U.S. Olympian cheat sheet: Top athletes to watch in Paris beyond the best-known stars (2024)

Simone Biles, Katie Ledecky and LeBron James are among the athletes bound to draw significant attention during the Paris Olympics, but the 2024 Games will feature plenty of compelling storylines and medal contenders beyond the biggest stars.

That’s why The Athletic compiled this list highlighting notable Teams USA athletes set to compete in Paris in sports with less mainstream notoriety. For example, perhaps you didn’t know a horse named Ilex is going for his first Olympic medal or that a fencing/medicine power couple will represent the U.S. in Paris.

This list includes medal defenders, Olympic first-timers and others in between, in all the events beyond the more commonly publicized sports of gymnastics, swimming, track and field, basketball, soccer, golf and tennis.

Let’s dive in.

3×3 basketball – Jimmer Fredette

That’s right, the Paris Games could bring the revival of “JimmerMania” as Fredette — the former college basketball star who rose to national prominence while playing at BYU from 2007 to 2011 — will represent the U.S. in his first Olympics with the men’s 3×3 basketball team.

We know it’s technically basketball, but 3×3 is only in its second Olympic cycle after debuting as an official sport at the Games at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which were played in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The men’s 3×3 team — with Canyon Barry, Kareem Maddox and Dylan Travis also on the roster — is seeking its first Olympic medal. The women’s side is looking to defend its gold from Tokyo, with WNBA players Dearica Hamby and Rhyne Howard, as well as former WNBA-er Cierra Burdick and college star Hailey Van Lith on this year’s squad.

Archery — Casey Kaufhold

Last year, at 19 years old, Kaufhold became the first U.S. woman to rank as the world No. 1 in women’s recurve. Paris will not mark her first Olympics — she competed in individual and team events at the Tokyo Games at 17 years old and didn’t medal — but she’s considered a favorite for gold this year.

If she wins an individual archery medal, Kaufhold, 20, will be the first U.S. woman to do so since Luann Ryon won gold at the 1976 Montreal Games.

Artistic swimming — Anita Alvarez

Alvarez, 27, enters her third Olympics seeking her first medal as an experienced member of the U.S. artistic swimming squad. Russia has dominated the event in recent years (winning gold in the team and duet competitions in each of the last six Games) but the country was barred from the Paris Olympics after the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, clearing the way for a new titleholder.

Alvarez made international news in 2022 when she fainted at the World Aquatics Championships in Budapest and her coach, Andrea Fuentes, jumped in the pool to rescue her. Fuentes had previously pulled Alvarez to safety after fainting at an Olympic qualifying event in 2021 in Barcelona.

Badminton — Beiwen Zhang

Zhang, 34, is the highest-ranked U.S. badminton athlete at 11th in women’s singles. She’s qualified for her second Olympics after appearing at the Tokyo Games, where she finished ninth.

China has dominated badminton at the Summer Olympics since the beginning of the century. It leads the overall gold medal count with 20 (with 47 total medals). The country with the second-most Olympic badminton golds, Indonesia, has less than half that with eight (21 total).

Zhang and her fellow U.S. athletes are going for the country’s first badminton Olympic medal.

Beach volleyball — Kelly Cheng

Cheng (nee Claes), 28, enters the Paris Games as the only Team USA beach volleyball player with prior Olympic experience. She competed at the Tokyo Games with former partner Sarah Sponcil, losing in the Round of 16.

Cheng returns this cycle after reuniting with her former USC beach partner, Sara Hughes. The two won back-to-back national championships together for the Trojans in 2016 and 2017, and they’re hoping to experience the same success on the Olympic stage.

They’re seen as likely medal contenders, having won gold at the 2023 world championships in Mexico, where Brazil’s Ana Patricia Silva Ramos and Eduarda “Duda” Santos Lisboa finished with silver, and the United States’ Taryn Kloth and Kristen Nuss took bronze.

Boxing — Jahmal Harvey

Harvey, 21, will represent the U.S. in the men’s featherweight division in boxing. He won gold at the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile, to qualify for the Paris Olympics. He also won gold at the 2021 world championships in Belgrade, Serbia, at 18 years old to snap a 14-year elite world title drought for the U.S. men.

Considered one of Team USA’s “most dominant and complete boxers” on this Olympic roster by USA Boxing, Harvey could give the U.S. men their best shot at a boxing medal in Paris.

Breaking — Victor Montalvo

Montalvo was the first American to qualify for the Paris Games in breaking, which is making its Olympic debut.

The 30-year-old Florida native qualified after winning the 2023 world championship title in September. Montalvo, who uses the nickname “B-Boy Victor,” is a two-time champion in the Red Bull BC One, an annual international competition, and he won gold at the 2022 World Games.

Canoe/kayak — Nevin Harrison

Harrison, 22, won gold at the Tokyo Games in the women’s C-1 200-meter sprint canoeing event when she was 19 to become the first American woman to win gold in an Olympic canoe or kayak event. She won the U.S. Olympic trials in the 200-meter sprint in March and finished fourth at the world championships last August, two months after sustaining a back injury.

Casey Eichfeld (men’s canoe slalom) is another notable athlete who qualified for Paris, as the 34-year-old is set to become the first U.S. athlete to compete in four Olympics in the slalom canoe event.

Cycling — Jennifer Valente

Valente, 29, is the defending Olympic gold medalist and world champion in the women’s omnium, a multi-race event. She’s slated to compete in all three endurance events — team pursuit, Madison (relay) and omnium — in women’s track cycling at the Paris Games.

Valente is a three-time Olympic medalist who won bronze in Tokyo and silver at the 2016 Games in Rio in team pursuit in addition to her omnium gold in 2021.

Diving — Andrew Capobianco

Capobianco, 24, qualified for his second Olympics after winning the silver medal at the Tokyo Games in the men’s 3-meter synchronized springboard event with Michael Hixon. He won the 3-meter springboard individual event at the U.S. Olympic team trials in June to qualify for the upcoming Games. At the Tokyo Olympics, Capobianco finished 10th in the 3-meter springboard.

He’ll be joined in the men’s 3-meter springboard individual event by Carson Tyler, who qualified for both the 3-meter springboard and the 10-meter platform to become the first American diver to do so since Mike Ruiz qualified for both events for the same Olympics in 2000.

Two other Tokyo silver medalists return: Delaney Schnell and Jessica Parratto are back in the synchronized 10-meter platform after finishing second in Japan.

Equestrian — McLain Ward

Ward, 48, is a four-time Olympic medalist entering his sixth Games. A veteran jumping competitor, Ward won gold with the U.S. team at the 2004 Athens Games and 2008 Beijing Games with his longtime horse Sapphire.

At the Paris Games, he’ll be riding Ilex in their first Olympics together.

Fencing — Lee Kiefer

Kiefer, 30, is the defending Olympic gold medalist in the women’s individual foil — the first U.S. fencer to win Olympic gold in the category — and returns for her fourth Games.

She and her husband Gerek Meinhardt, who is also a Team USA Olympian and competing in Paris (men’s foil), are in medical school at the University of Kentucky and plan to restart their third year after this Olympics. They run a TikTok account called oldmarriedolympians.

Field hockey — Amanda Golini and Ashley Hoffman

After failing to qualify for the last Olympics in Tokyo, the U.S. women’s field hockey team secured a berth to the Paris Games by advancing to the final at the FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifiers in January in Ranchi, India, where they fell to Germany.

The team’s roster does not feature any athletes with prior Olympic experience but is co-captained by national team veterans Golini, 29, and Hoffman, 27. Both won silver with Team USA at the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile, and bronze at the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru.

Judo — Maria Laborde

Laborde, 33, is the highest-ranked U.S. judoka qualified for the Paris Games — at No. 11 in the women’s 48-kilogram (106-pound) weight class.

She was born in Cuba but secured her U.S. citizenship in 2022 and started competing for Team USA that year. Laborde won silver at the 2023 Masters Worlds to become the first U.S. athlete in seven years to medal at the event.

Modern pentathlon — Jess Davis

Davis, 32, is the only U.S. athlete to qualify for the Paris Olympics in the modern pentathlon, which consists of five events (fencing, swimming, equestrian show jumping, pistol shooting and cross-country running).

She qualified for Paris at the 2023 Pan American Games in October with a fourth-place finish in the individual event.

Rowing — Meghan Musnicki

At 41 years old, Meghan Musnicki is the oldest Team USA rowing athlete on the roster for the Paris Games. She is set to become the oldest U.S. Olympic female rower, surpassing Lisa Schlenker’s mark from the 2004 Athens Olympics when she competed at 39, per NBC Sports.

Musnicki owns two Olympic gold medals, winning the women’s eight at the 2012 London and 2016 Rio Games. Her boat finished fourth in the women’s eight at the 2020 Tokyo Games. She’s a six-time medalist at world championships as part of a U.S. women’s eight squad that enjoyed a long stretch of dominance, including five golds, with her latest being a bronze medal in 2019.

Rugby — Kevon Williams

Williams, 33, captains the U.S. men’s rugby sevens squad hoping to improve on its ninth- and sixth-place finishes in the event’s first two appearances in the Olympics. Fiji has won both golds since rugby sevens debuted at the Olympics in 2016.

Williams — a halfback/wing from Houston — is appearing at his second Olympics after competing for Team USA at the 2020 Tokyo Games.

Sailing — Daniela Moroz

Moroz, 23, is making her Olympic debut, as is her sport, kitesurfing, which was added to the 2024 Games.

Moroz — a five-time world champion — was the first U.S. Sailing member to qualify for the Paris Olympics. She won gold at the 2023 Pan American Games.

Shooting — Vincent Hanco*ck

Hanco*ck, 35, won gold at three of the last four Olympics in men’s skeet. One of the world’s most decorated skeet shooters, he’s entering his fifth Olympic Games with a resume that includes 13 combined medals at world championships and the Pan American Games.

If he wins another gold medal at the Paris Games, he will become the sixth-ever athlete to win four Olympic gold medals in the same individual event, joining Americans Al Oerter, Carl Lewis and Michael Phelps, according to Team USA.com.

He previously told TeamUSA.com that he plans to qualify for the 2028 Los Angeles Games, which would be his final competition before retirement.

Skateboarding — Jagger Eaton

Eaton, 23, won bronze in men’s street at the Tokyo Games, where skateboarding debuted in the Olympics.

He won gold in men’s park at the 2023 world championships and the 2023 Summer X Games. However, fellow U.S. skateboarder Tom Schaar, 24, edged out Eaton for the final men’s park spot for Paris at the last Olympic qualifier event.

Sport climbing — Sam Watson

Watson, 18, has burst onto the international speed-climbing scene since the Tokyo Olympics. He broke the men’s speed climbing world record twice in April at the IFSC World Cup in Wujiang, China, with times of 4.85 and 4.79 seconds during qualifying.

He won gold at the 2023 Pan American Games and qualified in speed climbing for the Paris Games, his first Olympics.

Surfing — Carissa Moore

Moore, 31, is aiming to defend her gold medal in surfing from the Tokyo Games, where the sport made its Olympic debut.

A five-time world champion, Moore — a Hawaii native — announced in January she would leave competitive surfing after the Olympics with plans to start a family. She left the door open for a potential return ahead of the 2028 Los Angeles Games, but this could be her last Olympics, which she enters as a favorite.

Table tennis — Lily Zhang

It’s a tall order to unseat China as the top nation in table tennis. Since the sport debuted at the Olympics in 1988, China has totaled 60 medals, including 32 of 37 possible golds.

But giving the U.S. its best shot to medal might be Zhang, 28, a three-time Olympian who is set to become the first U.S. table tennis athlete to compete in four Olympics.

Taekwondo — CJ Nickolas

Nickolas, 23, qualified for the Paris Olympics in January with his No. 2 world ranking in the 80-kilogram (176-pound) weight class.

He won silver at the 2023 world championships last June, becoming the first U.S. men’s taekwondo athlete since 2009 to medal at the event. He also took gold at the 2023 Pan American Games in October.

Trampoline — Aliaksei Shostak

Yes, trampoline is a gymnastics event, but it’s worth highlighting an athlete who will represent the U.S. in the competition.

Shostak, 29, is slated to appear at his second Olympics for the men’s side, clinching his spot after winning the individual event at the USA Gymnastics Championships in June.

He finished 13th at the 2020 Tokyo Games but has since medaled three times at world championships and won gold in the men’s synchro at the 2023 Pan American Games.

Jessica Stevens, 24, is representing the U.S. in trampoline on the women’s side and appearing in her first Olympics.

Triathlon — Taylor Knibb

Knibb, 26, returns for her second Olympics after earning a silver medal in the mixed relay at the Tokyo Games. She finished 16th in the women’s individual event in Tokyo.

Knibb obtained quotas in both triathlon and road cycling for the Paris Games, which will make her a rare multi-sport Olympian. Although she was eligible for both women’s road cycling events (road race and time trial), Knibb resigned from her position in the road race this month to focus on the time trial and triathlon.

Volleyball (indoor) — Jordan Larson

Larson, 37, captained the U.S. women’s volleyball team to its first-ever Olympic gold at the Tokyo Olympics. The outside hitter and Nebraska alum enters her fourth Games as a three-time Olympic medalist.

While the U.S. women are seeking a title repeat, the U.S. men are looking for redemption following their early exit in Tokyo, where they failed to advance out of the Olympic pool stage for the first time since the 2000 Sydney Games.

The U.S. men’s volleyball team has three Olympic golds, its last at the 2008 Beijing Games.

Water polo — Maggie Steffens

Steffens, 31, is going for an Olympic record at the Paris Games. She won gold with the U.S. women’s water polo team at the last three Summer Olympics and is aiming for a historic fourth gold medal.

Team USA’s captain and the all-team leading scorer in women’s Olympic water polo, Steffens has advocated for more exposure to her sport, which drew unexpected interest from rap icon Flavor Flav. He signed a five-year sponsorship deal to serve as the official hype man for the U.S. women’s and men’s national water polo teams and said he plans to be in Paris cheering them on.

Weightlifting — Olivia Reeves

Reeves, 21, had a stellar 2023 campaign, with Olympics.com referring to her as a rising star in the sport. She’s slated to compete in the women’s 71-kilogram (157-pound) weight class at the Paris Olympics, which will mark her first Games.

Reeves won gold in that class at the 2024 IWF World Cup, placing first in the snatch (118 kilograms/260 pounds), clean and jerk (150 kilograms/331 pounds) and total.

She also won gold in the 81-kilogram (179-pound) weight class at the 2023 Pan American Games.

Wrestling — Aaron Brooks

The 24-year-old Brooks is making his first Olympic appearance, competing in the 86-kilogram (190-pound) weight class in the men’s freestyle. He beat reigning world champion and 2020 Olympic gold medalist David Taylor in a stunning upset at the U.S. Olympic trials to clinch his spot for Paris.

The Penn state product is part of a stacked U.S. wrestling roster that includes the much-hyped Spencer Lee, a three-time NCAA champion making his Olympic debut in the men’s freestyle (57-kilogram/126-pound class).

Lee is another wrestler to watch in Paris, but a big question will be whether Brooks can pull off another upset and beat Iran’s Hassan Yazdani, the 2020 Olympic silver medalist seen as the favorite in their weight class.

(Top photo of Lee Kiefer celebrating her Tokyo gold medal: Fabrice Coffrini / AFP via Getty Images)