6 Olympic and Paralympic Female Athletes We’re Following at the Games

Sunny Choi
Breaking, Team USA | Queens, NY
@_sunnychoi


Hezly Rivera
Gymnastics, Team USA | Oradell, NJ
@hezrivera
With her teammates being four veterans to the games, Rivera is the only newcomer for Team USA women’s gymnastics this year.
Coco Gauf
Tennis, Team USA | Delray Beach, FL
@cocogauff
With the pandemic behind us, Gauff is making her Team USA debut this summer at the Paris games. She was runner-up at the French Open in 2022 and won her first Grand Slam singles title at the US Open in 2023. Gauff has positioned herself as a prominent figure in the tennis world by winning the US Open at only age 19, the first American teenager to hold this title since Serena Williams. Her Olympic debut has already been historic as she broke Venus Williams’ record for being the youngest American woman to win a singles match at the games.
Casey Kaufhold
Archery, Team USA | Lancaster, PA
@crazy.casey.04

Emily Oberst*
Wheelchair Basketball, Team USA | Brookfield, WI
@emily_oberst

Leanne Smith
Para Swimming, Team USA | Salem, MA
@l.smith.88
Despite winning only one silver medal at the Tokyo games, Smith brought in the biggest medal haul for a US swimmer since 2010 at the 2022 World Para Championships.
Two months after this tremendous feat, Smith had a new challenge to face after being rushed to the ER and admitted to the ICU for a respiratory infection. She considered letting her triumph in 2022 be her swan song, but Smith decided to give rehabilitation her all and made her return at the 2023 World Para Championships, bringing home a bronze medal. She continued her training journey, pushing through her progressive disease, and landed a spot in the 2024 Paralympics in Paris.