Nearly 600 US athletes are going to the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, according to Olympics.com, and with a jam-packed schedule it can be difficult to prioritize which sports and athletes to keep an eye on. Of course there are the staples like Simone Biles for gymnastics and Katie Ledecky for swimming, but it's definitely worth following these 20 teen Olympic athletes as well. A lot of them are poised to break (or have already broken) records, and they're all up-and-coming phenoms in their fields.
Read on to learn more about the 20 must-watch young athletes competing in the 2024 Games.
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Hezly Rivera
At 16 years old, gymnast Hezly Rivera is the youngest American athlete headed to the Paris Olympics, according to Sports Illustrated. Hezly started training in gymnastics when she was 5 and has cited Simone Biles as a huge inspiration for her career. Now, a decade later, Hezly gets to perform alongside her idol Simone in Paris.
Quincy Wilson
The 16-year-old track athlete is part of Team USA's 4×400-meter relay pool for Paris. This makes him the youngest male track and field Olympic athlete since 17-year-old steeplechase runner Arthur Newton in 1900, per NBC Sports. Nothing like breaking a 124-year record on the world's biggest stage.
Benjamin Cremaschi
There are 18 players on the US soccer team for this year's Games, and Benjamin Cremaschi is the youngest at 19 years old, according to NBC 6 South Florida. That's a lot of pressure on its own, but there's even more pressure on the entire team going to Paris. This is the first time the US men's team has qualified for the Olympics since 2008, according to NBC Sports.
Aaron Shackell
The 19-year-old University of Texas student is going to the Olympics to swim in the men's 400-meter freestyle event, according to his Team USA profile. And he gets to travel to Paris with a friendly face because his younger sister also qualified to swim at this year's Games.
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Alex Shackell
According to the Indianapolis Star, Alex is Aaron's 17-year-old sister. She will represent the US in the 200-meter butterfly and the 4×200-meter freestyle relay, according to NBC 6. With one extra event on her schedule compared to her brother, Alex has the chance to come home doubly successful.
Thomas Heilman
Is 17-year-old Thomas Heilman the next Michael Phelps? Thomas is a butterfly stroke swimmer and already beat Michael's age-group record for the 100-meter butterfly, according to Olympics.com. The site reported that Thomas is trying not to focus on the comparison heading into Paris 2024.
"It's always great to be in the same conversation as him, but I'm trying not to worry about that too much and trying to take things day by day," Thomas said.
Luke Whitlock
Speaking of Michael Phelps, Luke Whitlock is another young Olympic swimmer getting compared to the swimming legend. Per the Indianapolis Star, 18-year-old Luke broke the 2003 record Michael set when he was in the 17- to 18-year-old age range.
Luke will be competing in the 800-meter freestyle swim in Paris, according to the Associated Press.
Katie Grimes
Keaton Jones
After graduating high school just a year ago, 19-year-old Keaton Jones is heading to the Olympics for swimming, according to The Arizona Republic. Viewers can catch him in the 200-meter backstroke competition in Paris to see if he's able to bring home a medal for Team USA.
Erin Gemmell
Claire Weinstein
According to her Team USA bio, Claire Weinstein started swimming when she was 3 and competing when she was 6, so it's no surprise she made it into the Olympics at a young age. She's just 17 and will compete on the women's 4x200m freestyle relay team alongside fellow superstars Erin Gemmell and Katie Ledecky, according to HeyAlma.
Emily Ausmus
Emily is an 18-year-old water polo star who first started playing the sport a decade ago when she was just 8, according to NBC Olympics. Now that she's in the Olympics, some of her older teammates are actually people she looked up to as a younger player.
"I've grown up watching [them] and supporting them in the stands," she told NBC. "It's even more amazing now that I get to play with them, learn from them and get beaten by them every day."
Megumi Field
Artistic swimming is always so much fun to watch, and this year we can cheer for 18-year-old Megumi Field. According to NBC4 Los Angeles, she's scheduled to participate in both the duet and team synchronized swimming events. Maybe she'll be one of the lucky young competitors to come home with multiple medals.
Sam Watson
Rock climber Sam Watson is competing in Paris in the sport climbing event, per Team USA. He's young at 18 years old, but the sport itself is young in the Olympics as well. According to Olympics.com, it was only added four years ago during the Tokyo Games.
Minna Stess
Skateboarding is also a relatively new Olympic sport — having also been added to the Tokyo Games that took place in 2021, per Olympics.com. A lot of the athletes who participated in Tokyo and will compete in Paris are teenagers. Minna Stess is just 17 and will compete in the women's park event, Team USA noted.
Ruby Lilley
Another young skateboarder competing in the women's park event is Ruby Lilley. Like Minna, Ruby is 17, according to Team USA. She told Team USA that she didn't start skateboarding with the intent to compete, so the fact that she's now going to be on the world's biggest sporting stage is pretty cool.
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Paige Heyn
Tate Carew
The women's skateboarding team isn't the only one that has young athletes. Men's park skater Tate Carew is 19 and vying for the gold. According to KPBS, he's had a tough last year with injuries, but he's super excited to represent the US in skateboarding's second-ever Games.
Caitlin Simmers
According to NBC Olympics, surfing is also a brand-new Olympic sport — having just been added in the 2021 Games. Hoping to make waves (literally) is 18-year-old Caitlin Simmers, who is one of five athletes chosen to represent the US in surfing. She's the youngest of the team, per NBC Olympics.
Magda Skarbonkiewicz
Magda Skarbonkiewicz is looking to fulfill a dream for both her and her dad at this year's Olympics. The 18-year-old fencer told USA Fencing that her father was a fencing coach who narrowly missed making it to the Olympics in his day. Now that she's qualified for Paris, she's made it one step further. Maybe she'll even win a medal, too.
