You know Katie Ledecky, Simone Biles, Allyson Felix and the other household names competing in the Summer Olympics.

Before the opening ceremony Friday marks the official start of the Games, get to know the teenage athletes who could medal in Tokyo and contend for titles for years to come.

1. Katie Grimes, 15 

Country: USA

Event: Swimming

About: At the young age of 15, Katie Grimes was the breakout star at the U.S. Olympic Swim trials. She’ll be competing in the women’s 800-meter freestyle in Tokyo alongside highly-decorated Olympian Katie Ledecky. Grimes is the youngest swimmer to make the Olympic team since Ledecky in 2012. Even Ledecky is already singing Grimes’ praises, saying she’s “the future,” and “the now.”

2. Athing Mu, 19

Country: USA

Event: Track and Field

About: Fresh off of breaking the Olympic Trials track record in the 800-meter dash, Athing Mu is being touted as the country’s next great middle-distance runner. Mu, who competed at Texas A&M before turning pro this summer, holds NCAA records for both the 400 meters (49.57) and the 800 meters (1:57.73). In regards to feeling pressure as a running prodigy, Mu says, “I take everything that people say lightly. I don’t let it get to my head.”

19-year-old @athiiing sets the Trials record and punched her ticket to Tokyo! 🎟@usatf | #TrackFieldTrials21 x #TokyoOlympics pic.twitter.com/luuwJoUHnS

— #TokyoOlympics (@NBCOlympics) June 28, 2021

3. Hannah Roberts, 19

Country: USA

Event: Cycling

About: BMX Cycling is making its Olympic debut in Tokyo, and so is Hannah Roberts. Roberts is a highly decorated star on the BMX freestyle circuit. In 2019, she won all three World Cup events in addition to her second world championship. Roberts is a gold-medal favorite in her event in Japan, and she could become the first teenage woman to win an Olympic cycling medal.

4. Hend Zaza, 12

Country: Syria

Event: Table tennis

About: Representing Syria, 12-year-old Hend Zaza is set to be the youngest Olympian in 52 years. She’s also beating the odds: Zaza has been able to participate in only two or three external matches a year due to war. If you haven’t watched table tennis before, Zaza’s stellar talent will make you want to follow this Olympic sport in Tokyo.

5. Torri Huske, 18

Country: USA

Event: Swimming

About: Having just graduated from high school and heading to Stanford next year, Torri Huske managed to break the 100-meter butterfly record twice at the Olympic swimming trials last month. Twenty-four hours after she broke the U.S. record in prelims by .20 seconds, she broke her own record again. Starting off as a “normal little kid who worked hard,” she will now be one of 11 teenagers to compete for the U.S. swimming team in Tokyo.

6.Grace McCallum, 18

Country: USA

Event: Gymnastics

About: Grace McCallum was named to the four-person team representing the U.S. at the Summer Olympics following the national trials in June, an achievement that seemed nearly impossible when she broke her hand earlier in the year. McCallum, who had already competed at the U.S. Classic and the National Championships, finished fourth at the Olympic Trials. The 18-year-old’s specialties include uneven bars and balance beam.

7. Caroline Marks, 19

Country: USA

Event: Surfing

About: Surfing standout Caroline Marks took the world by storm in 2018. In her breakout year, as the youngest surfer ever to qualify for the Women’s Championship Tour, Marks was named Rookie of The Year and finished with a No. 7 world ranking. Now ranked sixth on the Championship Tour, Marks spoke with Just Women’s Sports about her rapid ascension to the top of her sport.

It's not long before 19-year old @Caroline_Marks3 makes her debut on the global stage. Surf fans everywhere are in for a treat.
Video: Swellshotz pic.twitter.com/ulyQ2E9OJ8

— World Surf League (@wsl) July 16, 2021

8. Kokona Hiraki, 12

Country: Japan

Event: Skateboarding

About: At the age of 12, Kokona Hiraki will be one of the host country’s youngest and most admired stars. After ranking fifth at the final Tokyo Olympics qualifier for women’s park skateboarding, Hiraki will now be the youngest Japanese Summer Olympian ever. Her dedication to her craft is next level: After practicing a nosegrind trick over and over again, Hiraki wrote, “You can feel all the things I love about skateboarding through this trick. The unstableness from being just on the front truck on the coping, the sound of grinding, and the satisfaction when you make it.”

9. Nevin Harrison, 19

Country: USA

Event: Canoeing

About: Canoe sprint world champion Nevin Harrison is heading to the Tokyo Olympics with high expectations. In 2019, she became the first American to win a world sprint canoe title by clinching the women’s C1 200-meter event. Harrison is also a strong advocate for women’s canoeing’s inclusion in the Olympics, saying, “I think it’s more important to have every group represented rather than having a lot in just one gender or discipline,” Harrison said.

10. Sunisa Lee, 18

Country: USA

Event: Gymnastics

About: After coping with family illness, COVID-19 related deaths, and injury, Sunisa Lee claimed a coveted spot on the U.S. women’s gymnastics team by finishing in the top two at the Olympic trials. “It’s the unparalleled mental strength that she has shown during the most difficult time of her life that makes her the person she is,” said 2008 All-Around champion Nastia Liukin. Lee, whose parents emigrated from Laos, will be the first-ever Hmong American Olympic gymnast. While she’s an incredible all-around talent, she’s especially known for her bar routine.

11. Sky Brown, 13

Country: Great Britain

Event: Skateboarding

About: Sky Brown is arguably one of the biggest and brightest stars of any age at this year’s Olympics. At just 13 years and 11 days, she’ll be the youngest Summer Olympian for Great Britain. A fearless and promising athlete, Brown is currently ranked fourth in the world and is highly respected in the skateboarding community. “She could definitely be one of the best female skaters ever… she has such confidence, such force, even at such a young age. The way she’s able to learn new tricks and the way she absorbs direction, it’s so rare,” said skateboarding legend Tony Hawk.

Sky Brown 🇬🇧 wins gold in Women’s Skateboard Park at #XGames 2021! pic.twitter.com/LcGC5OqENB

— X Games (@XGames) July 16, 2021

12. Jessica and Jennifer Gadirova, 16

Country: Great Britain

Event: Gymnastics

About: 16-year-old twin sisters Jessica and Jennifer Gadirova will be each other’s support systems in Tokyo, as they will represent half of Great Britain’s four-person gymnastics team. Jessica flourished at the 2021 European Championships, where she won the bronze in the all-around and silver in vault, and she became the European champion in the floor exercise. Jennifer, a strong vaulter and floor gymnast, is known for her difficult tumbles and eye-catching choreography.

13. Viktoria Listunova, 16

Country: Russia

Event: Gymnastics

About: The postponement of the 2020 Olympics allowed 16-year-old Russian gymnast Viktoria Listunova to be eligible for the 2021 Olympics. “It’s such an opportunity, it is such a big chance,” Listunova says. She is determined to make the most of this opportunity and is considered a possible contender to upset world champion Simone Biles.

14. Rosalie Boissoneault, 18

Country: Canada

Event: Synchronized Swimming

About: A native of Québec, Canada, Rosalie Boissoneault joins the Canadian synchronized swimming team as one of its newest members. She is making her Olympic debut at just 18 years old after joining the senior national team in 2020. Starting in her sport at the age of 3, Boissoneault is a young star looking to make a splash in Tokyo.

15. Rayssa Leal, 12

Country: Brazil

Event: Skateboarding

About: Another young Olympic phenom and friend of Sky Brown is Brazilian skateboarder Rayssa Leal (pronounced “Hi-ee-sa”), known for her many viral trick videos. She is currently second in the World Street Skateboarding rankings. Giving props to her supportive family, Rayssa says, “they don’t pressure me to always win and be first, they encourage me to do what I like, which is skateboarding.”

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16. Regan Smith, 19

Country: USA

Event: Swimming

About:  Regan Smith, the current world-record holder in the women’s 200-meter backstroke, is heading to her first Olympics to represent Team USA. This young star showed off her talent during the World Championships in 2019, where she broke two world records: the 100- and the 200-meter backstroke. Smith will be taking a gap year and plans to attend Stanford in 2022.

17. Brighton Zeuner, 17

Country: USA

Event: Skateboarder

About: Zeuner is coming to the Olympics as a decorated skater with serious competitive chops. She’s the youngest recipient in history to have won two X Games gold medals, and she also holds a Vans Park Series World Championship title. Her great passion and love for skateboarding pushed her to keep going and get her to where she is now. ‘”I love it. Because of skateboarding, I’m kind of who I am. I get validation out of it. It makes me feel human. It’s just a part of me,”’ Zeuner said.

18. Hailey Hernandez, 18

Country: USA

Event: Diving

About: Hailey Hernandez started competing right out of high school and surprised the diving world by placing second in the women’s three-meter springboard at the Olympic trials. “When I hit that water, I knew that I had done it and so I just had the biggest smile on my face,” Hernandez says. Her hometown in Southlake, Texas, threw the two-time World Junior Championship silver medalist an epic Olympic send-off event and will be rooting hard for her this summer.

19. Gaurika Singh, 19

Country: Nepal

Event: Swimming

About: Nepali swimmer Gaurika Singh will represent her country both in the pool and as the flag bearer. The 19-year-old was the youngest athlete at the 2016 Rio Olympics at 13 years and 255 days, and she was chosen to lead the five-member Nepali team in the opening ceremony this year. Singh has collected over nine medals during the South Asian Games and set a record for the most gold medals in 2019.

20. Oceana Mackenzie, 19

Country: Australia

Event: Sport Climbing

About: Australian sport climbing star Oceana Mackenzie will help introduce this new Olympic sport to the world. She started climbing at age of 8 and has been passionate about it ever since. “I love how it’s mentally and physically challenging,” she says. “I have to see the climbs and figure out how to get up them — it’s almost like working out a puzzle.”

Friday's Unrivaled 3×3 Basketball debut was an unequivocal success for TV partner TNT Sports, as the new offseason 3x3 league's opening lineup became the most-watched women's basketball games in the broadcast network's history.

The doubleheader logged viewership averages of 313,000 and 311,000, respectively, with the first game peaking at 364,000.

Notably, these numbers do not include viewers on Max, where every Unrivaled game is available to stream live under the league's six-year, $100 million media deal with Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD).

In 2022, WNBA games averaged 372,000 viewers across Disney networks, with the league later surpassing 500,000 across ABC, ESPN, and CBS in 2023 before reaching a 1.19 million average on ESPN in 2024.

Unlike the well-established WNBA, which is on the cusp of entering its 29th year, Unrivaled is a new-look product in its first-ever season. With that in mind, Unrivaled's initial numbers are promising, particularly for a league that's prioritizing long-term wins over instant gratification.

"I think we put ourselves in a great position to be successful right away, but it’s a marathon,"  league president Alex Bazzell told The Athletic before Unrivaled’s launch. "We’re not running out there from Day 1 trying to get millions of viewers out of the gate."

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One piece of the Unrivaled fan engagement puzzle

Viewership is just one way the league is measuring fan engagement, with Unrivaled also turning an eye toward social media metrics.

"[Viewership is] not fully indicative of what is the overall fan interest because there’s so many ways to consume leagues and teams and highlights," noted Bazzell.

It's one reason that partnering with WBD was so appealing to the new league. The media giant's already robust sports social media channels are elevating Unrivaled content across platforms to an established, sports-hungry audience.

To that end, Unrivaled’s opening weekend content garnered 31 million views across WBD’s social channels and fueled a 59% viewership boost of the media giant's women's sports-specific TikTok account.

In the biggest upset of the 2025 Australian Open so far, 19-seed Madison Keys defeated world No. 2 Iga Świątek in a back-and-forth three-set semifinal early Thursday morning.

Entering as the tournament's only athlete to win every set, five-time Grand Slam champion Świątek conceded more games to Keys than in her previous five Australian Open matches combined.

Keys's speedy serve and heavy forehand paired with a Świątek double-fault pushed the match to a tie-break decider, with the US star ultimately winning 5-7, 6-1, 7-6 (10-8).

"It just became who can get that final point and who can be a little bit better than the other one," Keys said post-match. "I'm happy it was me."

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Keys's victory is just the latest chapter in a 2025 Australian Open run that's seen her beat three Top 10 contenders in Świątek, No. 6 Elena Rybakina, and No. 10 Danielle Collins. Those victories earned the 29-year-old her own Top 10 spot in next Monday’s WTA rankings.

With Thursday's win, Keys booked her second-ever Grand Slam championship match, returning to the sport's top stage for the first time since the 2017 US Open.

One last challenge awaits Keys

To claim her career's first Grand Slam trophy, however, Keys will have to defeat reigning champion and world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, who comfortably downed Spain's No. 11 Paula Badosa 6-4, 6-2 on Thursday in pursuit of a third-straight Australian Open title.

In their five previous meetings, Keys has only beaten Sabalenka once, topping her in Berlin in 2021.

Sabalenka won their most recent bout in the 2023 US Open semifinals. However, that three-set slog was similar to Keys's gritty victory over Świątek and, if she can maintain the composure and energy she displayed on Thursday, the US star's momentum could fuel her to similarly stun Sabalenka.

How to watch the 2025 Australian Open final

Saturday's Australian Open final between Keys and Sabalenka will take the court at 3:30 AM ET, with live coverage on ESPN.

The Phoenix Mercury could be entering a new era, with unrestricted free agent Brittney Griner and 20-year WNBA veteran Diana Taurasi both feeding the rumor mill with departure buzz.

The legends have played their entire WNBA careers for Phoenix, sharing the court for more than a decade after joining the Mercury as overall No. 1 picks out of the WNBA Draft in 2004 (Taurasi) and 2013 (Griner).

Griner is actively exploring the free agency market, taking meetings with multiple teams this week while showing off her 3x3 skills with offseason league Unrivaled.

On the other hand, Taurasi is rumored to be retiring. However, neither the WNBA's all-time scoring leader nor the Mercury have confirmed any moves.

Last season, Phoenix anticipated the three-time league champ fulfilling a threat to quietly retire and avoid a farewell. Subsequently, the team honored Taurasi with an emotional "If This Is It" curtain call at the end of the 2024 season.

The 11-time All-Star's most recent statement about retirement came shortly after exiting in the first round of the 2024 WNBA Playoffs. That's when Taurasi voiced her indecision.

"I have not taken it lightly. I think about it every day," Taurasi told The Associated Press. "I’m still in deep thought about it. I want to make the right decision, you know, and I’m just taking my time a little bit."

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WNBA free agency negotiation window opens

As for Griner and other WNBA free agents, potential teams are currently courting these top athletes, as the league’s negotiation period officially opened on Tuesday.

No deal can be signed before February 1st. Meantime, many top free agents are capitalizing on what Unrivaled co-founder Breanna Stewart calls the offseason league's "one-stop shop" recruiting ground.

"You're able to talk to other players directly," Satou Sabally said from Unrivaled's Miami campus. "You can figure out what do they have, what type of resources, how important is their team to the owners?"

Regardless of where they go, expect most free agents to ink one-year deals, as this year's CBA negotiations will likely increase 2026 salaries — making athletes hungry to level up again in next year's free agency market.

Just Women's Sports alongside Olympic gold medalist and two-time World Cup champion Kelley O'Hara are proud to announce the debut of Sports Are Fun!, a new studio show premiering February 4th.

Presented by Intuit TurboTax, Sports Are Fun! features O'Hara and co-host Greydy Diaz discussing anything and everything from the world of women's sports with help from a rotating cast of co-hosts and guests. Production runs through 2025.

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Everything you love about women's sports — with a little extra fun

"This is a show that will remind fans why they fell in love with sports," O'Hara said ahead of the show's launch. "That means tapping into all the stories, big or small, that get the group chat going. You'll feel like you’re there with us, talking about your favorite games, teams, and athletes."

O'Hara retired from professional soccer in 2024 after a legendary career that included winning two World Cups, an Olympic gold medal, and two NWSL Championships. She also helped secure equal pay for the US women's national soccer team. 

"The next step in the evolution of women’s sports is building out a media ecosystem that can keep fans connected around-the-clock," said Just Women's Sports founder and CEO Haley Rosen. "This show closes the gap when it comes to innovative, personality-driven coverage, and we're thrilled to be partnering with Intuit TurboTax as they make a splash in the women’s sports space."

O'Hara takes to the screen in her post-retirement era

O'Hara and JWS have worked extensively together over the years. They first launching the Just Women's Podcast with Kelley O’Hara back in 2020. Later shows included The Players Pod, 2024 Paris Olympics favorite The Gold Standard, Fast Friends with Kelley O'Hara and Lisa Leslie, as well as digital hits Kelley on the Street and 1v1 with Kelley O'Hara. 

Sports Are Fun! is by no means O’Hara's first foray into media. But it does mark the official beginning of her second career as a full-time on-air personality and content creator. 

The first episode of Sports Are Fun! will debut February 4th, 2025. Catch every episode via Just Women’s Sports' YouTube page, as well as across all audio podcast platforms.