CELEBRITIESBiles, Djokovic & Lyles – global stars to follow at Paris 2024

BBC Sport looked at Team GB’s hopes earlier this week, so now we are putting the spotlight on the big stars, stories and stats from a global perspective.

Leon Marchand (France) – swimming
The five-time world champion is set to be one the faces of the Games and is tipped to deliver multiple gold medals in the pool.

When 22-year-old Marchand is not studying computer science at university in the United States, he has been breaking records for fun. That included the great Michael Phelps’ 400m individual medley world record – which had stood for 15 years – in 2023.

The son of two Olympic swimmers, Marchand is world champion in the 200m individual medley, 400m individual medley and 200m butterfly.

He is aiming to become the first swimmer to win the 200m breaststroke and 200m butterfly double at the Olympics – but to do so will have to race in the two events on the same days.

In all, Marchand, who is coached by Phelps’ former coach, will have the chance for four individual gold medals in front of his home fans.

Simone Biles (US) – gymnastics

 

Three years ago many people thought they might have seen the world’s most decorated gymnast at an Olympics for the last time.

Biles pulled out of several events at the Tokyo Games after suffering with the ‘twisties’ – a loss of spatial awareness while performing twisting moves – when she was favourite to add to her four Olympic gold medals.

She made an emotional return to win bronze on the beam, her seventh Olympic medal.

She then took time away from the sport before returning to competition in June 2023.

Biles has since added five World Championship medals, including four golds, and has been working regularly with a therapist.

“I feel very confident with where I’m at mentally and physically, that [Tokyo] is not going to happen again just because we have put in the work,” she said this year.

Novak Djokovic (Serbia) – tennis

An Olympic gold is the only big prize missing from 24-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic’s collection.

He has made no secret that being on top of the podium at Paris 2024 is his main goal this year.

At Tokyo 2020, when on course for a ‘Golden Slam’ – all four majors plus Olympic gold – he lost to eventual champion Alexander Zverev in the semi-finals and was also defeated in the bronze medal match.

Djokovic has a history of bouncing back after adversity and will be expected to feed off that huge disappointment this time round.

But the 37-year-old is not having his best year, failing to win a title and no longer sitting top of the world rankings. Injury cut short his French Open before the quarter-finals and, although he reached the Wimbledon final this month with strapping on a knee, he was comprehensively outplayed by Carlos Alcaraz.

However, if he is fit, an improvement on the bronze he won at Beijing 2008 could well be on the cards.

Katie Ledecky (US) – swimming

Can anyone stop the seven-time Olympic champion?

Set to appear at her fourth Games, 27-year-old Ledecky is one gold medal away from drawing level with compatriot Jenny Thompson as the most successful female Olympic swimmer of all time.

She has the chance to claim the record outright as she is expected to compete in four events – 400m freestyle, 800m freestyle, 1500m freestyle and 4x200m relay.

With 10 medals already, Ledecky can also break Thompson’s record of 12 for the most won by an American woman.

Ledecky is favourite to defend the 800m and 1500 freestyle titles – events where she is also the world record holder.

There is a tiny glimmer of hope for her rivals, however, with Ledecky suffering her first defeat in 13 years in an 800m freestyle final in February when she was stunned by Canadian teenager Summer McIntosh.

Noah Lyles (US) – athletics

The American sprinter has set himself some huge goals.

He is aiming to become the first man to win four gold medals on the track at the same Olympics, targeting success in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m and 4x400m relays.

He won gold in the first three of those events at the World Championships last year and is hoping to claim a place in the 4x400m team after making his debut in the event at the indoor Worlds.

As if that isn’t enough, he has also spoken of wanting to beat Jamaican great Usain Bolt’s 100m and 200m world records.

Since taking 200m bronze at Tokyo 2020, Lyles has dominated the sprints on the global stage and displays the talent and flamboyance that could fill the void left by Bolt when he retired in 2017.

Faith Kipyegon (Kenya) – athletics

A double Olympic 1500m champion and the world record holder over the distance, Kipyegon has said she is “looking forward to a bright summer”.

The 30-year-old is chasing two gold medals in Paris as she seeks to repeat the 1500m-5,000m double she achieved at last year’s World Championships.

She is also a former 5,000m world record holder, setting her mark in Paris last year in her first race over the distance in eight years. It has since been beaten by Ethiopia’s Gudaf Tsegay.

Kipyegon began her athletics career at 16 and won her first individual global title running barefoot at the World Junior Cross Country Championships in 2011.

She has spoken about how becoming a mother in 2018 has changed her mentality. Three of her four world titles have come since giving birth.

Antoine Dupont (France) – rugby sevens

Dupont made headlines last year when he announced he was swapping XVs for sevens to fulfil a dream of playing at a home Olympics.

Regarded by many as the best player in the world at the XV-a-side game, France captain and scrum-half Dupont sat out this year’s Six Nations to focus on the World Rugby sevens circuit.

He inspired France to their first men’s sevens title in 19 years in Los Angeles in March, having helped them to bronze in his debut tournament in Vancouver.

“We’re a very ambitious squad who are looking to claim a gold medal. We’re all aiming for it,” the 27-year-old said.

Other sides boast better credentials. Since sevens was introduced at the Games in 2016, Fiji have won both men’s gold medals.

France were beaten by Japan in the quarter-finals at Rio 2016 and did not qualify for Tokyo 2020.

However, France have already secured a place in the quarter-finals in Paris – where the sevens action started on Wednesday – and Dupont scored a stunning solo try to underline why he is one of the faces of these Games.

Neeraj Chopra (India) – athletics

He has superstar status in India and nine million Instagram followers.

The first Indian athlete to win an Olympic track and field gold, Chopra will be aiming to defend his javelin title in Paris.

His stunning success in Tokyo, where he also became the first Asian athlete to win Olympic javelin gold, has since been backed up by a world title.

Among those likely to challenge him are Arshad Nadeem from Pakistan – India’s great sporting rivals.

Nadeem boasts his own slice of history after becoming the first athlete from Pakistan to qualify for an Olympic track and field final at Tokyo 2020.

He took silver behind Chopra at last year’s World Championships and can become his country’s first Olympic medallist in athletics.

Olha Kharlan (Ukraine) – fencing

The four-time world champion was in danger of missing the Games because of a ban imposed for refusing to shake the hand of a Russian opponent.

Kharlan was disqualified from last year’s World Championships after offering her sabre to tap blades instead of shaking hands following victory over Anna Smirnova.

But International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach wrote a letter to Kharlan saying it would “allocate an additional quota place” to her if she could not qualify because of her “unique situation”.

The four-time Olympic medallist has pledged to bring “hope” to Ukrainians amid the ongoing war following Russia’s invasion more than two years ago.

No Russian or Belarusian fencers have been invited to participate as neutral athletes in Paris, a situation 33-year-old Kharlan described as “a success”.

Stephen Curry (US) – basketball

NBA great Stephen Curry will make his Olympic debut in Paris.

The Golden State Warriors point guard is part of star-studded USA men’s team who will be aiming to add to their 16 Olympic gold medals. They have won every gold since 2004.

An Olympic medal is pretty much the only thing missing from Curry’s collection, which includes four NBA titles, two NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) awards and two World Cups. He is also the NBA’s all-time three-point record holder.

LeBron James, the all-time NBA leading points scorer, will play at the Games for the first time since London 2012, while Kevin Durant is seeking to become the first male athlete to win four basketball gold medals.

Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (Jamaica) – athletics

She is 37 and has had an up-and-down season but count out Fraser-Pryce at your peril in her fifth and final Olympics.

“It’s never over until it’s over,” the three-time Olympic champion said this month.

Five-time 100m world champion Fraser-Pryce has struggled with injuries this season but will compete in her signature event in Paris along with team-mate Shericka Jackson, who is chasing her first individual Olympic gold medal.

They will be in the 4x100m relay team as Jamaica seek to defend their title.

Other athletes and stories to look out for
German equestrian athlete Isabell Werth, 55, has never failed to win a gold medal at any Olympics she has competed at. Heading to her seventh Games, she will be hoping to add to her seven golds and five silvers and extend her record as the most decorated rider in Olympic history.

Georgian pistol shooter Nino Salukvadze, who is also 55, will feature at her 10th

 

Olympics, equalling the record held by Canadian equestrian athlete Ian Millar. Salukvadze will be the first to do so in consecutive Games.

 

 

In Greco-Roman wrestling, Cuba’s Mijain Lopez could become the first athlete in any sport to win five individual golds consecutively.

Australian Jess Fox has been dominating canoe slalom and, with the new discipline of kayak cross, may become the first person to win three canoe golds at the same Games.

In table tennis, Bruna Alexandre of Brazil will be in the women’s singles at the Olympics before competing at the Paralympics to become only the second athlete in her sport to achieve the feat after Natalia Partyka.