourth Olympics this summer, and her family have links with France

Her sister Noemie (right) is making her Games debut in the new Women’s Kayak Cross event

TOM PIDCOCK

Age: 24 – Country: Great Britain – Event: Cycling (Mountain Bike/Road Race)

Britain has become known for its ability to yield brilliant cyclists who ride multiple types of wheels. The likes of Sir Bradley Wiggins, Sir Mark Cavendish and Geraint Thomas have all triumphed on both the road and track in the last 15 years.

However, Tom Pidcock’s ability as a road cyclist, mountain biker and cyclo-crosser is a type of success relatively unique.

After winning gold in the cross-country mountain bike event at Tokyo (which he is looking to defend in Paris), the Leeds-born rider is hoping to add road race victory to his Olympic legacy at his second games.

A junior time trial world champion, Pidcock literally climbed to new heights in 2022 when he won the infamous Alpe D’Huez stage of the Tour de France. 

He prepared for the Olympics with a ride in the Tour this year, and was beaten in the sprint by Frenchman Anthony Turgis on Stage 9, but dropped out of the race ahead of Stage 14 after falling ill with Covid.  

Tom Pidcock prepared for the Olympics by entering the Tour de France with Ineos Grenadiers

The Leeds-born rider was forced to drop out ahead of Stage 14 after a Covid diagnosis scuppered his preparation

BRUNA ALEXANDRE

Age: 29 – Country: Brazil – Event: Table Tennis 

Until now, only three women were able to say they’ve played table tennis at both the Olympics and Paralympics. However, Alexandre is set to join the club this summer.

She made her Paralympic debut at her home games of Rio in 2016, winning an individual silver and team bronze, before repeating the feat at Tokyo. Her disability class is C10 after her right arm was amputated when she was just three months old.

Alexandre will be hoping to finally win her first Paralympic Gold in the French capital after winning team bronze at the Pan American Games last year. But not before she makes history to become one of a handful of athletes to compete at both versions of the summer games.

Nevertheless, her mere presence in Paris perfectly encapsulates the spirit of the games’ founder Baron Pierre de Coubertin – ‘The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not winning but taking part.’ 

QIN HAIYANG

Age: 25 – Country: China – Event: Swimming

When Adam Peaty announced he was taking time away from the pool last year, it was Qin who picked up the pieces and stormed to the top of the breaststroke world.

He took four golds, including in all three breaststroke events, and a silver at the World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka. This included a new world record in the 200m. He then won all three events at each World Cup leg in Europe, which led him to be named winner.

Qin capped off a phenomenal year by breaking new ground when he became the first Asian athlete to be named Male Swimmer of the Year by World Aquatics.

The mouthwatering prospect of a 100m breaststroke final in Paris alongside Peaty, who has held the title since Rio 2016, has echoes of the Bolt-Blake rivalry of London 2012.

Qin was one of 23 Chinese swimmers reported to have tested positive for TMZ at a domestic competition in late 2020 and early 2021. The swimmers were controversially not sanctioned over the positive tests.

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) accepted the argument of Chinese authorities that the positive tests were caused by contaminated food.

Qin Haiyang became the first Asian athlete to be named Male Swimmer of the Year by World Aquatics

FAITH KIPYEGON 

Age: 30 – Country: Kenya – Event: Athletics (Track)

There aren’t many better ways to prepare for an Olympics than by breaking your own world record in the host city. 

That’s exactly what Kipyegon did in the Diamond League’s Meeting de Paris earlier this month. The Kenyan middle-distance runner broke her own 1500m world record with a time of 3:49.04, in a race which saw Team GB’s Laura Muir collect bronze.

However, if Muir is to overcome Kipyegon in the Stade de France, it will require a Herculean effort from the Brit. Kipyegon has held the title since Rio 2016, beating the Olympic record last time out in Tokyo (3:53.11).

She has also won three of the last four World Championships. Her only imperfection came in Doha five years ago, but she still won silver. Add in her 5,000m gold in Budapest last year, to make it a double showing, means she is the middle-distance favourite in Paris. 

Faith Kipyegon has held the title since Rio 2016, beating the Olympic record last time out in Tokyo

Kipyegon broker her own 1500m world record in the Diamond League meeting in Paris

ANDY MACDONALD 

Age: 50 – Country: Great Britain – Event: Skateboarding

When Macdonald was announced to be flying the Union Jack at La Concorde this summer, it prompted a lot of ridiculing references to the Steve Buscemi ‘How Do You Do, Fellow Kids?’ meme on social media.

That’s because neither of his skateboarding compatriots, Lola Tambling or Tokyo bronze-medallist Sky Brown, were alive when Macdonald turned professional. However, the saying goes ‘if you’re good enough, you’re old enough.’

Born in the USA and having previously represented his birth nation for 30 years, he qualifies for a Team GB spot thanks to his Luton-born father. And there isn’t a lot left for him to conquer in a sport which, like surfing, is back for its second Olympics.

Macdonald holds the record for most vertical skateboard medals at the X Games. And although the tournament is still considered the pinnacle by many, Macdonald be hoping to medal in a games which wasn’t ‘in the equation’ when he first picked up a board. 

Andy MacDonald will represent Team GB in the men’s skateboarding event in Paris

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