Paris 2024: The Paris 2024 Olympics are here, and Team USA will be hoping for a repeat of the 2020 Tokyo Games (held in 2021) where the country topped the medal table with 113 ribbons. 

But which athletes are returning to aim for Gold one again, and who should we be keeping an eye on for sporting success?

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© Joe Scarnici

Hezly Rivera – gymnastics

Team US gymnast Hezly Rivera is officially the youngest member of the delegation, having turned 16 on June 4, 2024, just six weeks before the games.

Hezly was a member of the silver medal-winning team at the 2023 Junior World Championships, plus she won silver in the floor exercise at the same Games.

At the Olympic Trials, held in June 2024, the teen placed fifth in the all-around, tied for first on balance beam, fourth on uneven bars, and eighth on floor exercise, qualifying her to join the squad.

Hezly has a lot to prove, as that fifth spot was much-contested but her dad has already won over audiences; his reaction to her being named on the squad went viral as he broke down in tears while proudly recording his daughter walk out to the cheering crowds.

© Christian Petersen

Sha’carri Richardson – track

Sha’carri is making her Olympic debut in 2024, after being disqualified in 2021 following a positive marijuana test.

The 24-year-old has been breaking records her entire career: in 2019 as a freshman at Louisiana State University, she ran the 100-meter in 10.75 seconds to break the collegiate record at the NCAA Division I Championships.

Sha’carri now also holds the world-leading record for this season with a 10.71 second run to qualify for the Olympics – but you know the determined athlete will be hoping to break more records, including matching or beating her personal-best 100-meter time of 10.65 seconds, or even Florence  Griffith-Joyner’s world record of 10.64.

© Christian Petersen

Nikki Hiltz – middle-distance running

Nikki is transgender and non-binary and uses the pronouns ‘they/them’, and will represent Team USA in the middle-distance running categories.

They came out as transgender and non-binary in 2021; Nikki was assigned female at birth and has always competed in the female categories throughout school and college.

“I felt exhausted from explaining what nonbinary meant to the track and field community over and over again. Headlines would read ‘trans runner Nikki Hiltz..’ and automatically I was assumed either someone assigned male at birth or a trans man who was taking testosterone,” they said in June 2024 in an emotional Instagram post.

Nikki set a new trials record that same month, winning the 1500-meter race in 3:55:33 and will be hoping to make Olympic history as the first trans Team USA Olympian to hit the podium.

© Sean M. Haffey

Caroline Marks – surfing

Caroline, 22, will be competing for Team USA in the surfing – but won’t be heading to Paris, but instead Tahiti, a French overseas territory famous for its waves. 

Caroline came fourth in the 2020 Games and will be hoping to medal this year, after a stunning performance during the 2024 WSL season that has seen her rise to second place ahead of the WSL finals in September.

© Elsa

Simone Biles – gymnastics

Simone needs no introduction – with 37 Olympic and World Championship medals, she is the most decorated gymnast in history.

The 27-year-old will be hoping to come back with a bang, however, after she made the heartbreaking decision to pull out of the team events in 2020 for her own mental health; she said she had a dangerous mental block known in gymnastics as “the twisties,” where her body was unable to complete the right number of twists.

But it looks like 2024 is already shaping up to be a better year, as the athlete has been sharing tons of behind-the-scenes snaps from the Olympic Village, revealing  she is sharing a room with Team USA gymnast Jade Carey, and that she had done all she could to make it as comfortable as possible, adding a blanket adorned with the American flag and Olympic rings, and a cuddly toy from home.

© Matt Dunbar

Carissa Moore – surfing

Carissa, 31, is arguably one of surfing’s greatest to ever do it, winning five world championships and the first ever gold Olympic medal after the sport debuted at the Games in 2020.

She announced her retirement to the shock of fans in 2023, and the 2024 Games will be her final waves in competition, making her rounds a must-see.

© Elsa

Fred Richard – gymnastics

The US men’s gymnastics team are putting their hopes on Fred Richard this year, with the University of Michigan alum hopeful that he can help put the national team on the podium for the first time in 16 years.

The 20-year-old is the 2023 World all-around bronze medalist, as well as the 2021 and 2022 Junior Pan American Champions, while at the 2024 National Championships he finished second in the all-around.

He placed first in the all-around and in the top three for three events at the Olympic Trials, guaranteeing him an automatic spot alongside teammates Brody Malone, Asher Hong, Paul Juda, and Stephen Nedoroscik.

© Tim Clayton – Corbis

A’ja Wilson – baseketball

A’ja will be looking for her second Olympic Gold medal after helping the women’s team top the podium in 2020.

The 27-year-old has been winning her entire career; in 2018, in her final year in college she won every single National Player of the Year awards (Wade, AP, Honda, USBWA, Wooden, and Naismith), and she was drafted first overall by the Aces that same year.

A’ja helped the Aces win Championship titles in 2022 and 2023, but has also been working on philanthropic causes.

She established the A’ja Wilson Foundation in 2019 that advocates for preventing bullying and education around dyslexia, and A’ja is also a member of the WNBA Social Justice Council.

© Brad Smith/ISI Photos/USSF

Walker Zimmerman – soccer

The men’s soccer competition at the Olympics is an under-23 tournament and so Walker, 31, thought his Olympic dreams were over in 2016 when he failed to make Team US.

But all was not lost, as Walker, who plays for Nashville S.C, has this year been named as one of the three “overage” players allowed (players over the age of 23);  it is also thought he may be named Captain due to his age and experience.

Walker has made 42 appearances for the senior men’s national team.

“We have our eyes on a gold medal,”  he told FIFA earlier in the month, revealing that he had entire trust in his team to bring home the medal.

“It just amps up so quickly and that’s really different from a lot of other major tournaments. Games are every three days and we’re going to have to rely on everyone with the reduced roster size to make it happen.”

© Joe Scarnici

Coco Gauff – tennis

At just 20, Coco will be making her Olympics debut after being forced to pull out of the 2020 Games over a COVID-19 diagnosis.

The reigning US Open champion is currently ranked number two in the world, and is considered one of the best and brightest tennis superstars in the world right now.

Coco will also have three chances to medal at the Games, as she will compete in women’s singles and also doubles alongside Jessica Pegula, and the mixed doubles with Taylor Fritz.

It was also announced that she would be the flag bearer, alongside LeBron James, at the Opening Ceremony, making her the youngest athlete ever asked.

© Dustin Satloff

Sunny Choi – breaking

Breaking will make its debut at the Games in 2024 bringing a variety of urban dance styles all rooted in hip-hop and graffiti culture.

Sunny, 35, is the first American woman to qualify for the Olympic Games in breaking, and she quit her corporate job to prepare for the Games when it was announced it would make its Olympics debut

© ATTILA KISBENEDEK

Brooke Raboutou – sports climbing

Sport climbing made its debut in 2020, and 23-year-old Brooke was the first American climber to qualify for Tokyo 2020, while she was still in college.

Her parents ate former world champion climbers, and her mom Robyn is her coach.

Brooke came fifth in the 2020 Games but will be hoping to improve on that this year, as she recently won gold at OQS boulder and lead competitions in Shanghai and Budapest.

© Patrick Smith

Noah Lyles – track

Noah is the six-time world champion who has high hopes on his shoulders; he is expected to win a minimum of three medals at this year’s Games and as well as participating on the men’s 4×100 relay team, he will also compete in the 100 and 200-meters.

It’s not just his running that has people looking through, as the 26-year-old is a showman, using his sense of fashion, nail colors or jewelry to attract attention and whip the crowds into a frenzy.

Noah is also hoping to become only the fifth man to ever earn the elusive “sprint triple” in an Olympic, an unofficial nickname for those who win gold medals in three specific races (the 100, 200 and 4×100-meter relay) at a single Games.

Jesse Owens (1936), Bobby Morrow (1956), Carl Lewis (1984) and Usain Bolt (2008, 2012, 2016) are the only men to have done it in modern Olympic history.

© Sarah Stier

Caeleb Dressel – swimming

Caeleb was a breakout star from the 2020 Games, winning five gold medals and becoming only the third man in history to win three individual swimming golds in a single Olympics.

He holds world records for the 100-meter butterfly (49.45 seconds) and as a member of the 4×100 m medley relay team, (3.26.78.)

In 2022 Caeleb withdrew from the world championships for undisclosed medical reasons and then took an eight-month break citing mental health reasons.

He returned to the pool and competition earlier in 2024, and fans will be keeping a close eye on Caeleb as he competes in three events – the 50-meter freestyle and 100-meter butterfly, as well as the 4×100 freestyle.