From Kylian Mbappe to Katie Ledecky: Top athletes of 2022 to remember for Paris 2024
This year is ending after dozens of stunning performances in many sports. olympics.com is highlighting 10 athletes who shone on the world stage.
With 2022 coming to an end, it’s time to look back on what’s happened on the sporting stage, with athletes like Yulimar Rojas, Armand Duplantis and Kylian Mbappé’s performances delighting fans all over the planet.
Olympics.com takes a look at ten of the top athletes of 2022, with less than 600 days to go until Paris 2024.
Yulimar Rojas (VEN), Athletics, 27 years old
She made history in triple jump at Tokyo 2020 in 2021, and kept going on her quest in 2022. Yulimar Rojas broke her own world record at the Olympics last year with a 15.67m mark, doing so on her last jump while she had already secured her gold medal - one of the best moments of the Games.
She then started 2022 with another world record, doing so indoors. Last March, she closed the first part of her season with a 15.74m jump at the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade before heading to the outdoor season with the World Championships in her sights. In July in Oregon, she leapt 15.47m to confirm her domination on the discipline, before winning two Diamond League meetings (15.01m in Monaco, 15.31m in Lausanne) and the Diamond League Finals in Zurich (15.28m).
Kristóf Milák (HUN), Swimming, 22 years old
In 2019, a young swimmer from Hungary - just 19 years old - shone during the World Championships by winning gold in the 200m butterfly event and breaking the world record of the legend Michael Phelps.
It was not a one-off performance as two years later, Kristóf Milák became Olympic champion at Tokyo 2020 in 2021, as well as winning silver in the 100m butterfly event. Arriving at this year’s World Championships, in his hometown of Budapest, he was the star even before touching the water - so after beating his own world record in the 200m butterfly event (1:50.34), over three seconds ahead the rising star from France Léon Marchand, he was feted as a local hero. Three days later, he conquered gold in the 100m butterfly event showing the world that he’s now the undisputed butterfly king.
Rebeca Andrade (BRA), Artistic gymnastics, 23 years old
Everyone had their eyes on her in Liverpool at the 2022 World Artistic Championships in November. A pressure that can bother some, but not Rebeca Andrade. She'd won the silver medal in Tokyo 2020 for the individual all-around, behind American Sunisa Lee (who was not competing in Great Britain), and was leading the world event after three routines with the floor exercise to go. The Brazilian 23-year-old shone, finishing her routine with a beautiful double pike to score a total of 56.899.
“Everything always happens when it needs to, and I am really happy to have done everything I could,” she said after the all-around final. She then won a bronze medal in the floor exercise final.
Kylian Mbappé (FRA), Football, 24 years old
After a stunning World Cup where he lost in final with Team France against Argentina and finished top scorer with 8 goals, Kylian Mbappé is the new star of the football world. Already a world champion in 2018 at only 19 years old when he became the youngest player to score in a final since Pelé in 1958, the Paris-born talent has already more World Cup goals, with 12 units, than Cristiano Ronaldo (8), Thierry Henry (6) and Zinedine Zidane (5).
He has said to l’Équipe that he dreams about playing for France at the Olympic Games Paris 2024: “The Games are the reference in sport, the absolute Holy Grail that every athlete wants to compete in and experience at least once in their lifetime.”
With PSG, he scored 39 goals in 2021/22, including 28 in the French Championship and 6 in the UEFA Champions League. He was also elected best player in the French Championship for the second year in a row.
Katie Ledecky (USA), Swimming, 25 years old
It seems like she has led female swimming for so long - and she has, winning her first Olympic title at London 2012. But Katie Ledecky is still only 25 years old. In 2022, the American swimmer wanted bounced back from a Games in Tokyo which didn't go entirely her way - she didn’t win all gold in all her events, with silver in 400m freestyle and the 4x200m freestyle relay.
In Budapest for the World Championships, she demonstrated we can count on her for the next few years, including Paris 2024, as she picked up four gold medals in the four events she participated in: 400m, 800m, 1500m freestyle and 4x200m freestyle relay. In the 800m freestyle, she finished more than 10 seconds clear of second-placed Australian Kiah Melverton with a time of 8:08.04, the fifth-best in history. It will be interesting to see how she performs at the 2023 FINA World Championships in Fukuoka (14-30 July), where the times will be taken into account for the road to Paris 2024.
Hashimoto Daiki (JPN), Artistic gymnastics, 21 years old
At his age, Hashimoto Daiki might be ranked in the rising star category but with one world and two Olympic titles, it wouldn’t make sense. After shining on home soil for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games with gold in individual all-around and horizontal bar - honoring the legacy of three-time Olympic champion Uchimura Kōhei who retired earlier this year - in Liverpool, he confirmed his status by winning world gold in the individual all-around ahead of Zhang Boheng of People’s Republic of China.
It was a reward for the Japanese as in 2021, the positions were reversed with Zhang winning the gold just 0.17 points ahead. Along with this first world title, Hashimoto clinched three silvers in team event, floor exercise and horizontal bar. “I’m so happy. I had a hard time (since Tokyo 2020), I had an injury and my body didn’t move how I wanted. That affects how I feel and my motivation. So, I’m very happy to win here,” he said to olympics.com after his title.
Pauline Ferrand-Prevot (FRA), Mountain bike, 30 years old
It was an all-in for Pauline Ferrand-Prevot: World Championships or nothing. After a disappointing Olympic Games finishing 10th with a fall while she was in a leading position, she focused on the 2022 Worlds in France in September. At the European Championships in July, she won silver behind her teammate Loana Lecomte, the new French sensation of MTB who won the general ranking of the World Cup in 2021/22.
During the whole season, Ferrand-Prevot didn’t win anything before heading to Les Gets for the big rendez-vous, where she showed that her strategy paid off. She took the lead after the first hills that she never left, winning her fourth World title in the Cross-country Olympic (XCO) race, and her 15th in all events. She then won the last World Cup stage in Italy and another world title in MTB marathon, before winning the inaugural Gravel World Championships race. PFP showed that she can be on top for a big home race, a good sign for Paris 2024 where she’ll try to win her first gold after missing out in London 2012, Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020.
Armand Duplantis (SWE), Athletics, 23 years old
Things look easy for Armand Duplantis, who hasn't stopped making history and breaking world records. At Tokyo 2020, he became Olympic champion with a 6.02m without failing once before trying to break his then-world record of 6.18m.
The Swedish pole vaulter waited a bit and came back in Belgrade for an indoor meeting in March 2022 and managed to jump 6.19m. Two weeks later, he did it again during the World Indoor Championships in the same city, clearing 6.20m. 'Mondo' was expected to produce something big in Oregon for the World Championships in July. With gold secured after a 6.00m jump as nobody else could go higher than 5.94m, he succeeded at a Championship record 6.06m, kind of a warm-up for his following tries.
He then put the bar to 6.21m and after missing it twice, he cleared it to break the world record - outdoor this time.
An San (KOR), Archery, 21 years old
An San from Republic of Korea went from strength to strength in 2022. During the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 in 2021, she won three gold medals and broke an Olympic record that had been untouched since Atlanta 1996 when she scored 680 points in the ranking round - becoming became the first archer to win three golds since 1904.
What did she do in 2022, in a year without World Championships? Finishing at the first place at the world ranking and winning the World Cup Finals, in October in Mexico. At only 21 years old, we might see her breaking even more records on the road to Paris 2024 and after.
WANG Chuqin (CHN), Table tennis, 22 years old
People’s Republic of China is the leading country in table tennis and they won four golds medal out of five available in Tokyo 2020, where the legend Ma Long won his fifth Olympic gold, his second in singles. But this year, the young Wang Chuqin has risen to world number four by winning the World Table Tennis Cup Finals, beating Japanese Harimoto Tomokazu in final.
During that tournament in October, the 2018 Youth Olympic Games champion also defeated Ma Long in a thrilling seven-set match, winning the first three ones, losing the next three and taking the victory in a decider. With fewer than 600 days until Paris 2024, it’s gonna be exciting to follow upcoming competitions, especially since Ma is reputed to be untouchable when the stakes are at their highest.