The 2016 Olympics are fast approaching, with the opening ceremony scheduled for August 5th. Swimming and gymnastics will be among the top sports to watch in the first week with track and field and basketball dominating the second half.
1. Cate Campbell (Australia, swimming)
Rio will be Cate’s third olympic games and she is the favorite to win both the 100m and 50m free. Before leaving Australia, she shocked the world by beating the 100m world record.
2. Katie Ledecky (US, swimming)
Katie is 19 years old and a native of Bethesda, Maryland. In London at just 15 years old, she had a surprise win in the 800m freestyle and since then she has broken a slew of world records. Rio will be her second olympics. She has yet to lose a race, although the 200m free could definitely test her abilities.
3. Usain Bolt (Jamaica, athletics)
Rio will be Usain’s last Olympics and he will be aiming to be the first to win gold in the 100m, the 200m, and the 4x100m relay for the third consecutive time (he was also the first to win gold in these three races for the second consecutive time). He will turn 30 years old on the day of the closing ceremonies.
4. Simone Biles (US, gymnastics)
Originally from Spring, Texas, Simone is only 19 years old and is already the most decorated female gymnast in history. She’s won 10 gold medals in the past two World Championships and is one of three women in history to win four consecutive all-around titles in the P&G Gymnastics Championships. She is the favorite to win individual all-around, balance beam, floor, and possibly vault.
5. Talita Antunes and Larissa Franca (Brazil, beach volleyball)
Larissa Franca is one of the best beach volleyball players of all time (she ranks first in FIVB titles) but has yet to win an olympic gold medal. The closest she came was bronze with Julia Felisberta in London. Franca then retired briefly and came back in 2014 with Talita Antunes as her partner. The two set a record with 61 consecutive victories and won gold at the 2015 World Tour Finals, securing their place in Rio.
6. Genzebe Dibaba (Ethiopia, athletics)
In London, a hamstring injury prevented her from advancing through the 1500m heats, but she is coming back to Rio in full force. In 2015 she won the title of IAAF World Athlete of the Year. In the World Championships she won gold in the 1500m and silver in the 5000m. She is the world record holder for the 1500m and indoor 5000m.
7. Chris Froome (Britain, cycling)
Chris Froome has won the 2013 and 2015 Tours de France and won bronze for the time trial in the 2012 London games. The British press has identified him as the man to succeed Bradley Wiggins as the time trial gold medalist. The course in Rio has many hills on it, which should be to Froome’s liking.
8. Saori Yoshida (Japan, wrestling)
Yoshida was the flag-bearer for Japan at the 2012 Olympic games and is the most decorated athlete in freestyle wrestling history. She will be competing for her fourth consecutive Olympic gold medal in Rio. In addition to three Olympic golds, she has won 13 straight world titles since 2002.
9. Nino Schurter (Switzerland, mountain bike)
He won bronze at the 2008 Olympics, silver at the 2012 Olympics, and returns to Rio as the favorite to win gold. He is a four time world champion, the current overall World Cup champion, and won gold at the 2015 European Games. He has documented his training for Rio in a series of videos on YouTube.
10. Ibtihaj Muhammad (US, fencing)
Muhammad took up fencing because, as a muslim, it allowed her to play a sport while still being fully covered. She will be the first American athlete to compete while wearing a hijab and has gained a lot of attention for it. TIME magazine named her one of the most influential people of for changing the way people view Muslim-American athletes. She’s won a total of five world championships over the years.
11. Neymar (Brazil, football)
Despite winning the World Cup five times, Brazil has never taken home an Olympic gold medal in football. They’ll be hoping to do that in Rio as well as erase the memory of the 2014 World Cup where the team sadly finished fourth after a loss to Germany. Led by Neymar, Brazil won silver in London and he could very well help them achieve gold in Rio. Neymar is one of the best players on the planet, having finished third in the 2015 FIFA Balloon d’Or voting behind Lionel Messi and Christiano Rolando. He has also scored 46 goals for Brazil over the course of 70 matches.
