11 Athletes Who Could Make the Tokyo Olympics Must-See TV

The Games of the XXXII Olympiad are just weeks away, with Tokyo finally getting its chance to host the postponed 2020 Summer Olympics.

From July 23 to August 8, the NBC networks and NBCOlympics.com will provide coverage of all the events—including the Olympic debuts of surfing, sport climbing and skateboarding, among other sports.

But which Olympians will be the talk of Tokyo and the world at large? We’d put good money on the 11 athletes below, who are bound for golden TV moments if not gold medals.

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Hend Zaza

Had the Tokyo Olympics taken place as scheduled last year, this 12-year-old Syrian table tennis star would have been the youngest Olympian in more than a half century. Now she’s a year older, of course, and probably even better!

Sky Brown

Not far behind Zaza in age is this 12-year-old skateboarding star competing for Great Britain. She’s been studying under legend Tony Hawk, and she was the first female skater to land a frontside 540 at the X Games.

Nyjah Huston

Speaking of skateboarding, one of the skaters repping the U.S. is this 13-time X Games gold medalist with $1 million in career contest winnings to his name.

Noah Lyles

In 2019, this American sprinter ran 200 meters in 19.5 seconds, clocking the fourth-best speed in history and the fastest time in the event since the 2012 Olympics. He’s also the current world champion.

Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce

Fraser-Pryce is hoping to win her fourth straight Olympic medal in the 100-meter event. If so, she’d one-up fellow Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, who took gold in the men’s field three Olympics in a row.

Naomi Osaka

After becoming the highest-paid female athlete ever—and making waves by prioritizing her mental health at the French Open—this tennis champ is set to make her Olympics debut, representing the host country Japan.

Nikita Nagornyy

This Russian gymnast, who earned silver in Rio, became the first man to perform the triple back pike somersault in competition last April.

Laurel Hubbard

Hubbard, a weightlifter from New Zealand who won silver at the 2017 world championships, is set to become the first transgender athlete to compete in the Olympic Games.

Caeleb Dressel

This American swimmer and 13-time world champion has “the potential to win a half-dozen gold medals or more in Tokyo” and “real Phelpsian heights of stardom,” per NBC Olympics.

Zhu Ting

Zhu, who racked up 500 points at the last four major volleyball tournaments, could lead China’s women’s volleyball team to a record-tying fourth gold medal.

Simone Biles

This list wouldn’t be complete, of course, without the greatest gymnast ever, who recently became the first woman to perform a Yurchenko double pike vault in competition. With five Olympic medals already in her possession, we can’t wait to see how much hardware the reigning all-around champion adds to her collection.