On July 26, the 2024 Olympic Games kick off in Paris, and thousands of athletes will compete for medals across 32 sports over the course of three weeks. Millions viewers—myself included—will watch some of these Olympic sports and athletes for the first time. That’s part of the fun of the Games: niche sports and lesser-known athletic heroes get a moment in the spotlight.
But if you, like me, enjoy these athletes for their impressive backstories and amazing personal histories, I have six individuals for you to follow. You don’t even need to know anything about their respective sports to cheer for these stars. Some of the athletes on this list are medal contenders—others simply have an Olympic backstory that is worthy of our attention.
Tom Pidcock; Great Britain; Mountain Biking and Road Cycling
Pidcock is the defending Olympic mountai-bike champion, and he is the favorite to take home gold in Paris. But his success isn’t limited to one cycling discipline—Pidcock will represent Great Britain in road cycling as well. In fact, he’s racing in Paris just a few weeks after competing in the Tour de France (he dropped out after stage 9 with COVID symptoms). I’m a fan of Pidcock because he does absurd and charming biking stunts, like home from the airport, or casually pedal from Germany to the Czech Republic the day after winning a cross-country mountain biking World Cup. The man clearly just loves to ride bikes, and I love that about him.
Suppenkasper the horse, aka “Mopsie” aka “Rage Horse;” USA; Equestrian
You don’t have to know anything about equestrian to find Mopsie the horse and his rider, five-time Olympian Steffen Peters, wildly entertaining. During the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, Mopsie and Peters—who is 59 years old—went viral for their The horse gracefully trotted and hopped in perfect time to a custom-composed EDM beat. To be totally honest, I’ve never watched a dressage competition in full, but apparently the event is by how precisely horse and rider execute specific steps and motions, which sounds stuffy and boring until you watch a 900-plus pound animal get down like it’s Saturday night at the club (Snoop Dogg himself that Mopsie can “crip-walk” better than most humans).
Ai Mori; Japan; Combined Boulder and Lead Climbing
According to our friends at Climbing, reigning Olympic gold medalist Janja Garnbret of Slovenia is the in the women’s combined boulder and lead climbing event. But Japan’s Ai Mori is one of a handful of athletes who could challenge Garnbret for the top prize in Paris. There are a handful of climbers who could win, including , and the structure of competition may enable Mori to do it in a particularly dramatic fashion. In the combined category, athletes earn scores in two distinct disciplines of the sport, boulder and lead, which are added together for their final ranking. Mori holds her own in bouldering in international competitions, but is very good at lead—and since the lead portion of the event is held second, Mori will enter the final rounds with particularly strong chance to improve her overall score.
Simone Biles; USA; Artistic Gymnastics
Yes, Biles is probably the most recognizable athlete on Team USA, and it almost goes without saying that I’m excited to watch her in Paris. I don’t have any wisdom about her excellance that hasn’t already been shared. Still, I just can’t wait to see the seven-time Olympic medalist, 23-time world champion, and best gymnast of all time to get back on the Olympic mat after her case of the “twisties” in Tokyo.
John John Florence; USA; Surfing
Florence has already cemented his status as one of surfing’s all-time greats. The 32-year-old grew up on the North Shore of Oahu, with legendary waves in his backyard. He was winning surf competitions and sponsored by wetsuit and board brand O’Neill when he was just six years old; by the time he turned 23, he was widely considered to be the best surfer in the world. In the years since, he’s gone on to win surfing’s biggest competitions. Florence came in ninth in Tokyo and is going into the Paris Olympic competition—which will be held in Tahiti—at the top of the World Surf League rankings. It’s hard to put into words exactly what makes Florence such a compelling surfer to watch, especially since I have never surfed in my life, but just watch a minute or two of and tell me you’re not entertained.
Sifan Hassan; Netherlands; Marathon, Athletics
At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Hassan ran in three events (1500 meters, 5000 meters, and 10,000 meters), winning the longest of the three and getting bronze in the 1,500. When Hassan, who was born in Ethiopia and competes for the Netherlands, decided to branch out from middle distance to marathons at the 2023 London marathon, she pulled off a stunning come-from-behind victory. Later that year, in Chicago, she ran the second-fastest women’s marathon ever. Hassan has qualified for four events in Paris: 1,500, 5,000, and 10,000 meters, plus the marathon. If she decides to compete in all four—which she opt to do—she would surpass the already unprecedented competition schedule she pursued in Tokyo. And even if Hassan doesn’t participate in every event she’s qualified for, her running prowess over such a broad range of distances makes her an athlete worthy of my attention and cheers.