Top 10 teens to watch at Paris Olympics 2024

From record-breaking swimmers to rising stars in gymnastics, these ten young athletes are poised to make a splash at the Paris Olympics 2024. Keep an eye on these future legends as they bring fresh talent and fierce competition to the world's biggest sporting stage.

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1. Sky Brown (Skateboarding)

Teenage sensation Sky Brown is back for another shot at gold in Paris. Aged 13, Brown became the youngest athlete to win an Olympic medal for Team GB at the Tokyo Olympics as she clinched park bronze.

Women's skateboarding has seen a massive influx of teenage talent in recent years and Brown has been one of the young shredders at the forefront of it all. The two-time X Games champion won her first world title in February 2023 and remains a gold medal threat in women's park, as well as one of the most popular skateboarders in the world. 

2. Summer McIntosh (Swimming)

Record-breaking 17-year-old Summer McIntosh is ready to perform at her second Olympics. The Canadian is the world record holder in the 400m individual medley and second-fastest woman in history in both the 400m and 800m freestyle, and ended three-time defending Olympic champion Katie Ledecky's 13-year unbeaten streak in the 800m freestyle in February.

In Paris Olympics 2024, she will contest the 200m butterfly and 400m individual medley, she is a two-time world champion in both along with the 200m individual medley, 400m freestyle, and probably several relay events.

3. Quan Hongchan (Diving)

Despite being just 17, this will be Quan Hongchan's second Games, and the Chinese diver will start as the defending champion in the women's 10m platform. Quan set a world record in Tokyo by beating 15-year-old teammate Chen Yuxi to gold. She earned perfect scores from all seven judges on two of her five dives at the age of just 14.

China has won all but one of the diving golds at both the past two Olympics and Quan will once again be favourite after collecting five World Championship golds since winning the Olympic title.

Also Read: Top 10 athletes in the world with the most Olympic medals

4. Hezly Rivera (Gymnastics)

Hezly Rivera, a 16-year-old from Plano, will make her Olympic gymnastics debut as one of the youngest athletes in Paris. Originally from Oradell, N.J., Rivera and her family moved to Texas, where she trains at the World Olympics Gymnastics Academy. Her specialties are the uneven bars and balance beam.

Rivera will be competing alongside some leading Olympic veterans in her team, including Simone Biles, who has bagged four golds at the Olympics already, and Sunisa Lee, who is a 2021 All Around gold medalist, according to a NY Post report.

5. Phoebe Gill (Athletics)

At the age of 17, Phoebe Gill is set to become the youngest British track athlete to compete at an Olympic Games for more than 40 years. The 800m sensation beat Jemma Reekie, who finished fourth at the Tokyo Olympics, to win her first British title in June and confirm her Olympic debut. 

Gill broke the European under-18 800m record by clocking one minute 57.86 seconds two weeks after her 17th birthday in May and will now seek to emulate team-mate Keely Hodgkinson by winning a medal as a teenager at her first Games.

6. Harimoto Miwa (Table Tennis)

16-year-old Harimoto Miwa will join Hina Hayata and Miu Hirano in the women's team event at the Paris Olympics. Harimoto, whose older brother Tomokazu is also bound for Paris, was picked over Mima Ito in a decision closely watched not only in Japan but also other table tennis powerhouses such as China and Germany. 

Miwa is currently ranked 16th in the world and will be the youngest table tennis player competing in Paris.

Also Read: 10 athletes to watch out for at Paris Olympics 2024

7. Jeff Dunne (Breaking)

The 16-year-old Jeff Dunne, aka J-Attack, has risen rapidly on the local scene and heads to the Olympics with his not-so-secret weapon just off stage. He is Australia’s best male breaker. Dunne started breaking when he was five when he used to sneak into breaking classes while his older sister did hip hop* lessons at a dance studio in Brisbane.

In October 2023, Dunne won the Oceania Breaking Championship b-boy event in Sydney, qualifying to represent Australia at the Paris Olympics 2024.

8.  Katie Grimes (Swimming)

 Katie Grimes grew up in Las Vegas as the youngest of seven children. Her brother, Carter, also competed for Team USA at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials. Grimes was Team USA's youngest Olympian at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 at the age of 15. Now, she is set to go back to the Games in Paris after placing third in marathon swimming at the World Aquatics Championships.

9. Quincy Wilson (Athletics)

Quincy Wilson is the youngest man in history to be selected to represent Team USA in track and field, aged just 16. The American broke an under-18 world record in the 400m that had stood for 42 years when he clocked 44.66 seconds in the heats at the US trials in June, reducing that to 44.59 in the semi-finals two days later.