Rai Benjamin
Sport: Track and Field
Mount Vernon, New York’s Rai Benjamin is going to be one of the favorites when the men’s 400-meter hurdles event is run in Tokyo. At the 2021 U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Benjamin left the athletics world stunned by finishing that event with the second-fastest time in world history. His finish was just 0.05 seconds off the pace that has been standing since 1992, giving the 23-year-old the chance to outdo himself and smash it on the biggest stage of them all.
AP Photo/Ashley Landis
April Ross
Sport: Beach Volleyball
Tokyo will be the third time April Ross has represented the U.S. Olympic Team in beach volleyball and she has some serious unfinished business. After capturing the silver medal in 2012, the native Californian had a disappointing bronze-medal finish in 2016, leaving her starving for a gold to round out her collection. At 39 years old, Ross is sure to be one of the older competitors in the field — her teammate, Alix Klineman, is 31 — but that only makes her quest even more thrilling.
AP Photo/Petr David Josek
Kyle Snyder
Sport: Wrestling
He’s only 25 years old, but Kyle Snyder is already one of the most decorated American wrestlers ever. The Maryland native became the country’s youngest gold medalist ever in the sport at the 2016 Olympics in freestyle wrestling. He’s also got NCAA wrestling championships, a pair of world championships and a host of other medals from international competitions in his trophy room. Wrestling fans are salivating for a potential medal matchup between Snyder and Russian star Abdulrashid Sadulaev, which NBC called a dream contest on the Olympic stage.
AP Photo/Christophe Ena
Brighton Zeuner
Sport: Skateboarding
If you love rooting for young upstarts at the Olympics, skateboarding phenom Brighton Zeuner will be one to watch. The Arizona native was born in July 2004, just before the start of the Athens Games that saw several athletes on this list in competition. Zeuner turned 13 years old the day before she won gold in park skateboarding at the 2017 X Games, making her the youngest champion in X Games history. Now 16 years old and practically a grizzled veteran of the sport, Zeuner is expected to be a favorite for gold as skateboarding makes its Olympics debut, even after recently overcoming a serious ankle injury.
AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall
John John Florence
Sport: Surfing
Hawaii’s John John Florence is another who had to battle back from a serious injury to qualify for Tokyo. In his case, it was a torn ACL and he somehow recovered enough to earn a spot on Team USA as surfing makes its Olympics debut. Florence is known for his shy personality, which may make the upcoming stage a little uncomfortable for him, but his skills riding a wave are legendary. So far, he’s won two world championships and will be one of the biggest names competing to be one of the first surfing medalists in Olympics history.
AP Photo/Felipe Dana