6 Female Athletes You Should Look Out For at the 2020 Olympics

Russian high jumper Mariya Lasitskene would perhaps already have an Olympic gold. However, a decision to bar her and her fellow Russians from competing as punishment for systematic doping robbed her of her chance to compete. She has since competed under a neutral flag and will be hoping to impress in Tokyo

She does already have some gold to her name, securing two medals, one in each of the 2015 and 2017 World Championships. World Athletics currently have her ranked number one in the world and she’ll be hoping to move away from the disappointment of 2016 and live up to her billing in the summer.

Kenny is the darling of Team GB’s cycling team and boasts four gold medals from her last two Olympic outings. Along with some of her teammates, she is credited with sparking interest in the sport across the UK and will be a key figure for Britain in Japan.

Coral have included Laura Kenny in their list of Britain’s most iconic women sports stars since 2000 and with good reason. She is both the most successful female track cyclist in Olympic history and Great Britain’s most successful Olympic female competitor in all disciplines.

She’ll be looking to add to her collection and secure her status as a true legend for Great Britain.

Sydney McLaughlin

Sydney McLaughlin is still only 20-years-old and represents the future of American Track and Field. She was still only 16 when she qualified in 400m hurdles for the 2016 Rio Olympics, which made her the youngest athlete to make the team in 36 years.

At the 2019 World Championships in Doha, she won the silver in the 400m hurdles, setting a new personal best of 52.23 seconds at the same time.

Allyson Felix

Californian-born Allyson Felix will be hoping to add more Olympic gold medals to her collection when she steps out in Tokyo 2020.

The sprinter surpassed Usain Bolt as the most decorated in history when she secured gold in the IAAF World Championships in October 2019, but she’ll be looking to pull away from the Jamaican in the summer.

With Olympic gold in the 200m in 2012 and silver in the 400m in 2016, she’s already decorated in single events, as well as boasting a host of relay gold medals in both games. Her last solo medal was bronze in the 2017 World Championships in London.

Regan Smith

Smith is just 17 but she has recently been named in Time Magazine as one of the next 100, a prestigious accolade for the swimmer.

She’s expected to be amongst the medals in Tokyo, having recently bagged three world records. She currently holds the world record in the 100m and 200m backstroke, as well as sharing a third as part of the USA women’s 4 x 100 Medley Relay

Morgan Hurd

18-year-old Hurd is the 2017 World all-around champion and balance beam silver medalist, the 2018 World all-around bronze medalist and floor exercise silver medalist, as well as a five-time world medalist.

This will be her first Olympic Games as part of Team USA where she’ll be a teammate of Simone Biles, who secured a team gold in Rio in 2016, as well as three individual gold medals and a bronze.