5 Olympic Debutants who are set to light up Tokyo 2020
The pinnacle of sport that is the Olympics is just around the corner as the world waits with bated breath to watch super humans from across the globe compete at the highest levels. The city of Tokyo will soon be bursting at the seams with talent, some of which we may have seen the likes of before. Well established superstars like Simone Biles, Jason Kenny and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce virtually have their plane seats booked ready to defend their place in the hall of fame.
The only thing that could be even more exciting to witness is those who are ready to show the Olympic world what they have for the first time, seeing new talent on display and watching their lives change in an instant. With an extra year to train there are many athletes dreaming of taking their first medal home. So let’s take a look at 5 of the most exciting competitors waiting to fill their trophy cabinet.
Table of Contents:
1. Shauna Coxsey – Climbing
2. Naomi Osaka – Tennis
3. Nyjah Huston – Skateboarding
4. Mariya Lasitskene - High Jump
5. Takeru Kitazono - Artistic Gymnastics
Shauna Coxsey– Climbing
With climbing making its debut in the Olympics this year, a whole host of new athletes are bursting on to the Olympic scene despite being veterans in the sport itself. Representing Great Britain, Shauna Coxsey won the Women’s International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) World Cup in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2 bronzes in the 2019 IFSC Climbing World Championships in Japan. The challenge for Coxsey will be adapting to the three-category climbing format the Olympic competition is taking as she has never traditionally been a speed climber, normally using her creativity and strength to tackle slow tempo boulder challenges. Despite this, we are excited to see if Shauna can climb her way to the top in 2021.
Naomi Osaka – Tennis
The Japanese born Naomi Osaka is currently No.2 in the world for tennis and was previously world No. 1, being the first Asian player to achieve the top spot. Having already won four grand slams on hard courts and with her Tokyo medal campaign also taking place on the same type of battle ground we can already imagine her taking that final gold medal match point at her first ever Olympics.
Nyjah Huston – Skateboarding
Representing America, Nyjah Huston is already a celebrity of the skating world. Not only does he ooze cool, but he is also an extremely talented and exciting skater. He is in fact so cool and talented he has already made himself millions in sponsorship deals and prize money. Some people just have it all, don’t they? However, there is still one thing missing in this skaters’ life despite his numerous world championship titles, an Olympic gold medal. There is a strong possibility he could kickflip his way to gold this summer.
Mariya Lasitskene - High Jump
Mariya Lasitskene has come to have her Olympic debut in a more roundabout way than most athletes. High jump is a staple of Olympic competition, and the Russian athlete has been at the top of the game for years having won three world championships. Nonetheless, after Russia’s track and field team were barred from the 2016 Olympics, she lost her chance to compete. That year she jumped 2m at a domestic competition, a height which would have beaten the gold medal winning 1.97m. However, this year Mariya will be allowed to compete as a neutral athlete and show the Olympics what she is made of. After a 5-year wait will Mariya take her chance?
Takeru Kitazono - Artistic Gymnastics
At 18 years of age Takeru Kitazono is raring to compete at the Olympics this year after blowing his competitors out the water when he competed at the Youth Olympics in 2018: he captured the world’s attention when he took 5 golds in 6 competitions, a feat never accomplished by a Japanese athlete, and not by anyone for almost 30 years. It is said he was inspired to get into gymnastics after being obsessed with the Japanese superhero series, ‘Kamen Rider Hibiki’ as a child. Maybe now as an adult he can be the home country superhero for Tokyo?