Olympics 2021: The 21 stars to watch at the Tokyo Games

From the big names you know to the million-dollar badminton star and the athlete with a controversial past, these are the 21 athletes you have to follow in Tokyo.

Bye bye Mr Bolt. Farewell Michael Phelps … it’s time to find a new batch of Olympic stars.

Track and pool superstars Bolt and Phelps, with an astonishing 31 Olympic golds between them, wound up their extraordinary careers in Rio, leaving the Games craving for new champions to take centre stage in Tokyo.

They may not have the superstar status of Phelps or Bolt, but here are 21 stars to watch.

NAOMI OSAKA (Japan, Tennis)

Never mind that tennis has a contentious presence at the Olympics – the four-time Grand Slam winner is a poster girl of the Games. Osaka opted to represent Japan, rather than the United States where she was raised, and is now one of its most popular athletes. She was disappointed when the Games were postposed a year but her desire to take part was undiminished.

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Naomi Osaka will have plenty of local support at the Games. Picture: Getty Images

TEDDY RINER (France, Judo)

Judo will have a special prominence at the Games given its popularity in Japan but it may be a French “teddy bear’’ who steals the limelight. Once unbeaten for nearly a decade, Teddy “Bear’’ Riner is an athlete of rare size (130kg) and skill and the Frenchman will attempt to add to the heavyweight gold medals he won at Rio (2016) and London (2012).

KATIE LEDECKY (United States, Swimming)

Ledecky was the pool queen of Rio with four gold medals and is equally ambitious again. With the 1500m added to the women’s program, another gold medal chance beckons. She has special relevance to Australia because Brisbane’s Tasmania-raised Ariarne Titmus dethroned her in the last world titles and they are expected to face off again in what will be an unmissable 400m showdown for Australian fans. Bring it on.

CAELEB DRESSEL (United States, Swimming)

The new Phelps? Perhaps not quite but Dressel is expected to carve a path of destruction in freestyle and butterfly sprint events. He was an Olympic triallist in 2012 at age 15, then picked up two gold in Rio in 2016 but his seven gold medals at the 2017 world championships tagged him as a potential superstar of these Games.

ROGER FEDERER (Switzerland, Tennis)

Will he ever stop? The Swiss master will turn 40 in August but after 13 months on the sidelines has returned with renewed zest to declare his intention to make Tokyo his fifth Olympics as he searches for an elusive singles gold. Federer missed Rio with a knee injury, won gold with Stan Wawrinka at Beijing in 2008 and was beaten for gold by Andy Murray in London. “This is for me the big one,’’ he recently declared.

Check back tomorrow as we celebrate 100 days until Tokyo.

SIMONE BILES (USA, Gymnastics)

Became an instant national hero when she won four gold medals in seven days in Rio, part of a staggering haul of 30 Olympic and World Championship medals. She will enter Tokyo as a runaway favourite to become the oldest woman in more than five decades to win the Olympic all-around title, the sport’s most coveted prize, and the first repeat champion since Vera Caslavska did it for the former Czechoslovakia in 1968. As ever, her main competition is herself.

ELIUD KIPCHOGE (Kenya, Marathon)

Used to run three kilometres to school but now runs much further and faster as arguably the greatest marathon runner of the modern era and the current Olympic champion. Gained global fame when he broke the magical two-minute mark (1:59:4) for a marathon in Austria in 2019 but it did not officially count due to the help of pacemakers and different rules regarding fluids. Has won the London marathon four times and proved incredibly consistent in this most brutal event.

DINA ASHER-SMITH (Great Britain, Athletics)

Asher-Smith has become the fastest female British sprinter of all time and great expectations trail her to Tokyo. Even before she lands at the Games her profile has skyrocketed in England to the point where she is ranked one of the nation’s most influential personalities of African-Caribbean descent. The 200m world champion will be considered a strong chance in that race and the 100m with the 4x100m relay also in the reckoning.

PV SINDHU (India, Badminton)

Talk about pressure. A billion adoring eyes will be on India’s world champion badminton player PV Sindhu when she steps out in Tokyo. Sindhu became the first Indian to win an Olympic silver medal at Rio in 2016 but has lost the element of surprise amid growing expectations. Has been floating around the world’s top 20 for a decade and has twice made the Forbes rich list for earning above $7 million a year.

Badminton star P.V. Sindhu makes $7m per year. Picture: AFP Photo

JANJA GARNBRET (Slovenia, Rock climbing)

She rocks … literally. Garnbret began climbing at age seven and has been climbing in the rankings ever since to the point where she is clearly the most dominant female force in the new Olympic sport. Competed at a national competition for the first time at age eight and has dominated the World Cup scene for half a decade. Her ability to focus on the task and shut out all distractions is seen as one of her greatest strengths.

NYJAH HUSTON (USA, Skateboarding)

The highest-paid skateboarder in the world can be found in empty schools or on the streets plying his craft in preparation for the Olympics in which his sport will appear for the first time. Huston quarantined for almost a year in the lead-up to the Games with occasional visits to his favourite skating park honing a craft which gained him his first sponsor at age seven. His biography states he is the best street skater of all time.

SERENA WILLIAMS (USA, Tennis)

Just getting to Tokyo for her fifth Olympics, 21 years after her first, would be an astonishing achievement. Williams turns 40 in September and is craving for the chance to add to the four Olympic golds she has pocketed, three with sister Venus in the doubles. Venus may not make the trip this time but the Williams sisters desire to win Olympic medals gave Games tennis a shot of welcome credibility when many said it did not belong.

KYLIE MASSE (Canada, Swimming)

Glamourous Canadian backstroker Masse could become one of the faces of the Games if she continues her improvement of recent years. Masse surprised herself by dead-heating for bronze in the 100m backstroke in Rio but her confidence and performances have surged since then. A year later in Budapest she became the first Canadian woman to win a world title and defended it two years later. Much is expected of her in Tokyo.

All eyes will be on Kylie Masse in the pool. Picture: AAP Images

DAVID BOUDIA (USA, Diving)

Veteran diver who won four Olympic medals on the platform but has switched to the springboard after suffering concussion from a dive gone wrong in 2018. This is likely to be his last Games and, with one more Olympic medal, would have as many as the great Greg Louganis. Has suffered from depression at times throughout his career but claims he found a new peace of mind during COVID lockdowns.

LAURA KENNY (Great Britain, Cycling)

Laura Kenny and her husband Jason have 10 Olympic gold medals between them and there may be more to come from both in Tokyo. Laura won gold in the team pursuit and omnium in London and Rio and is tipped to shine again in the same events. Kenny damaged her arm and shoulder in falls around the time of the postponement of last year’s Games and briefly contemplated retiring but has risen again to make what could be her farewell Olympics.

KENTO MOMOTA (Japan, Badminton)

A flawed but fascinating Japanese cult hero, Momota missed the last Games after being banned for visiting an illegal casino. Last year he was involved in a fatal car accident and a decade ago his home region was struck by an earthquake. But he has somehow survived it all to be one of the favourites for the individual gold in his home country. He is a two-time world champion and won 67 of his 73 matches in 2019.

RORY MCILROY (Ireland, Golf)

McIlroy has gone from questioning why golf was in the Olympics – saying he would rather watch track and field – to being one of the biggest names of the tournament. He missed golf’s return after a century absence in Rio due to virus fears and feeling uncomfortable about whether he should represent Great Britain or Ireland. But Ireland has snared his services and he brings the star factor to a tournament that needs it.

Rory McIlroy is now a supporter of golf at the Olympics. Picture: AFP Photo

STEPH CURRY (USA, Basketball)

The dead-eyed shooter who some say is the most reliable three-pointer marksman in the history of basketball has never played in an Olympics but is scheduled to do so this time. The seven-time NBA All-Star, who plays from the Golden State Warriors, is credited with changing the way teams think about taking three-point shots, which are a gamble to many but not to him. At 33, this may be his first and last Olympics.

ARMAND DUPLANTIS (Sweden, Athletics)

Tipped by athletics scribes to be one of the superstars of the Games, Duplantis is a pole vaulting phenom who has already soared to incredible heights. The son of a pole vaulter and raised in the United States as the son of an American father and Swedish mother, he first tried the sport at age three and held his first world record four years later. Now he has left giants like Sergey Bubka in his wake by posting indoor and outdoor world records.

NATE EBNER (USA, Sevens rugby)

The three-time Super Bowl winner with the New England Patriots has returned from the NFL to try and regain the USA Sevens berth he held in Rio. Ebner played rugby as a junior in Ohio and for US underage teams and has maintained a deep-seated love of the sport despite being lured by the bright lights of the NFL. He is one of 30 players trying out for 12 spots in the USA team and claims that winning an Olympic gold medal is a major priority in his unique sporting career.

ADRIAN GONZALES (Mexico, Baseball)

The five-time Major League All Star wants to play in the Olympics for Mexico before retiring with designs to start a career in broadcasting. Baseball is back at the Games for the first time since 2008 with a six-team competition. Gonzales, 38, was first baseman for the LA Dodgers, San Diego Padres, Boston Red Sox and New York Mets during a decorated 15-year Major League career but has not played in the big league for three years.

Originally published as Olympics 2021: The 21 stars to watch at the Tokyo Games