Tokyo Olympics: 5 athletes who will be the most followed this Olympics; including a 12-year-old competitor.
With the Olympics just 7 days away, we take a look at 5 athletes who will have the most fan-following while they represent their respective nations.
These are also the rising stars of their nation who we might see in the next 2-3 Olympics as well.
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DINA ASHER-SMITH
Dina Asher-Smith won 3 medals at the World Athletics Championships and became the greatest British female sprinter in history.
The 24-year-old will be participating in the 100m, 200m, and 4x100m has been indicated by many to become the nation’s poster girl by the former track-and-field athlete Seb Coe.
Dina was due to run the 200m in the Diamond League meeting at Gateshead on Tuesday before flying to Japan to fine-tune her preparations but will now not take part as she did not want to risk anything before the Olympics.
“Unfortunately Dina Asher-Smith will be unable to compete at the Müller British Grand Prix in Gateshead on Tuesday due to a tight hamstring,” said a statement from the organizers.
MONDO DUPLANTIS
The American-born Swede, 21, won gold as a 15-year-old in the boys’ pole vault at the 2015 World Youth Championships.
Last year, he set a world record as he beat Sergey Bubka’s long-standing mark for the highest outdoor vault of all time.
“I started just in my backyard in Lafayette maybe when I was around three years old,” he recalls. “From a very young age, always, I wanted to be the best. I always thought I was capable of being the best.”
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CAROLINE DUBOIS
The 20-year-old sister of heavyweight star Daniel Dubois became England’s first World Youth Champion by recording a win over Nune Asatrian by unanimous points decision in 2018.
She has 35 wins from 37 fights.
“I don’t feel any added pressure because of my name. A lot of people recognise my name because of Daniel, but hopefully, after the Olympics, it’ll be the other way round and people will know him because of me! I’m very confident of winning a medal. I believe in my ability and if I prepare properly, have faith in myself, and perform to the best of my ability, I’m confident I can beat everyone.” said Caroline.
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SKY BROWN
Sky Brown is currently placed 3rd in the Olympic World Ranking, which if maintained over the next season, would see her qualify for the Olympic Games and give Great Britain, one of their youngest ever athletes at the Summer Games.
By the time the Games comes, she will be just 13. She is also Nike’s youngest ever sponsored athlete.
At the 2019 World Skateboarding Championship, she won bronze and is expected to score big in Tokyo.
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NAOMI OSAKA
The World No. 2 pulled out of the French Open and Wimbledon to focus on her Olympics bid.
“It would honestly mean the world to me to bring home a gold in Japan,” Osaka, 23, told BusinessInsider.com. Osaka delivers a deeply motivating message, “I want to inspire the girls out there watching right now. The ones that some people think are too different. Too quiet. Too something.”
“I think it would take some time to fully sink in, but to be able to win a gold on my country’s soil, knowing the youngest generation is watching – it makes me emotional to know I have the opportunity to make an entire generation inspired and an entire country proud.”
NOAH LYLES
After a dazzling performance at the World Championships in Doha two years ago, where he stormed to victory in the 200m, Lyles declared he was planning to take a crack at the 100m-200m double in Japan.
He holds personal bests of 9.86 seconds for the 100m and 19.50 seconds for the 200m.
Lyles is on a mission to take over Usain Bolt’s crown as the world’s fastest ever sprinter.