From Jessica Gadirova to Erriyon Knighton: Top prospects of 2022 to remember for Paris 2024
Swimming, skateboarding, breaking, tennis, athletics are among the many sports where young athletes have been making their mark. Olympics.com has selected 10 rising stars to watch as the clock counts down to Paris 2024.
Watch out: the kids are coming for gold.
Young athletes from Carlos Alcaraz to Jessica Gadirova have had breakout seasons in 2022, demonstrating why they should be considered real contenders for Paris 2024.
Olympics.com has selected 10 rising stars to follow on the road to the next Olympic Games.
Jessica Gadirova (GBR), artistic gymnastics, 18 years old
Great Britain’s women’s artistic gymnastics team won their first team medal in 93 years with the help of Gadirova in Tokyo 2020. But in 2022, she showed that she can also make it on her own.
With a floor exercise gold medal and an all-around bronze at the World Championships in Liverpool - as well as leading her nation to team silver - Gadirova set herself apart.
And she's also attracting attention. She was voted Young Sportswoman of the Year by the Sunday Times for her exploits this year.
MORE: Jessica Gadirova wins the floor exercise gold medal at home
Carlos Alcaraz (ESP), tennis, 19 years old
There is an argument that the Spanish tennis player has already risen to the pinnacle of sport. After all, he is the youngest World No.1 in history and the champion of the last Grand Slam of the year, the U.S. Open.
However, five titles in one season suggest that it might only be the beginning of the Alcaraz era in men’s tennis.
Can he stay at the top long enough to make his Olympic debut at Paris 2024 as the favourite, ahead of veterans Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic?
Time will tell.
Summer McIntosh (CAN), swimming, 16 years old
The youngest member of Team Canada in Tokyo 2020 had a 4th place in Japan, but greater things were coming her way in 2022.
She became the youngest world champion in the 400m individual medley since 1978, left Budapest with four medals (two gold, one silver, one relay bronze), and became the fourth best ever performer in the 400m freestyle.
Add to the count two gold medals at the Commonwealth Games (200m and 400m medley) to conclude the year and it already looks like McIntosh could make history in Paris 2024 before turning 18.
MORE: Top facts about Summer McIntosh, the Canadian swimming star
Erriyon Knighton (USA), athletics, 18 years old
If someone breaks an Usain Bolt record, they deserve attention.
At the Olympic Trials for Tokyo 2020, then 17-year-old Knighton ran the 200m in 19.91 seconds, surpassing the U20 mark of the Jamaican icon. He has since improved to 19.49 - although that time wasn't ratified.
Only Bolt, Yohan Blake, Noah Lyles and Michael Johnson have been faster than that.
Knighton got the bronze at the World Championships in Eugene, becoming the youngest world medallist sprinter, but his eyes are on the 200m world record. Could Paris 2024 be the place where he claims it?
Ami (JPN), breaking, 24 years old
A rising sport in the Olympic programme, breaking presents several prospects for its debut in Paris 2024. One of them is the Saitama-born b-girl Ami, known for learning the most difficult moves only a few days after practicing them.
Ami was the first BC One champion in 2018, and became a two-time world champion in 2019 and 2022, with a runner-up appearance in 2021.
Watch out for her at Paris 2024.
David Popovici (ROM), swimming, 18 years old
The Romanian swimmer was 0.02 seconds from a medal at the 200m freestyle in Tokyo 2020, but there was no stopping him in 2022.
At the World Championships in Budapest, Popovici broke three junior world records and made the 100m-200m freestyle double, becoming the first to do so in the same event since 1973.
Later, at the European Championships, he took the 13-year-old world record in the 100m, with 46.86. Between juniors and seniors, the swimmer collected more than 20 gold medals in 2022 alone.
Sofia Raffaeli (ITA), rhythmic gymnastics, 18 years old
There were many ‘firsts’ for Italy in rhythmic gymnastics this year, and Raffaeli was responsible for all of them.
With gold medals in three World Cups stages, World Games, European Championships, Challenge World Cup and World Championships, she had the Italian anthem played for the first time at all those events.
In Sofia, Raffaeli upstaged her opponents with four individual titles, including the all-around, and clinched the golden team ticket for Paris 2024.
Zhang Boheng (CHN), artistic gymnastics, 22 years old
The current rival of Japanese Olympic gold medallist Hashimoto Daiki, Zhang had his breakthrough in 2021, with three medals at the National Championships and the all-around world title.
Five podiums came at the Olympic trials, but he was a reserve in Tokyo 2020 and didn’t compete at the Games.
In 2022, he defended his all-around gold at the National Championships and took silver at the World Championships in Liverpool, as well as helping his team winning the competition and securing their place at the next Olympic Games.
MORE: People's Republic of China, Japan and Great Britain qualify for Paris 2024
Chloe Covell (AUS), skateboarding, 12 years old
Women’s street is an event with many young stars, and another one has joined the club.
At the age of 12, Covell has had a season to remember: Australian national champion, silver medals at the X Games and the SLS stage in Las Vegas, and bronze at the Dew Tour and X Games Chiba, in Japan. She is also in the race for Paris 2024, after competing in the Olympic Qualifier in Rome, finishing in 7th place.
Her next mission: trying to break the Japanese-Brazilian domination of women’s skateboarding street.
Léon Marchand (FRA), swimming, 20 years old
If Popovici is the rising star of freestyle, Marchand is ready to please the home crowd at Paris 2024 in the individual medley.
Following a 6th place in Tokyo 2020 in the 400m, the Frenchman became world champion in the 200m and 400m in Budapest, with a European record in the longer distance.
He also thrived at the NCAA, with gold medals at the 200 yards medley and breaststroke.
If you need another reason to be excited: Marchand is coached by Bob Bowman, former mentor of the G.O.A.T. Michael Phelps.