There are two types of stars that come out of the Olympics. The first are the ones that we see year-round - going into the Games we are quite familiar with folks like Damian Lillard, Kevin Durant or Diana Taurasi. Then there are the household names that become such because of their Olympic heroics - think Simone Biles and Katie Ledecky.
As we continue our preview of the 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo, we're focused on the latter category. While Biles, Ledecky, the basketball teams and women's soccer are the most recognizable names going to Japan, someone with whom the general fan is mostly unfamiliar will see their life change in a span of weeks, if not days or hours.
So who are those likely candidates? Here are some potential breakout American athletes who could become "the next big thing" in Tokyo:
Caeleb Dressel: It will be the first Summer Games since 1996 without Michael Phelps, and Dressel is the name most mentioned when it comes to passing the torch in American men's swimming. The 24-year-old was at the 2016 Rio Games and won a pair of golds: the 4x400m freestyle relay and the 4x400m medley relay (where he swam in the heats, not the final). Now he's front-and-center on the men's team, and he has a chance to join Phelps and Mark Spitz in Olympic lore. He'll be a favorite to win not just one gold... but potentially five or six between the individual and team events.
Nyjah Huston: As we outlined a few weeks ago, skateboarding debuts at the 2020 Games, and Team USA has a 12-person team highlighted by the 26-year-old Huston. The highest-paid skateboarder in the world, Huston is a four-time gold medalist at the World Skateboarding Games (2014, 2017-19... he won silver in 2015 and 2016) and has a dozen Summer X Games golds dating back to 2011. He's a legend in skateboarding circles, but now he and the rest of the Americans hope to extend the sport's popularity to a global audience.
Sunisa Lee: There's little question who the star of the U.S. gymnastics team is, and every accolade Simone Biles gets will be well-deserved. But don't sleep on her teammate in Lee. The 18-year-old debuted with the Senior Team in 2019 and is considered a rising star, recently finishing second (behind Biles) in the all-around and balance beam, and taking home gold in the uneven bars at the 2021 U.S. National Championships. She also helped the U.S. win team gold at the 2019 World Championships.
Another gymnast to watch for is Jordan Chiles, who hasn't won gold in any event since joining the Senior Team, but has quietly become a consistent performer and has nailed 24 consecutive routines since February.
Noah Lyles: We begin the track-and-field portion of the program with Lyles, a 23-year-old sprinter. A gold medalist at both the 2018 (100m) and 2019 (200m) U.S. National Championships, Lyles followed it up earlier this week at the Olympic Trials in Oregon by running the fastest time in the world in the 200m this week (19.74). An American hasn't won gold in the event since 2004... that could change in 2021.
Another men's sprinter to watch for is Erriyon Knighton, who qualified for the Olympic team at just 17 years old, the youngest American male to make the track and field team since 1964.
Sydney McLaughlin: You might already be familiar with McLaughlin, who in 2016 became the youngest American to qualify for the Olympics in track and field since 1972. That was more of a learning experience - she finished fifth in her semifinal heat and didn't make the medal round. Expectations are much higher now for the 21-year-old, who won silver in the 400m hurdles at the 2019 World Championships and helped Team USA win gold in the 4x400m relay. She'll enter Tokyo as a heavy favorite after smashing the world record in the 400m hurdles earlier this week in the blazing Eugene, OR heat.
Athing Mu: Get used to hearing this name, because she'll be around for a while. How good is the 19-year-old NCAA champion? At the Olympic Trials she nearly stumbled out of the gates and collided with another runner... and still won the 800m event by a second-and-a-half and ran the second-fastest time ever by an American woman in the event. Having just turned pro last week after winning the 400m title at the NCAA track and field championships earlier this month (in record fashion, mind you), Mu is set to become a superstar.