Olympics 2016: Ten rising Aussie stars who could make a big impact at the Rio Games next year

WITH one year to go before the Rio Olympic Games, we take a look at 10 Australian rising stars who could become household names.

WITH one year to go before the Rio Olympic Games, we take a look at 10 Australian rising stars:

MACK HORTON (swimming)

WITH the spectacles of Clark Kent, Mack Horton could be Australian swimming’s new Superman.

The 19-year-old Melbourne distance swimmer will tonight (SUNDAY) announce his arrival on the world stage as one of the favourites for the gold medal in the 400m freestyle.

Horton idolised Grant Hackett from the moment they met at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne and a decade later he could emulate his hero on the Olympic stage.

Horton has the potential to achieve what Hackett narrowly missed in 2004 and that is to win gold in both the 400m and 1500m freestyle.

KIM MICKLE (athletics)

THE popular West Australian has been on a slow build throughout her career but at 30 she is now at the peak of her powers.

Her past two years have been the best with javelin in hand, starting off with a major international breakthrough at the 2013 world championships in Moscow where she claimed the silver medal.

Mickle took that to another level in 2014, winning the national title, breaking the Australian record, taking the javelin gold at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games and finishing on the podium at every IAAF Diamond League meet.

GOLDEN HOPES: AUSTRALIA’S TOP 10 MEDAL CHANCES AT RIO 2016

KEY DATES: EVERYTHING YOU NEED KNOW ABOUT THE 2016 RIO OLYMPICS

MINJEE LEE (golf)

Minjee Lee has rocketed into the world top 20.

WHEN she started her rookie LPGA season Australia’s latest golf sensation thought Rio was a distant dream.

But by the halfway mark, the 19-year-old West Australian has rocketed into the world’s top 20 and booked herself a ticket to the Olympic Games.

Australia’s top two women golfers gain Olympic selection and Lee has just taken the country’s No.1 ranking off her idol Karrie Webb.

A former world No.1 amateur, Lee turned professional last year and registered her first Tour victory in Virginia in May.

DANTE EXUM (basketball)

THE budding NBA star will play a key role for the Boomers, who for the first time will come into an Olympic Games with medal expectations.

Australia’s men’s basketball team has failed to get on the dais previously but 20-year-old Exum leads an impressive pack of NBA players who will wear the green and gold in Rio.

Exum had a rapid rise to stardom, going from playing with a Canberra High School team to being taken at No.5 in the 2014 NBA draft by the Utah Jazz.

The 198cm guard impressed during his rookie season with his season-high of 15 points and five assists coming against the Milwaukee Bucks in January.

ELEANOR PATTERSON (athletics)

THE shy high-jumper from country Victoria is the next big thing in Australian athletics.

Patterson burst into prominence when she won the 2013 World Youth Championships title and then later that year smashed the record books with a clearance of 1.96m — the highest jump by a 17-year-old anywhere, ever.

The high school student then took her first senior championships in her stride, winning the gold medal with a minimum of fuss at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games.

That put her in elite company as she became the youngest Australian to win a Commonwealth Games gold medal in athletics since Cathy Freeman ran a leg in the winning 4x100m relay at the 1990 Auckland Games.

ALEX EDMONDSON (track cycling)

EDMONDSON was just 18 when he went to the London Olympics as part of Australia’s team pursuit only to be overlooked for a ride in both qualifying and the final where Australia finished second behind Great Britain.

But in the three years since he has gone from baby-faced youngster of the team to an integral part of the machine which last month set an unofficial world record of 3mins 51 secs in Mexico.

Edmondson is a multiple world champion in the individual and team pursuit and this is likely to be his final crack at Olympic gold on the track before he turns his attention to the road with professional team Orica-GreenEDGE in the second half of 2016.

STEPHANIE MORTON (track cycling)

Stephanie Morton is one of the few who knows what it’s like to beat Anna Meares.

MORTON was in London in 2012 but for the Paralympics where she was a pilot rider for visually impaired cyclist Felicity Johnson and the pair stormed to gold in the 1km time trial.

Since then she has graduated from the tandem bike to the single as part of the national elite sprint program where she has delivered impressive results, the highlight being her ride at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games where she beat teammate Anna Meares to win gold in the women’s sprint.

Morton will be 25 when the Rio Olympics are held and she is in contention for a spot in the women’s team sprint alongside either Meares or Kaarle McCulloch, but she has also proven more than capable in the individual sprint and keirin as well.

SHELLEY WATTS (boxing)

Shelley Watts created history by winning the first Commonwealth Games female boxing gold. Picture: Adam Head

THE 27-year-old recorded a breakthrough victory with gold in the women’s lightweight division at last year’s Commonwealth Games, vindicating her decision to put a promising law career on hold while she chases glory in the boxing ring.

It was the first time female boxing was included on the Commonwealth Games program meaning Watts created history and she’s hoping to take that confidence into Rio.

In February she won gold in the 64kg division at the national titles where she was voted female boxer of the tournament, but will drop down to 60kg for the Olympics.

Watts is currently training at the AIS in Canberra with an eye on next year’s world titles in Kazakhstan in February.

CALEB EWAN (road cycling)

EWAN has only just turned 21 but he has the speed to match the best road cyclists in the world. In his rookie professional season with Orica-GreenEDGE he has so far won eight races across the world and been a regular on the podium.

He showed toughness to finish the road race at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games in 12th place despite heavy rain forcing much of the field to abandon and his second place behind the experienced Heinrich Haussler in this year’s national championship confirmed he is a star on the rise.

Selection for Rio may hinge on whether coaches believe he will be suited by the course but if they need a top-line sprinter who is not afraid to mix it with the big boys like Mark Cavendish and Andre Greipel and can get over a climb, then Ewan will be right in the mix.

MADISON WILSON (swimming)

Madison Wilson seems to be timing her Rio run to perfection.

WILSON is the Brisbane backstroker who just might be timing her Olympic run to perfection.

The 21-year-old has really come of age in the last six months and is now swimming times that will see her join the ongoing rivalry between Australia’s Emily Seebohm and USA’s Missy Franklin as they battle for gold in the 100m event.

Coached by Michael Bohl, the same man who guided Stephanie Rice to triple Olympic gold in 2008, Wilson should be there fighting for gold if her natural progression continues in the next 12 months.

Originally published as Olympics 2016: Ten rising Aussie stars who could make a big impact at the Rio Games next year