The 2024 Paris Olympics are fast approaching and athletes around the world are preparing to fulfil (often lifelong) dreams and achieve great sporting feats.
For the first time in history as well, there will be a 50/50 split of male and female competitors at this year’s Olympic Games, making the anticipation all the more worthwhile.
Even before the Games have begun, female athletes are proving that big achievements are about to go down. And as this year’s Games are set to run from 26 July to 11 August, female athletes all around the world are ready to dominate in the vast array of sports.
With so much happening, we’ve decided to break things down, globally. Here’s a rundown of the female Olympians you’re definitely not going to want to miss.
Asia
China, table tennis: Sun Yingsha
The current world No. 1 in women’s singles player, Sun Yingsha, represents China — a country that has not once lost the women’s singles event at the Olympic Games.
Since 2022, Sun has held the top position. Before the age of 20, she had already claimed titles at the Japan Open, Australian Open, German Open, and Asian Championships. Now, at the age of 23, she is setting her sights on an Olympic gold, competing both in the singles and team events at Paris 2024.
When to watch the event: The preliminary singles round begins Saturday, July 27th.
China, super-heavyweight: Li Wenwen
China doesn’t just dominate table tennis, it has also historically swept medals in weightlifting, especially in the women’s category. It has won 32 Olympic gold medals in total — 17 of these have been won by women.
In April, Li Wenwen won three gold medals at the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) World Cup in Phuket from lifting 145 kg in the snatch, 180 kg in the clean and jerk, and 325 kg of total weight. It was an incredible performance by the 24-year old, who had 6 months prior injured her elbow during the World Championships.
She goes into the Paris games as the predicted gold medal winner, being 29 kg ahead of her closest rival, Korea’s Park Hyejeong.
When to watch the event: Women’s +81kg event begins Sunday August 11.
Europe
France, Judo: Clarisse Agbegnenou
One of the best French judokas in the world, with seven Grand Slam wins, Agbegnenou is looking to win her third medal at the upcoming Paris Games.
At the Rio 2016 Olympics she took home silver. Four years later in Tokyo, she won gold. Agbegnenou won a bronze medal at the European Championships in 2012, when she was just 20-years old. The following year, she won the European gold and a world silver medal. In 2014, she won her first world championship title.
Earlier this year, the 31-year old was a vocal supporter of more amenities to be built to cater to female athletes who are breastfeeding.
“I don’t mind anything as long as I can be with my daughter,” Agbegnenou told the media. “This will be my third Olympics and I know what it’s like. We are really all girls together, so I didn’t want to disturb the girls, but I couldn’t imagine doing these Games without my daughter knowing that I was still breastfeeding her”.
“To put things in perspective, I’ve decided to breastfeed my daughter until she’s weaned. She hasn’t yet, so I’m following her. I’ve made sure that I feel good physically, because of course there’s an element of tiredness. But as a mother who needs to be very present for my daughter, I asked for the opportunity to have her with me during the Olympics.”
When to watch the event: Agbegnenou is in the 163 kg weight category, which competes on Tuesday, July 30
Ukraine, high jumper: Yaroslava Mahuchikh
At just 22, Mahuchikh set world records at the Diamond League track and field competition this week, clearing a height of 2.10 metres, breaking the previous record of 2.09 metres which had been held for 37 years.
Mahuchikh is Ukraine’s best hope for gold at the Paris games. It’s been a startling journey for the young athlete, who escaped her country in early 2022 when Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began. She now lives and trains in Portugal.
Frequently appearing wearing yellow and blue eyeliner in support of her country, Mahuchikh has spoken about the plight of her country: “We all are fighting for our people, for our soldiers,” she told the Guardian last month. “We want to show every person in the world that we will continue fighting, that the war is not finished.”
She is active on social media, posting training videos and images of herself dropped in the Ukrainian flag to her 206K followers on Instagram.
When to watch the event: Friday, August 2
Africa
Kenya, Marathon running: Peres Jepchirchir
Peres Jepchirchir set the women’s only marathon world record this year in London with a time of 2:16:16. When she won, she said she had not expected to run a world record: “I knew it might be beaten but I did not expect it to be me as I knew the history and the ladies were strong,” she said. “But I’ve come good today and set a personal best.”
The 30-year old won a gold medal in the women’s marathon at the Tokyo Olympics before going on to win the New York City Marathon a few months later in 2021. In 2022, she won the Boston Marathon in her debut run. She has previously competed during a pregnancy, and won the Lisbon Half Marathon just over a year after giving birth to her daughter in 2017.
When to watch the event: Women’s marathon will take place on 11 August
South Sudan, runner: Perina Lokure Nakang
Perina Lokure Nakang was born in South Sudan in 2003 amidst a brutal civil war. She fled to neighbouring Kenya with her aunt when she was 7-years old, settling in the Kakuma Refugee Camp in the northeastern part of the country.
As a teenager, she was chosen to attend the All4Running Shoes4Africa Secondary School, where she received athletics training. She participated in the World Athletics U20 refugee programme — a partnership between World Athletics, the African Higher Education in Emergencies Network and Youth Education and Sports (YES), where she was offered training and competition kits, professional coaches, coaching materials and a nutrition programme, among a range of opportunities.
This month in Paris, she will compete in the 800-metre race as a member of the Refugee Olympic Team — one of 36 athletes representing the independent Olympic team.
When to watch the event: Friday, August 2
North America
USA, marathon runner: Fiona O’Keeffe
Running her first ever marathon in a professional race, stunned everyone when she took the victory at the US Olympic marathon trials in February with a time of 2:22:10.
O’Keeffe qualified for the Trials through her half-marathon time, and said going into the full marathon “The main goal coming was just to make the top three. And I believe that I had a legitimate shot. So I would have been very excited with a top-three finish, and that was the main objective – just to make the team.”
Her first professional half marathon wasn’t even that long ago either when she came fourth at the Aramco Houston Half Marathon in January 2022.
Now on the road to Paris, O’Keeffe is getting more attention than she’s ever had before. In the days after the Trials, O’Keeffe’s Instagram following grew from around three thousand to over thirty four thousand.
“I’m definitely aware that that was the last time I’ll be able to go into a race with the feeling of being an unknown,” she says. “But at the same time, I don’t feel like a different person.”
When to watch the event: Sunday, August 11
USA, sprinter: Sha’Carri Richardson
The fastest woman in the world this year, Sha’Carri Richardson is aiming for Gold in the 100m sprint at the Olympics.
Ahead of Tokyo 2020, in 2021, the Texan was in top form but her shot at an Olympic athletics title was halted after her qualifying result at the US trials was scrapped due to testing positive for a chemical found in marijuana. Richardson accepted a one month suspension, which included the period of the Tokyo Games. Around that same time, Richardson shared that her biological mother had passed away, which was what led to her turning to marijuana to help cope with the “nerve-shocking” news, as she described it.
Now, she’s prepared for a huge comeback, and has credited the two women in her life that raised her– her aunt and grandmother– with being the support to get to this point, having said: “Without them, there would be no me.”
“I don’t just mean I’m a better runner,” the 24-year-old told Vogue ahead of the 2024 Olympics. “It’s beyond that. I’m better at being Sha’Carri. I’m better at being myself.”
When to watch the event: Friday, August 2
Middle East
Afghanistan, sprinter: Kimia Yousefi
Australian-based Afghan athlete Kimia Yousofi has been selected for her third Olympic Games for the 100m sprint event. Yousofi, the flag bearer for Afghanistan at the 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games, is one of three women athletes who will represent Afghanistan.
The 28-year-old was relocated to Australia in 2022, after the Taliban seized power of her home country in August 2021. Since then, rights for women and girls have deteriorated significantly in Afghanistan, and Yousofi has said her third appearance at the Olympic Games will be dedicated to the women and girls who continue to live under the oppression of the Taliban.
Her coach, John Quinn, acknowledged the extraordinary achievement of Yousofi to get to where she is today, saying: “When you consider everything else she has had to juggle – training, a new language, getting her family here, all those things, she has been amazing. Her efforts have certainly inspired the other squad members. Now she finds herself on the world stage again in Paris.”
Yousofi’s goal is to beat the Afghan national record of 13.29 seconds, which she set in the 100 meters in Tokyo.
Palestine, swimming: Valerie Tarazi
As the only female Palestinian competitor, Valerie Tarazi is competing in Paris as a beacon of hope for the people of Palestine. There’s only been 26 Palestinian athletes known in history to have competed in the Olympics.
Raised in the US, Tarazi is a Palestinian-American who has proudly displayed her Palestinian roots, throughout her swimming career, whether that be by wearing the Palestinian flag at swim meets, donning a keffiyeh-inspired blazer, or graduating with a shawl in Palestinian colours.
At only 16-years-old, Tarazi competed struggled qualifying for the 2016 Olympic Swimming Trials, but now that she’s come back even stronger, and qualified for 2024 in Paris, she has expressed how much the moment means, saying: “I’ve spent over 20 years of my life working for this dream to come true! It still doesn’t feel real.”
“I couldn’t be prouder to be going back to my roots and representing Palestine in Paris!”
Australia
Swimming: Kaylee McKeown
McKeown is likely to become Australia’s most decorated Olympian of all time. At only her first Olympics in Tokyo, in 2021, McKeown won four medals, three of the gold, and she’s likely to win as many in Paris. The 22-year-old is likely to be Australia’s most decorated Olympian of all time.
Across the three main distances of 50, 100 and 200 metres, McKeown is the current world record holder in two of them. She recently lost her 100 metre crown to the American swimmer Regan Smith during the US Olympic trials in June, but McKeown was the first woman to ever claim all three of those records concurrently.
McKeown and Smith share 17 of the 20 fastest times in history. And the pair are set to battle in the 200m backstroke in Paris.
When to watch the event: Thursday, August 1
Diving: Melissa Wu
Melissa Wu is set to make history in Paris as the first Australian diver to compete at five Olympics.
At 16-years-old, she competed for her first the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, where she won a silver medal. During the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Olympics, Wu fell just short of medaling, finishing 4th and fifth respectively in the 10m platform.
In Tokyo, in 2020, she won a bronze individual medal at the 10m event, after which she took some time to focus on synchronized diving and career opportunities outside of sports.
“I’ve been lucky to have a really long career,” said the Wu, after winning the 2024 Australian Olympic Trials. “I’ve had a few injuries the past few years and my diving hasn’t been the best, but now I feel like I’m finally getting back into form and it’s exciting to have the opportunity to continue to work back towards what I know I’m capable of.”
Wu will compete in the 10m platform alongside 17-year-old debutant Ellie Cole.
When to watch the event: Monday, August 5
South America
Mexico, artistic swimming team: Nuria Diosdado
Nuria Diosdado and Joana Jiménez were crowned champions of artistic swimming in pairs at the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games, which secured their spot at the Paris 2024 Olympics. The Mexican duo dedicated their success to those affected by the impact of Hurricane Otis in the Mexican state of Guerrero.
The Mexican team as a whole has not qualified for the Olympics since 1996. Individuals from the team have qualified in previous Olympic Games in solo or duet events but this will be the first time the entire team has qualified in 27 years.
“It was incredible,” Diosdado said about seeing the team qualify. “It was a moment that was beyond historic, it was very personal.”
She is a two-time gold and four-time silver medalist in the duet and team categories at the Pan American Games and has competed at three Olympic games. She’s played a key role in increasing Mexico’s visibility on the world sporting stage.
When to watch the event: Friday, August 9
Peru, surfing: Sol Aguirre
Peru’s Sol Aguirre will make her Olympic debut in Paris, after qualifying at the ISA World Surfing Games in Puerto Rico.
Seven months after her emotional ride through the famous Teahupo’o barrel-one of the world’s biggest waves- during the ISA Athlete Training Camp, the Peruvian surfer received another ticket to Tahiti, this time to the Olympic Games. It was a last-chance effort.
“It was amazing. The truth is that going there and seeing where I can be was a giant opportunity,” Aguirre told Olympics.com. “Being there, watching the wave as I would be if I were competing there if I get my Olympic quota, it opened my eyes a lot and motivated me even more to achieve this goal.”
When to watch the event: Saturday, July 27